Tall & Urban News

Vancouver’s Trump Hotel has permanently closed, citing the pandemic, but it could reopen under another brand.

The land and building is owned by TA Global Berhad, a multinational Malaysian property company headed by Joo Kim Tiah, which paid to license rights to use the Trump name.

TA Global said two of its Canadian subsidiaries, which leased and ran Trump Hotel and Tower Vancouver, are insolvent after the pandemic hobbled the hotel business, with revenue plummeting while expenses continued. The closure of the hotel has left hundreds of hotel employees out of work.

TA Global said TA Hotel Management Limited Partnership and TA Hotel GP Ltd. are bankrupt. TA Hotel Management’s bankruptcy filing showed it had assets of CA$1.104 million (US$845,200) and debts of CA$4.795 million (US$3.7 million). Grant Thornton Ltd. was named bankruptcy trustee.

Naming the 147-room hotel for the American president was unpopular locally. There were protests outside, including on opening day. Gregor Robertson, then the city’s mayor, asked for the Trump name to be removed, describing it as having “no more place on Vancouver’s skyline than his ignorant ideas have in the modern world.”

The Washington Post said that since Trump became U.S. president, three other hotels bearing his name have cut ties with the brand and reopened under other names. In Vancouver, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has reportedly been looking for a hotel since losing its lease at its Pacific Centre location earlier this year.

The bankruptcy filing also affected the 200-unit condominium section of the tower because owners relied on TA Hotel Management Limited Partnership to operate the building itself. The strata council assured residents it was making arrangements to ensure basic services in the building would be maintained.

For more on this story, go to the Vancouver Sun.