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The senior vice president who led The Trump Organization's redevelopment of the Old Post Office Building into a luxury hotel left the company a day after the high-profile ribbon-cutting.
David Orowitz, who spent more than eight years working for Donald Trump's company, sent an email Thursday afternoon informing friends and colleagues that he is leaving the company. The message, acquired by Bisnow, said he intends to stay in real estate development, but offered no other information about his future plans.
David spearheaded the company's $200M redevelopment of the Old Post Office Pavilion on Pennsylvania Avenue NW into a Trump International Hotel. Just yesterday, Trump took a break from his presidential campaign to celebrate the hotel's ribbon-cutting with his family.
Messages to the Trump Organization seeking comment were not immediately returned. When reached by phone, David said he wanted to stay with the Trump Org to see the renovation through. He declined to comment on any questions regarding his now-former employer's current political campaign.
"We started that proposal almost six years ago now," David tells Bisnow. "I’ve been pretty invested in getting it done right. We’ve done that now. It seemed like the logical time" to step down.
The campaign brought a wave of attention to the project and quite a bit of controversy. Two famous chefs, Jose Andres and Geoffrey Zakarian, pulled out of agreements to open restaurants in the hotel after Trump launched his campaign with incendiary comments about Mexicans. Trump sued both chefs, who countered with lawsuits of their own. None have been resolved.
In discovery for the Andres lawsuit, an email was released showing David expressing frustration with Trump's anti-immigrant comments and predicting its effect on the company.
“Ugh,” David wrote in the email. “This is not surprising and would expect that this will not be the last that we hear of it. At least for formal prepared speeches, can someone vet going forward? Hopefully the Latino community does not organize against us more broadly in DC/across Trump properties.”
Protests and polarizing rhetoric from his employer have reportedly hurt the hotel's business during its early days.
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