White Plains Condominium Complex Severs Ties with Trump
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Trump Tower City Center, a 35-story condominium in White Plains, officially has a new name.
Earlier this month, The Tower at City Place announced that the building had concluded its official rebranding effort, severing ties with former President Donald Trump’s name as well as the Trump Organization.
Anthony Schembri, President of the Board of Managers at The Tower at City Place, said that the June announcement was the culmination of a decision made last winter by building residents to part ways with any affiliation with the former president.
“We have open board meetings every month, and in January of 2021, there was a lot more discussion about rebranding and the name of the building for a variety of reasons,” Schembri explained.
Among the reasons unit owners expressed were a desire to distance the building from Trump’s name after his presidency and the January 6 insurrection, stabilize property values, and have the building’s brand be more apolitical.
“Even before January [2021], there was always a group of unit owners who thought the brand should be more apolitical so there was no bend one way or another politically that could impact folks not wanting to purchase in a Trump-branded building or the opposite quite frankly,” Schembri noted.
After unit owners expressed their concerns at the board meeting, a survey was distributed via SurveyMonkey so the Board of Directors could get a better picture of what residents thought about rebranding and changing building management.
Overwhelmingly, the survey found that unit owners wanted to pursue both options. Schembri explained that had residents separated the two, it may have been difficult to move forward with distancing the building from Trump.
“The Trump Organization doesn’t typically manage buildings that are not Trump-branded,” Schembri said.
Following the survey, unit owners voted in a special election in order to officially change the name outside the building, conduct a complete re-papering of the condo bylaws, and change the management agent.
The two-thirds majority that was needed was met, and, from there, the Board could move forward with facilitating the official rebranding and hiring of a new management agent. Ultimately, the building decided on AKAM, which took over management in August 2021.
AKAM also took over the management of Trump Plaza New Rochelle from the Trump Organization in September 2021. After AKAM took over management, it was speculated that they may also ditch the Trump moniker. However, a Trump Plaza New Rochelle spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
At this time, a luxury condo community for residents over 55 in Shrub Oak — the Trump Park Residences — maintains its affiliation with the former president. There has been speculation that the active-living community may also look toward a branding and management change. However, a spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Schembri said because the White Plains building was on a month-to-month contract with Trump Organization, they were able to switch to AKAM as the building manager without having to pay any buyout fees.
“We were able to end the contract when we had made a final decision, which is really based on the vote,” Schembri said. “Once the unit owners voted to change, the Trump folks obviously didn’t want to manage a building that didn’t want to work with them any longer.”
“We were fortunate in the sense that none of that became an obstacle,” Schembri added.
Bailey has journalism experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties and New York City on topics related to LGBTQ+ issues, women’s rights, climate change, the environment, and local politics. They have been a full-time reporter with Examiner Media since July 2021. Read more details from Bailey’s bio here. Read Bailey’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/baileyhosfelt/
