Why does Melania Trump own a US$1.5 million 1-bedroom apartment in Trump Tower?
The United States Office of Government Ethics has released US President Donald Trump's 2019 financial disclosure form.
These forms reveal much about Trump's finances – including the reimbursement of the alleged hush money that his lawyer Michael Cohen paid the adult-film actress Stormy Daniels – but the form also provides insight into First Lady Melania Trump's income.
Two of her disclosures were related to a one-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom apartment in Trump Tower in Manhattan that Melania Trump bought from the building’s condominium board for almost US$1.5 million in January 2016, according to The Real Deal property magazine and property consultants, City Realty.
Check out what we know about the mysterious apartment the first lady owns in Trump Tower, which was opened in 1983.
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Located on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, Trump Tower's 68 floors contain 263 apartments.
The 26th floor housed the president's office for the Trump Organization. He reportedly had a private lift that could whisk him from his office to his penthouse.
The bottom floors feature space for offices, dining, and retail, while condominiums fill up floors 30 to 68.
Notable celebrities who have lived in the building include actor Bruce Willis, the late singer Michael Jackson, the late US chat show host Johnny Carson and singer-composer Paul Anka.
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The sixth floor of Trump Tower has been the home of the Trump campaign and where NBC’s reality television show The Apprentice was filmed.
The Trump family's penthouse takes up the top three floors. It's one of several units the president has owned in his namesake high-rise building over the years.
Melania Trump owns apartment H on the 33rd floor.
There are no photos of that unit available online, but there are photos from StreetEasy, the residential property listings website, which show apartment 32H, which looks to have the same layout.
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We reviewed several H floor plans on different floors of Trump Tower, and they all seem to follow this layout.
Melanie Trump’s apartment measures 1,052 square feet (98 square metres) and is located on the southeast corner of the building, overlooking Fifth Avenue and East 56th Street.
It has one bedroom, also with sweeping views.
Trump's disclosure form lists “721 33H LLC”, the apartment’s address and a pass-through company for the property, saying the property is valued at between US$1,000,001 and US$5 million.
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It also has a large walk-in wardrobe, although the one in the penthouse upstairs looks much larger.
In January 2016, Melania bought the apartment for US$1.49 million, apparently from the building's condominium board. It appears to be the only one the board has ever bought, The Real Deal said, citing property records.
This type of unit (a studio or one-bedroom apartment in a luxury skyscraper) is usually used for staff members of residents who have much larger apartments in the building, or for a live-in superintendent.
The condominium board first bought apartment 33H for US$650,000 in 1997.
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While it’s unclear why the first lady bought this apartment. Some people suggest that it was for use as a library.
Or maybe it’s just a private space for her to get away from it all and relax. Since she has never mentioned the apartment, it's a mystery.
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- The US first lady bought the luxury 33rd-floor property in January 2016 from the condominium board of the New York high-rise owned by her husband