President-elect Donald Trump's new Washington, D.C. hotel was making headlines even before it opened this past October as a result of Trump's polarizing presidential campaign.
In the latest twist surrounding the Trump International Hotel, Washington, D.C., several companies allege that the luxury hotel owes a hefty $5 million in unpaid labor. Citing multiple liens filed on the hotel, Bloomberg reported that electricians, wood workers and a plumbing and heating business have made claims against the hotel.
The Trump Organization spent $212 million renovating the Old Post Office building into a 263-room luxury hotel.
Private plumbing firm Joseph J. Magnolia, Inc. filed a lien claiming it's owed $2.98 million for work completed between September 2014 and December 2016.
"They have been decent people and so forth but the issues that are going on now, with all the talk about removing him from the lease we are concerned about what is going to happen there," the family-owned company's president John D. Magnolia told the Washington Post. "So it's basically a business decision that we had to make."
Meanwhile, Maryland's AES Electrical Inc. filed a lien claiming it's owed $2.075 million.
Lastly, Virginia-based A&D Construction filed a lien against the property one day after Election Day, claiming it was owed $79,700 for wall base and crown molding work.
In an emailed statement to the Post, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization stopped short of addressing the specifics of the liens, only saying that they are "not uncommon."
[READMORE] READ MORE: Donald Trump's New DC Hotel Ranked Among Worst of 2016 [/READMORE]
"In developments of this scale and complexity the filing of nominal liens at the conclusion of construction is not uncommon as part of the close-out process," the spokesperson said. "In the case of Trump International Hotel, Washington D.C., the Trump Organization has invested over $200 million dollars into the redevelopment of the historic Old Post Office and is incredibly proud of what is now considered to be one the most iconic hotels anywhere in the country."
As Magnolia alluded to, Trump has come under fire from a group of House Democrats who are concerned about a potential conflict of interest if Trump were to be sworn into the White House Jan. 20 without fully divesting himself of all financial interests in the hotel's lease.
In a series of Twitter posts last month, Trump said he plans to leave his businesses before taking office.
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