Trump Organization Puts DC Hotel Lease On The Market: Report

WASHINGTON, DC — A year after a hotel owned by former President Donald Trump's company and housed in the Old Post Office Pavilion was pulled off the real estate market, the property is again up for sale, according to a published report.

The Trump Organization has hired a broker, The Newmark Group, to sell its lease on the property, which is located on Pennsylvania Avenue, after the company had listed the lease in 2019 prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Like other hotels that suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, the hotel owned by the Trump Organization was already struggling prior to the pandemic, the Post reported. The last time the property’s lease was on the market, only about half of the rooms were being occupied. In 2020, the hotel’s revenue fell by 62 percent, according to the report.

Now, the Trump Organization is seeking north of $400 million for the lease of the 263-room hotel, according to a Bloomberg News report. Officials from both the Trump Organization and the Newmark Group have declined comment on the lease sale, according to multiple reports.

The brokerage is part of billionaire Howard Lutnick's empire, according to Bloomberg, which said Lutnick is a prominent Trump supporter.

The timing of the property’s lease being offered up comes after Manhattan’s District Attorney convened a grand jury to decide to indict Trump, executives at his company or the Trump Organization itself, the Post reported.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office is investigating the business operations at hotel as well as other properties owned by Trump' organization. Trump has referred to the gathering of the grand jury as a “continuation of the greatest witch hunt in American history.”

The Post reported that the Trump Organization put an estimated $200 million into renovating the property and took out a $170 million loan to complete project. In 2019, Trump’s son, Eric, said the organization was seeking a price of $500 million. If sold, Trump’s name would most likely be removed from the hotel after his company won the bid for the renovations before he took office.

The Old Post Office Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the most prominent buildings in downtown D.C. At 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, it is situated just blocks from the White House. Construction began on the building in 1892 and it was completed in 1899. It was used as the main General Post Office in D.C. until 1914.

The building underwent a major renovation in 1983, which included several upgrades.