Government gets $80M for Trumps former DC hotel new owners now exploring $400M sale
The federal government has quietly sold one of Washington DC’s most storied addresses — just steps from the White House, to boot.It offloaded the landmark Old Post Office Building on Pennsylvania Avenue to the merchant bank that already controls the property for a reported $80 million — a deal that could quickly flip for five times that amount.The General Services Administration confirmed Wednesday that BDT & MSD Partners, which has held the leasehold on the 263-room Waldorf Astoria hotel since snatching it out of foreclosure in 2024, has now acquired the underlying land and building outright. The GSA said the transaction “supports GSA’s ongoing effort to reduce the federal government’s real estate holdings and concentrate resources on core assets.”The sale price, which the GSA declined to confirm, was reported by the Wall Street Journal at $80 million based on people familiar with the matter.That figure, while steep on its face, may prove to be a bargain. BDT & MSD is already entertaining a handful of suitors reportedly circling the property at around $400 million.The gap between buy and sell price reflects a fundamental shift in the asset’s profile.
A long-term lease, even one spanning nearly a century, carries inherent risk.Full ownership of both building and land eliminates all of that, making the Romanesque Revival tower at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave.
a far cleaner trophy for any investor or hotel group looking to plant a flag steps from the White House.The GSA said the deal permanently secures public access to the building’s iconic clock tower while establishing binding protections for its architectural heritage through a preservation covenant. A separate fine arts covenant ensures that works inside the building, including Robert Irwin’s 48 Shadow Planes and a Benjamin Franklin statue, remain the property of the American people.A spokesperson for the Hilton hotel group said “it remains business as usual at Waldorf Astoria Washin...