After constantly touting the success of converting the Old Post Office into a hotel in Washington D.C. during the length of his Presidency, the Trumps are selling their interest in the property.
The family hotel company run by the former POTUS is selling the rights to its Washington D.C. hotel for $375 million, the Wall Street Journal reported this weekend.
The buyer is Miami based CGI Merchant Group, which is "in contract to acquire the hotel lease for the Trump International Hotel". The hotel is located on Pennsylvania Avenue, a short walk from the White House.
CGI plans on removing the Trump name and converting the property to a Hilton Waldorf Astoria. The sale is expected to close in Q1 2022, the report says.
Sean Hennessey, chief executive of Lodging Advisors, a New York hospitality consulting firm, said: "If it becomes affiliated with a luxury brand, that brand can create a new identity for the property."
Ownership of the hotel technically belongs to the federal government, WSJ writes, but its lease runs "close to 100 years".
The sale comes at a time when the Biden administration and House committees are investigating potential conflicts of interest by President Trump. For example, The House Committee on Oversight and Reform is looking into lease terms between the Trump Organization and the federal government’s General Services Administration for use of the property.
Over four years, the hotel generated about $150 million in revenue, Trump's financial disclosures revealed. Disclosures for 2020 and 2021 show the hotel made just $15 million in revenue, versus $40 million in 2019.
The sale comes as a blow to Trump's hotel holdings, the WSJ noted, calling the property a "jewel" in the family's portfolio. It was also a popular meeting place for the GOP during Trump's tenure as President.
That house committee will continue to look at “conflicts of interest and potential constitutional violations raised by Donald Trump’s lease of this hotel from the federal government while he was President,” a spokesperson said.
“That won’t be fully resolved by selling off this hotel," they added.
via zerohedge