When her husband’s tumultuous presidential campaign was in full swing in January 2016, Melania Trump purchased a one-bedroom, 1.5-bath apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower for $1.5 million, according to President Donald Trump‘s 2018 financial disclosure form, released by the Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday.
The first lady bought apartment 33H at Trump Tower from the building’s condo board, according to a review of records by The Real Deal. The unit is reportedly the only one the condo board has ever purchased.
The Real Deal notes that the unit is listed on Trump’s financial disclosure form as “721 33H LLC,” under a section titled “Spouse’s Employment Assets and Income.” The entity was assigned a value of between $1,000,001 – $5,000,000.
It’s unclear whether the first lady bought the apartment for her own personal use, for someone else, as an investment, or another reason.
Mrs. Trump, 48, is currently recovering at Walter Reed Medical Center after undergoing a surgical procedure for a benign kidney condition on Monday.
Asked about the reason Mrs. Trump purchased the Trump Tower apartment, her communications director, Stephanie Grisham, told PEOPLE, “I will be happy to ask her once she’s out of the hospital.”
Amanda Miller, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, referred PEOPLE to the first lady’s press office for comment.
The Real Deal reported that the 1,052-square-foot apartment Mrs. Trump owns on the southeast corner of the building is most commonly designated for staff who work at Trump Tower.
Sources told the outlet that the building’s condominium board would typically buy such a unit for a live-in superintendent or resident manager.
There’s a slight possibility the unit was purchased to use as an amenity space, such as a library, sources told the Real Deal.
There are no public photos available of unit 33H, but Business Insider shared photos of a similar unit in the building the president called home before moving into the White House. Trump’s lavish family penthouse takes up the top three floors of Trump Tower.
Mrs. Trump continued living in Trump Tower for five months after her husband took up residence in Washington, D.C., following his inauguration. Mrs. Trump said she and son Barron, 12, stayed behind so he could finish up the school year in New York City. They later moved into the White House in June 2017.
The unit Mrs. Trump owns is 35 floors below the Trumps’ penthouse, and seven floors above the president’s former office for the Trump Organization. The sixth floor of Trump Tower has been used for the Trump campaign and to film Trump’s reality series The Apprentice.
The 68-floor Trump Tower building opened in 1983 and has been home to stars such as Bruce Willis, Michael Jackson, Johnny Carson and Paul Anka, according to Town & Country.
