In 2012, ex-mayor Eduardo Paes shook hands with Donald Trump Jnr, vice president of the Trump Organisation, as they announced the construction of the a development which would bear the name of the North American magnate: Trump Towers Rio. The mayor said it would be “the biggest real estate investment in the city.”
The project was planned to compliment the Trump Hotel Rio, in Barra de Tijuca, the first Trump development in the country, which was being built for the start of the Olympic Games.
The plan was for the Trump Towers to contain five 150m tall towers. The towers were budgeted at 6 billion reals by the general value of sales (VDV). The plan was to rent office space to big companies, or to offer them to investors over the long term.
The main companies involved included the partner MRP Internacional, from Bulgaria, and Even Construtora e Incorporadora, from Sao Paulo. This company donated, in the 2012 mayoral elections in Rio de Janeiro, 50,000 reals to Eduardo Paes, who was elected.