City OKs Trump Condo-Hotel in Soho

Donald Trump has his condo-hotel. After a year-long debate, the city finally approved construction plans on Monday for the 45-story Trump SoHo Condo-Hotel at 246 Spring Street.

The planned project, backed by the Trump and the Sapir organizations, would be the first hotel in New York in an area specifically zoned for manufacturing. The plans were approved despite the protests of politicians and a coalition of community and business groups who maintain that the condo-hotel violates the zoning of the site, which prohibits any residential usage.

"There's a specific and philosophical problem with it," City Council Speaker Christine Quinn told The Observer in November. "Specifically, I think it's too large and out of context. Philosophically, I don't like the idea of having loopholes in manufacturing zones."

Mr. Trump originally applied for permits for construction last May, but was rejected due to the presence of kitchens in the condo-hotel, a sure sign it would be more condo-like (and, therefore, not enough hotel-like). A year later, after wrangling with public officials and activists, Mr. Trump has finally gotten the approval he knew would come.

Andrew Berman, the head of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, vowed to find new ways to fight the project.