During construction, it was discovered that the structure was being built upon an abolitionist church's burial site. This was followed in January 2008, by the horrific accident of a construction worker, falling 42 stories to his death, when a construction site floor collapsed.

Initial financing was arranged by a Russian-born businessman, Felix Sater, with his company Bayrock. It surfaced that in 1998 Sater had been convicted of securities fraud with Russian criminal and New York Mafia ties.

In a collaborative report, ProPublica, The New Yorker and WNYC, published an article that examined the Manhattan District Attorney's Office investigation of Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., which began in 2010. The Trumps allegedly inflated the figures of the numbers of condo units sold at Trump SoHo, misleading potential buyers.

The report suggested donations to the District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. by Donald Trump's personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz, influenced the decision to drop the case against Trump's children. Although Vance returned Kasowitz's original $25,000 campaign contribution, Kasowitz later with others donated $50,000 to Vance.

Vance denied the contributions influenced his office's handling of this case, and following the collaborative investigation, four years later, Vance has said he plans to return the second contribution, as well.

Buyers of the Trump SoHo units filed a civil lawsuit which they settled in 2011. The plaintiffs received 90% of their deposits and attorneys fees. But as part of their settlement, they agreed not to cooperate with prosecutors, unless subpoenaed, according to the joint report.

As another possible incentive for disassociation, multiple publications including Bloomberg and Vanity Fair, note that special prosecutor Robert Mueller is looking at Sater and Bayrock, as part of the probe of Russian influence in the US elections.

Finally, Trump SoHo had also been part of a lawsuit filed by other hotels and restaurants, and a public watchdog group, alleging President Trump has violated the Constitution's emoluments clause. This law prohibits those holding office from accepting payments from foreign governments. The plaintiffs claim this would include paying to stay at hotels, where the president stands to profit.

Reuters reports that Trump's lawyers say the Trump Organization's ending its relationship with Trump SoHo supports dismissal of the emoluments lawsuit. However, the Trump Organization continues to develop other properties such as its lease of the Old Post Office Building at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, which was converted to Trump International Hotel, Washington, DC.