Mayor Dismisses Trump-ed Up Rumors


Galveston County Daily News, October 15, 2009
by Laura Elder

GALVESTON —Trump card: That rumor about real estate mogul Donald Trump planning some kind of island development won’t go away. But Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said there’s no truth to the latest tattle that she met with Trump and Tilman Fertitta, CEO of Landry’s Restaurants Inc., about a possible development on the East End Flats, the largest undeveloped parcel of land behind the protective seawall.

“I have never met Mr. Trump,” Thomas said.

Thomas last spoke with Fertitta in February during the yearly Mardi Gras party that he and wife, Paige, throw at their San Luis Hotel and Resort on the island.

But Fertitta and Thomas didn’t speak about the East End Flats.

Last month, the Galveston Island Redevelopment Authority voted to end its agreement with island developer Sullivan Interests, which had planned to lobby the federal government to give the city the 600-acre dredge spoil site that now belongs to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In 2007, the city council decided to solicit a private developer to help win the release of the flats from federal control. Sullivan Interests won the bid and agreed to spend $500,000 to push for the transfer to the city.

Thomas supported Sullivan Interests’ efforts, and other city officials have long wanted to see the tract developed. But some critics, including Councilwoman Elizabeth Beeton, also a member of the redevelopment authority, had problems with the deal.

Chief among her criticisms was the city didn’t advertise its request for proposals to develop the land widely enough to gauge interest among national firms.

Fertitta did not immediately respond to inquiries. Attempts to reach anyone in the Trump organization were unsuccessful.

Considering recent events surrounding the flats, Thomas didn’t find humor in the rumor. But she said she would be happy to speak with Trump, famous for developing and branding some of the plushest hotels, casinos and building complexes in New York City.

“I don’t know of any reason Mr. Trump would have to contact me,” Thomas said.

Some who’ve overheard the fresh talk about Trump insist enthusiasm and hope, not malice, are behind the rumors.

Fertitta does know Trump or, at least, has had business dealings with him.

In May 2006, the island native met with The Donald when Landry’s opened The Rainforest Cafe in Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.

In unconfirmed 2007 rumors, Trump was said to have had the flats land under contract. His name surfaced again on the island in 2008, when rumors swirled that Bovis Lend Lease had been tapped as construction manager for a $300 million, 38-story residential tower planned for a site just east of Stewart Beach.

Bovis Lend Lease handles a good part of Trump’s construction management. That high-rise project never got off the ground, however.