The 213-acre Seven Springs property in Bedford, NY was bought by Donald Trump for 7.5 million dollars, in 1995 and belongs to the Trump Organization. The property lies about one hour drive outside of New York City, in Westchester county, close to Connecticut. This image is from the Trump’s organization website, and the mansion is truly opulent. At 7.5 million dollars, many consider this a real bargain.
See link from the Trump organization website:
The interior of the Seven Springs mansion is also stunning. It is also immaculate because no one lives there. Trump hasn’t visited the property in over four years. I’m certain there is a staff, keeping the place immaculate. He wanted this property as an investment, but every time he tried to develop the property, he ran into opposition.
It was used initially as a family get away location, where Donald and his family could get away during the hot summer months. His sons remember the property as children, where Donald Trump would have them do chores on the property and learn a bit about construction.
Trump wanted to build a golf course at Seven Springs and spent 9 years (I think 2005 to 2013) getting this approved. However, one little problem emerged, namely the golf course lawn would need fertilizer to be kept nice and green for the golfers. And the unspent fertilizer would run off into the Byram Lake, causing pollution. It’s a very common problem, as fertilizer is high in nitrates, and excessive vegetation will starve fish and other marine life of oxygen. The lake is used to supply drinking water to Mount Kisco and so real health issues were involved. So, this might explain why Trump deep down hates environmentalists. They stopped his golf course plans.
The property lies within 3 townships, Bedford, New Castle and North Castle, and residents vigorously protested the golf course on the basis of increased traffic and environmental issues. So by 2013, Trump gave up on the idea of the grand 18-hole golf course, and looked to subdivide the property and build houses on the property. More permits, more protests. Nothing really panned out.
In February 2019, Donald Trump’s lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, testified under oath in the Congressional Oversight Committee, accusing Donald Trump of inflating the value of his properties, to enhance his ability to secure loans. In his testimony, he specifically stated that the Seven Springs property had been valued at a whopping 291 million dollars. In his book in 2020, entitled Disloyal, he named other properties which the Trump organization would double or triple the value, in a very cavalier manner.
In March 2021, the Associated Press published a well researched article on the “sleepy NY estate” like a sleepy dog that you do not dare to disturb. The undevelopable property found a way to make money for Trump anyway, by making an arrangement with the state, not to develop it, and be paid for environmental conservation. Imagine that! The Donald who wanted to become rich by building another golf course, and pollute Lake Byram was now an environmentalist. Well a greedy and dishonest environmentalist who knew how to work the system was what he was.
AP Article: Claimed value of sleepy NY estate could come to haunt Trump
There is more irony to this story. Donald Trump who claims to love his country so much, he wraps himself up in the American flag, was bilking millions from the government (and tax payers) with the conservation payments based on highly exagerrated property evaluation.
Axiom exposed the wide ranging valuation issues in September 2021.
Link: Key takeaways from New York AG’s lawsuit against Trump
It seems Eric Trump was really the one negotiating and approving these deals. The charges against Donald Trump are very long (222 pages). Everything is over appraised, apartment buildings, hotels and golf courses. A total of 23 properties are involved. See links at the end of this posting.
The court case begins on October 2, 2023 and is scheduled to go four months. It is a witch hunt in a sense that the skeletons of the Trump’s shady business deals are coming out of the closet. Actually, there is a warehouse full of skeletons. I pity the jury, who must go through all this, but it will prove again that Donald Trump and his sons have little respect for the law.
I suspect the IRS and the Justice Department will be closely following this case, and they have the authority to bring criminal charges against Donald Trump and likely Eric Trump as well. It still baffles me how Trump receives millions of dollars in contributions to defend his illegal actions, which in this case, hurt the taxpayers. Not the way to make America great.
Stay tuned,
Dave
Summary of Charges
Lawsuit Filed by New York State Attorney General Office
news and views 
The summary judgement against Trump in the NY state case is now big headline news. The courts will now turn to receivership of his NY properties. When the court case begins, Donald, Eric and Donald Jr. will be called as witnesses. I believe this case will not be televised.
My Seven Springs blog on Sept 12 just zeroed in on one of Trump’s properties, where overvaluation was very apparent. I’m glad to be proven right by the court. Also kudos to Michael Cohen, Trump’s fixer who alerted the public to the gross fraud by Trump’s business organization. Kudos to New York State Attorney General Letitia James. Yet his followers seem adamant to put him back in the White House, and appoint the next Attorney General. Serious?
LikeLike