The U.S. government sold the former Trump hotel in downtown Washington, D.C., as it continues to reduce its real estate holdings.
The historic Old Post Office Building at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW that operates as a 263-key Waldorf Astoria hotel traded hands, the General Services Administration, the federal agency that manages government real estate, said Wednesday.
The property was purchased by merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners, owner of the leasehold on the property that confirmed the acquisition via email to CoStar News. The firm declined to comment further.
A leaseholder has the legal right to use and occupy a property for a period defined by the terms of a lease agreement. Full ownership of the building and the land beneath it sold for $80 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. The city of Washington had not posted a deed for the transaction as of late Wednesday.
“This sale supports GSA’s ongoing effort to reduce the federal government’s real estate holdings and concentrate resources on core assets,” the GSA said. It added that terms of the ground lease include a right of first offer to the current tenant, affiliates of BDT & MSD Partners.
The federal government has been offloading several properties in the District it deems costly and or underutilized.
“More than $250 million in private-sector capital has been invested in the property, and total taxpayer revenues over the last 10 years, including the current sale, are expected to exceed $110 million,” the GSA said in a statement.
President Trump's firm opened hotel
Word of a potential sale of the Old Post Office, built in the late 19th century, had been discussed for months.
President Donald Trump's family business, The Trump Organization, opened The Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C., in the Old Post Office Building in September 2016. A grand opening celebration took place Oct. 26, 2016, less than two weeks before Trump was elected president for the first time. He took office in January 2017.
After a three-year saga centered on criticism of the family of a sitting president owning and profiting from the operation of the hotel, the Trump Organization agreed in 2021 to sell the leasehold on the building for $375 million to CGI Merchant Group, a Miami-based firm that planned to rebrand the hotel as a Waldorf Astoria.
A global investment management firm, CGI had ties to former New York Yankees superstar third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
The hotel reopened as the Waldorf Astoria Washington, D.C., in June 2022. BDT & MSD Partners acquired the leasehold interest on the property in 2024, CoStar data show.
“It remains business as usual at Waldorf Astoria Washington DC,” a spokesperson for Hilton, owner of the Waldorf Astoria brand, told CoStar News via email.
The GSA said it permanently secured public access to the property's clock tower while establishing protections for the building’s architectural heritage and artwork inside it via a preservation covenant and a fine arts covenant.