The beginning of the Trump Era in Manhattan, considered one of the most successful restorations in history.
In one of the most famous real estate deals in history, in 1976, Donald J. Trump and the Hyatt Corporation partnered to buy the Commodore Hotel, now known as the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
Since many of the buildings near the hotel were in or on the verge of foreclosure, and New York City was facing bankruptcy, Mr. Trump was able to negotiate an unprecedented contract in which the city provided a 40-year tax abatement, the first ever granted to a commercial property.
Furthermore, the Bowery Savings Bank, and other smaller banks, also promised Mr. Trump $70 million in mortgages in an effort to rejuvenate the area. At first, the building was going to be a small, moderate hostelry. After construction started in 1979, the economy slowly picked up and the plans switched, and it became the 25-story hotel it is today. The renovations also established the Trump signature facade of mirrored glass and stainless steel.
What could have been a disaster, putting Trump in massive debts, was credited with overturning the deterioration of the Grand Central Area. On October 7, 1996, Hyatt Corporation purchased Trump's half- share in the hotel for $142 million.