The Nike Town project was a rare example of Trump actually being the kind of savvy real estate developer he describes himself as in “The Art of the Deal.” Other Trump deals were artless with tax dodges or undocumented workers or wise guys or reckless financing or broken promises or groundless lawsuits or bankruptcies. The agreement that Trump swung with Nike and the owners of the ground leases of two buildings he had acquired while securing the site of Trump Tower showed some genuine art for once.
And for Trump, the deal took on a significance beyond the millions Nike paid him in rent in addition to footing the full cost of demolishing the existing buildings and constructing the new flagship store.
Some of the snootier personages of Manhattan saw the arrival of the sneaker company as proof of a social decline that had begun with the erection of gaudy Trump Tower.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member