Trump gets go-ahead for Palm Beach Club

Real Estate Weekly, June 16, 1993 by Lois Weiss

The Palm Beach Town Council approved plan last week to turn Donald J. Trump's mansion into a private club. The nearly 17-acre estate, known as Mar-A-Lago, was built by Marjorie Merriweather Post and E.F. Hutton in 1920 and lies between the ocean and the inter-coastal in one of the most elegant parts of the slender island.

At 89,000 square feet and somewhere green 118 and 140 rooms depending who's counting, it is the largest estate Palm Beach and Trump said it is ranked the number one home in America. He deemed numbers two and three as the late William Randolf Hearst's Pacific. Ocean retreat, San Simeon, which is open to tourists and the Vanderbilt mansion, the Breakers, in Newport Rhode Island, which is now a museum.

Trump has been trying to conver Mar-A-Lago, which menas "from sea to lake, " for the last three years amidst lawsuits against the Town Council, which he said he will now drop. "This is much very happy and honored. This will be the greatest club and the town wil be very proud of this for years to come."

The private club will hve a small golf course, swimming in atremendous pool, ten guest rooms, ocean and lake from access and what Trump describes as "a world class spa." The members will partake of the finest in food and enjoy private parties and perhaps some casino charity nights--notto be unexpected with a casino operator in charge.

With some of the toniest private clubs fetching over $50,000 and into a reported six figures for the Palm Beach Country Club and with other staid Palm Beach society clubs "restricted," the 500 world's richest sonic boomers shouldn't be surprised to find they must fork over $100,000 to pamper themselves in the luxurious surroundings.

Trump said membership fees have not been set but he expects the club to open for a partial season next year and a complete season the following year. "I've been inundated with requests for membership, he laughed.

At one time, the home had been ne- glected and was even considered for use by a cult. Trurap rescued the property from other developers who were intent on subdivision and then lost their funding. Stepping in as White Knights, Trump and his former wife, Ivana, meticulously restored the elegant home with silk wallpapers, fine furniture and objects d'art. It soon became the most coveted invitation in town and several charity events were held there.

After their divorce, Ivana was given the use of Mar-A-Lago for the month of March for two years ending in 1993.

One Palm Beach resident, who asked not to be quoted by name, said people were relieved the landmarked property would be maintained and preserved rather than being subdivided.

"We are all in favor of supporting Mr. Trump to make it a great success," said Jesse Newman, president of the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce.