The 7,132 square-foot unit is one of 11 with a penthouse designation in the building, New York property records show. The Trump Organization still owns about 20 units in the condominium building worth a combined $170mn, according to a Bloomberg assessment last year.
Faisal bin Abdul Majeed al-Saud leased Penthouse 21 in 2013 and stopped paying rent in or about January 2017, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in New York state court in Manhattan. A lawyer for the tenant said last month that he had moved out, according to the complaint.
The tenant had agreed in June 2014 to extend the lease through June 2019, according to the complaint. Trump Park Avenue seeks more than $1.8mn in back rent and more than $1.9mn in future rent. The lease modification agreement set a schedule for rent hikes through 2019, and called for rent of $115,762.50 per month beginning in July 2017, according to the lawsuit. That’s far in excess of the $75,000-per-month the unit was listed for that same month on the website StreetEasy.
The 35-story building, located at 59th Street and Park Avenue, once housed the Hotel Delmonico. It was converted into 120 condominium units in 2002.
In February 2017, Trump sold one of the penthouses to Angela Chen, who previously lived on the building’s fifth floor. From there, she ran Global Alliance Associates, which specialises in establishing “influential relationships with key decision-makers” in China for its clients, according to the firm’s website.
Chen bought the unit at a premium, Bloomberg reported at the time. The unit went for $15.9mn – almost $2mn more than what a larger unit sold for a year earlier.
Attorneys for Trump Park Avenue didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking further comment.
The case is Trump Park Avenue LLC v. Faisal Bin Abdul Majeed Al Saud, 650799/2018, New York State Supreme Court, New York County.
Trump Park Avenue in New York. Faisal bin Abdul Majeed al-Saud leased Penthouse 21 in 2013 and stopped paying rent in or about January 2017, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in New York state court in Manhattan. A lawyer for the tenant said last month that he had moved out, according to the complaint.
