Trump Organization Reportedly In Talks To Buy Back D.C. Hotel
Weeks before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office for the second time, his family is reportedly in discussions to buy back the lease on the Pennsylvania Avenue hotel it owned during his first term.
Eric Trump, the president-elect's son and an executive vice president of The Trump Organization, met with the bank that is now in control of the lease on the property, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Trump International Hotel opened in 2016, just months before Trump took office, after the company spent $200M to repurpose the historic Old Post Office Building through a long-term ground lease with the federal government.
After Trump left office, the company sold the hotel to Miami-based CGI Merchant Group, which paid $375M for the lease and transformed it into the present-day Waldorf Astoria.
But last February, CGI defaulted on its debt, and in August, its lender BDT & MSD Partners purchased it at a foreclosure auction.
The WSJ reported that in order to acquire the hotel, The Trump Organization may need to shell out more than $300M, citing sources familiar with the property’s operations and revenue.
BDT & MSD Partners and The Trump Organization didn't respond to requests for comment from Bisnow by the time of publication.
The price CGI paid in March 2022 was tens of millions of dollars above the next highest bidder, the WSJ reported. The company took out a $285M loan for the acquisition from Michael Dell’s MSD Partners, which has since merged with another company to create BDT & MSD Partners. As of July, CGI had a $256.6M balance on the loan, according to foreclosure documents filed in D.C. deed records.
During the years the hotel was open with Trump in office, concerns arose from Democratic lawmakers, the D.C. attorney general and ethics watchdogs about the income that the company was receiving from foreign officials staying at the property. They pointed to the U.S. Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause, which prohibits government officials from receiving things of value from foreign or state governments.
Celebrity chef and humanitarian José Andrés was initially slated to open a restaurant at the hotel in 2016, but he pulled out after Trump was elected.
In its place came a steakhouse that became known as the only local restaurant that Trump would frequent — for a well-done steak with ketchup — during his time in the White House.
After Trump sold the hotel, Andrés followed through with his plans to open a restaurant in the property, launching 150-seat The Bazaar in February 2023.
