REUTERS: DONALD TRUMP

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Celebrity property tycoon Donald Trump plans a joint venture to build a 65-story complex in Panama City as developers ride a wave of excitement generated by a proposed Panama Canal expansion.

Developers expect an influx of foreign professionals as the waterway undergoes its biggest overhaul in history. A referendum on the Canal project is expected later this year.

The 2.4 million-square-foot (223,000-sq-metre) Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower will cost more than $220 million and include 500 luxury condominiums, 312 hotel units, a private beach, a marina and a casino, the project's developers said on Tuesday.

Construction will start this year and be completed in 2009.

The Trump Organization, Panamanian luxury resort developer K Group and Colombian construction company Arias Serna Saravia will carry out the work.

"Right now we have a booming baby boom market from the U.S and Canada, with retirees and investors looking for new locations," said Roger Khafif, president of Panama's K Group.

The building will be among the tallest in Panama and is the first Trump venture of this size in Latin America. It will be built in the center of Panama City, in an upscale residential area known as Punta Pacifica, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Other planned buildings in the city include the Ice Tower, which at over 100 floors will be the largest residential block in Central America. It also is slated for completion in 2009.
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