As of midnight Dec. 20, the Trump SoHo no longer exists.
In one fell swoop, the hotel and condo building developed by the Trump Organization and owned by CIM Group rebranded itself as The Dominick, WNYC reporter Ilya Marritz and the New York Daily News report. The rear of the building abuts Dominick Street.
Here's an image of the new logo... pic.twitter.com/brWsv0BdUX
— Ilya Marritz (@ilyamarritz) December 20, 2017
Exterior and interior signage has been scrubbed of Trump's name and replaced, and guests found Trump-branded towels and bath products similarly swapped out after housekeeping visits on Wednesday. The WiFi name was changed as well.
Confirmed @ilyamarritz reporting: Trump SoHo will be re-branded The Dominick, at midnight tonight. The @realDonaldTrump Org. won't manage it, no employees lose their jobs.
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) December 20, 2017
Soo...can guests just steal the "Trump SoHo" bathrobes? "You said that, not me," hotel flak says.
CIM Group has been majority owner of Trump SoHo since 2014, but the Trump Organization retained licensing and management rights, which CIM Group bought out in late November. The hotel reported a 22% drop in guest stays after Trump's election, which is only the beginning of the building's controversial ties with its former management.
The Trump children were subject to a lawsuit alleging they knowingly inflated condo sales numbers to entice potential buyers, and a fraud investigation was dropped by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance after a visit from Donald Trump's lawyer.
One of the previous owners is entangled in the investigation into President Donald Trump's alleged ties with Russia after former Bayrock head and Russian immigrant Felix Sater was found to have received money for Trump SoHo from an Icelandic bank known to be a vessel for money laundered out of Russia.
Sater also attempted to facilitate the creation of a Trump Moscow tower during the president's campaign, and emails between Sater and Trump attorney Michael Cohen revealed Sater hoped to use it as a channel of influence between Trump and Vladimir Putin. Sater is cooperating with a fraud investigation against Kazakh oligarchs and is due to be interviewed by Congress over his alleged part in the Trump campaign's Russia ties.
