__NOTOC__ The JW Marriott Panama (formerly The Bahia Grand Panama, before that Trump International Hotel & Tower Panama, and before that Trump Ocean Club) is a 70 floor, , mixed-use waterfront hotel and condominium tower development in

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, in the area of Punta Pacifica. It opened in 2011 as the first international "named branded development" of

The Trump Organization The Trump Organization is a group of about 500 business entities of which Donald Trump is the sole or principal owner. Around 250 of these entities use the Trump name. The organization was founded in 1927 by Donald Trump's paternal grandmothe ...

. At 284 meters, it is the tallest building in Panama and the tallest building in Central America.

Building

The project was designed by Colombian architects Arias - Serna - Saravia S.A. It includes a five-star hotel of 369 hotel condominium units, 628 residential condominium units, 1500 parking spaces, 36 retail shops, 10 story office tower, a casino operated by Sun International, daily ferry service to the

Pearl Islands The Pearl Islands (Spanish: Archipiélago de las Perlas or Islas de las Perlas) is a group of 200 or more islands and islets (many tiny and uninhabited) lying about off the Pacific coast of Panama in the Gulf of Panama. Islands The most nota ...

, yacht club and pier, wellness spa, gym, pool deck, meeting and event spaces, and a business center. The 13-story base is topped by a tower resembling the

Burj Al Arab The Burj Al Arab ( ar, برج العرب, ''Arab Tower'') is a luxury hotel located in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Managed by Jumeirah hotel group, it is one of the tallest hotels in the world, although 39% of its total heigh ...

, a hotel in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

; before its completion the developer asked for a preemptive injunction against lawsuits by

Jumeirah Group Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts is an Emirati state-owned luxury hotel chain. The Jumeirah Group was created in 1997 and became part of the Dubai Holding in 2004, which is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum's personal corporate portfolio. Profess ...

over the similarity. The interior was designed by

Hirsch Bedner Associates Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) is an American international hospitality design firm originally headquartered in Santa Monica, California but now based in Singapore. HBA is the largest hospitality design firm in the world. History The partnershi ...

. Construction began in May 2007. When built, the tower was the tallest building in Latin America; it remains the tallest in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and still remains the largest mixed use building of its kind in Latin America.

History

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

arranged financing for the project from the

investment bank Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The comp ...

- a $230 million bond offering - for which he received a $2.2 million commission. During the financing,

Ivanka Trump Ivana Marie "Ivanka" Trump (; born October 30, 1981) is an American businesswoman and the first daughter of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. She was a senior advisor in his administration, and also was the ...

falsely claimed that over 90% of the units had been sold, and that their sale price was five times that of comparable units. Ivanka Trump also exaggerated demand for the units, claiming in 2009 they were selling out even as potential buyers were being offered substantial discounts. During the development, Donald Trump falsely implied that the Trump Organization had a financial stake in the project, and that it was acting as the developer, neither of which were true. The building was developed by Roger Khafif, President of the K Group, a

resort developer and three Colombian partners by Newland International Properties Corp. Khafif first conceptualized the project in 2005, and arranged a meeting with Donald Trump via

Marvin Traub Marvin Traub (May 14, 1925 – July 11, 2012) was an American businessman and writer. He was a prominent business executive in the retail sector known for his impact on merchandising and marketing. Traub was CEO and President of Bloomingdale's f ...

. A contract was signed initiating the project in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 2006. Ivanka Trump was given a lead role in developing the project. The hotel opened on July 6, 2011, approximately one year behind schedule, in a ceremony attended by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Ricardo Martinelli Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal (born March 11, 1951) is a Panamanian politician and businessman who was the 36th president of Panama from 2009 to 2014. Early life Born in Panama City, Ricardo Martinelli is the son of Ricardo Martinell ...

. In September 2011

Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency and is one of the " Big Three credit rating agencies", the other two being Moody's and Standard & Poor's. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations ( NRSRO ...

downgraded $220 million in bonds that Newland International Properties Corp. was using to finance construction of the building from B-sf to CCsf because of "continued uncertainty over the willingness and ability" of buyers to take possession of apartment units. Newland licensed the Trump brand name for an initial fee of $1 million, the hotel was the first international Trump "name branded" development to open. Donald Trump reportedly personally profited between $30 million and $55 million from the project. The Trump Organization managed the hotel under contract until March 2018, when

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

businessman Orestes Fintiklis, who had bought a majority stake in the hotel condominium association, legally ousted them and had the Trump name removed from the building in 2015 and from the hotel March 5, 2018. The hotel was temporarily renamed The Bahia Grand Panama prior to Marriott’s involvement. On March 22, the Panamanian law firm Britton and Iglesias unsuccessfully petitioned

Panamanian President This article lists the heads of state of Panama since the short-lived first independence from the Republic of New Granada in 1840 and the final separation from Colombia in 1903. Free State of the Isthmus (1840–1841) Republic of Panama (19 ...

Juan Carlos Varela Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez (; born 13 December 1963) is a Panamanian businessman and former politician who served as the President of Panama from 2014 to 2019. Varela was Vice President of Panama from 2009 to 2014, and Minister of Foreign ...

to intercede and restore the Trump Organization's management team. On June 28, 2018, it was announced that the hotel would become a

JW Marriott JW Marriott is a luxury hotel brand owned by Marriott International. History The JW Marriott brand was established in 1984, with the opening of the first hotel in Washington, D.C. It was named as a tribute to J.W. Marriott, the founder of Marr ...

. It was officially renamed on September 26, 2018. In June 2019 Fintiklis accused Trump companies of

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

Gallery

References

External links

Official website
{{Trump businesses Casinos in Panama Donald Trump real estate JW Marriott Hotels Hotels in Panama Residential buildings completed in 2011 Residential skyscrapers in Panama City Skyscraper hotels Skyscrapers in Panama City 2011 establishments in Panama Hotels established in 2011 Hotel buildings completed in 2011

Building

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links