The landmark 1899 post office tower on Pennsylvania Avenue — the second-tallest building in Washington — looked out of place in the Federal Triangle of neoclassical government buildings constructed mostly in the 1930s.
In order to architecturally harmonize the Triangle, the government wanted to demolish the majority, leaving only the clock tower to rise above its replacement in homage to the previous Richardsonian Romanesque structure.
The 1970 reconstruction plan gave rise to "Don’t Tear It Down", an organization (now the D.C. Preservation League) that successfully fought the demolition. However, efforts to reuse the old building as offices for other federal agencies, with a ground-floor food court pavilion below the soaring nine-story atrium, also failed. The Old Post Office, a preservationist success, was a governmental flop, a federal white elephant saved from the wrecking ball — but for what?
In 2011, the General Services Administration, which owns and manages federal properties, invited interested parties to consider the prospects. More than 80 initially showed interest. Ultimately, 10 firms made formal proposals.
Last August, the agency signed a 60-year lease with the Trump Organization to renovate and convert the iconic building into a luxury hotel. Trump formally took possession on Saturday the 31st of May, allowing work to begin on a $200 million makeover. The deal also includes two 20-year lease renewal options.
“You just couldn’t build something like this today,” raved Ivanka Trump, executive vice president for development and acquisitions for the Trump Organization and Mr. Trump’s daughter, who is perhaps better known for her lines of women’s jewelry, shoes and handbags. "Having a nine-story glass-top atrium, having solid granite turrets, the level of detail carved into the stone. There is unbelievable wainscoting detail and incredibly intricate molding.”
The main building will have 271 rooms — prices to be determined — including two “presidential” suites in the former postmaster general’s office, 3,600 and 5,000 square feet in size.
The Trump Organization has been involved in other renovations of historic properties, including the Hotel Delmonico in Manhattan and the former Mar-A-Lago estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post in Palm Beach. The lease with the G.S.A. for the Old Post Office calls for Trump to pay the government $3 million a year in rent from the hotel’s opening date, with additional payments tied to the Consumer Price Index.
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