Bill Badzo
Trump International Hotel - Formerly Old Post Office ~ Food Courts - Washington DC
WASHINGTON — 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.
To complete the Triangle in an architecturally compatible style, the government wanted to tear it down, leaving only the building’s clock tower to rise above its replacement in homage to the Richardsonian Romanesque structure that would be no more.
The 1970 plan gave rise to Don’t Tear It Down, an organization (now the D.C. Preservation League) that successfully fought the demolition. Yet 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 takes possession on Saturday, allowing work to begin on a $200 million makeover. The deal also includes two 20-year lease renewal options. 540
Trump International Hotel - Formerly Old Post Office ~ Food Courts - Washington DC
WASHINGTON — 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.
To complete the Triangle in an architecturally compatible style, the government wanted to tear it down, leaving only the building’s clock tower to rise above its replacement in homage to the Richardsonian Romanesque structure that would be no more.
The 1970 plan gave rise to Don’t Tear It Down, an organization (now the D.C. Preservation League) that successfully fought the demolition. Yet 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 takes possession on Saturday, allowing work to begin on a $200 million makeover. The deal also includes two 20-year lease renewal options. 540