This Morning with Donald and Ivanka Trump

The Donald is about to make a big splash in DC. As we heard this morning from him and daughter Ivanka, the Trumps are set to deliver the lap of luxury to the District in a way only they can.

We snapped the two at a discussion heldat the Washington Post. The pair was beaming about the Trump Organization's planned $200M redevelopment of the Old Post Office building into a luxury hotel, which EVP Ivanka says should deliver by late 2015/early 2016, and which Donald says has "the potential to be the greatest hotel in the country, if not the world." And if that happens, the Trumps will be bringing an element to DC that Donald believes doesn't exist, since "Washington doesn't have great hotels," he says.(Coupled with USPS re-instating Saturday delivery, it's been a big day for post offices.)

Ivanka, who's running point on the OPO project (and is also a Georgetown grad) says she's excited to deliver such a product to a DC market that "hasn't had a luxury hotel in 13 years." She says discussions with the "greatest retailers and restaurateurs in the world" are ongoing, and Donald says the list includes Tiffany (whose flagship store sits next to Trump Tower in NYC). The pair was coy on the room rates for the 261-key project, though Ivanka points out that it will likely be "at the top of the market."

We asked Donald what asset class he enjoys developing most, and he said hotels present the most exciting opportunity, noting the big impact world class hospitality product can have on an area. Ivanka agreed with Dad, saying "there's nothing quite like the ribbon cutting of a hotel."

Ivanka says the company hasn't gotten involved in DC real estate in the past because the right opportunity hadn't presented itself. (The firm does own Trump National GC in Sterling as well as Trump Winery in Charlottesville, the "largest winery on the East Coast," Donald boasts.) But the Trumps are all in on the OPO, as Donald says the site "has more potential than virtually anything we've seen." He adds that final lease negotiations between the company and the GSA could be finalized in the next few weeks. Finally, when asked about his famous mane? "It is my hair," he says.

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