Developers for a massive, $6.5 billion NYC skyscraper with ties to Donald Trump are taking a unique approach to try to fund it

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In today's big story, plans for building the country's tallest, most expensive skyscraper show the challenges around the RTO debate.

What's on deck

Markets: The key to understanding who crushed earnings might be the US dollar.

Tech: There's a new person in one of Amazon's most-prized roles.

Business: Businesses are rushing to cash in on Gen Zers looking for booze-free fun.

But first, the cost of doing business.

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The big story

Sky is the limit

New York City. A new massive — and expensive — skyscraper. Donald Trump.

Plans for 175 Park Avenue have a little bit of everything. They also represent the challenges that come with Corporate America's continued push to get workers back into the office.

Business Insider's Dan Geiger has a story on how New York developers RXR and TF Cornerstone are hoping to build a 1,575-foot-tall office and hotel tower next to Grand Central Terminal with a little help from the federal government.

The tower, which would be the tallest in the US by roof height, won't come cheap. At an estimated cost of $6.5 billion to construct, it would also be the country's most expensive.

That's a hefty bill to foot in the best of circumstances, let alone when serious questions remain about the market for office space.

However, the developers have a unique workaround, Dan reports. They're hoping work they're planning on doing to the neighboring train terminal and subway station will allow them to tap into federal funding.

That's where the president-elect comes in. The federal money is discretionary and distributed by the US Department of Transportation, meaning the Trump administration will make the final call on whether to reward the developers with the loans.

Coincidentally, the project includes tearing down the Commodore Hotel, a property Trump redeveloped nearly 50 years ago, serving as a career breakthrough for the then-young developer.

Financing commercial real-estate, as difficult as it might be, is only half the battle.

Companies' efforts to get workers back to the office haven't always been well received. Take advertising giant WPP. Thousands of workers have signed a petition calling on the firm to revoke its four-day RTO mandate, writes BI's Polly Thompson.

It's not just causing internal drama, as the company's stock is down more than 8% since announcing the RTO plans. (To be fair, WPP is down more than 15% this year.)

It's those types of headaches investors are trying to avoid, which is one of the reasons why funding new commercial real-estate projects has been such an uphill battle.

However, for those willing to take the risk, there might be opportunity. For the companies that are pushing forward with RTO plans, a common theme is arising: They don't have enough space.

From Amazon to AT&T, the call back to the office has been full of chaos due to a lack of resources to accommodate a workforce that sometimes has grown considerably since before the pandemic.

News brief

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3. Records reveal FTC probe of Publishing.com. The company sells $2,000 courses and tools for publishing AI-generated books, and it's drawn scrutiny for flooding Amazon with AI-generated content. A BI investigation found the FTC received 62 complaints against it, alleging high-pressure sales tactics and difficulties getting refunds.

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  What's happening now

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The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Ella Hopkins, associate editor, in London. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York.