The presentation of the Trump Tower Tbilisi project, which is slated for construction on the grounds of the former Hippodrome in the Saburtalo district, has taken place in Tbilisi. The event was attended not only by representatives of the developer companies, but also by government officials, including Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.
According to the prime minister, over $2 billion will be invested in the development, with the total floor area of the buildings reaching 600,000 square meters. The tower itself will rise to a height of 282 meters and feature 62 stories.
Eric Trump, Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization and son of US President Donald Trump, addressed the presentation attendees via video link.
“I really look forward to coming to Georgia. A lot of Georgians live in America, and they are the warmest people. It is truly wonderful that such love exists between these two countries, and all of this gives special significance to our relationship.”
Earlier, several Georgian media outlets had reported that Eric Trump would attend the event in person.
The primary developers of the project will be the Georgian companies Invia and Archi, the latter owned by former member of parliament from the Georgian Dream party Ilia Tsulaia. The Trump Organization is merely licensing its name and brand under a licensing agreement. As such, the building itself will not be owned by the American company.
Plans to construct a Trump Tower in Georgia had surfaced before. In 2012, a project for a 47-story tower in Batumi was announced with the involvement of then-President Mikheil Saakashvili. That same year, Donald Trump—who had not yet entered active politics—visited the Black Sea city and met in person with Georgia’s third president.
The realization of that project stalled and was ultimately abandoned after Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili came to power, with Ivanishvili describing the initiative as a “gimmick” orchestrated by Trump and Saakashvili.