March 31, 2020 By Tom Boggioni
According to a report from the Washington Post, efforts by Donald Trump’s family to get out from under their lease of the government property that became the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. has come to a screeching halt as the coronavirus pandemic that has American’s hunkering down in their homes has buyers and investors also sitting and waiting to see what happens next.
Last October the Trump Organization announced plans to sell off the lease after complaining that their refusal to solicit foreign business cost them “more than $9 million,” in a glossy brochure issued in November that noted they had turned down bookings for “17,100 room nights in 2019, resulting in $5.3 million in lost room revenue and $3.9 million in lost food and beverage revenue,” reported Politico at the time.
The Washington Post is now reporting those plans have been put on hold.
“Trump’s firm, which he still owns, has had to press pause on the proposed sale of its D.C. hotel lease due to the market’s collapse as potential buyers wait for banks and investors to return normal operations,” the report states, adding, “The company’s sales representative, Jeffrey Davis of JLL, confirmed to The Washington Post that the proposed sale of Trump’s lease to the federally owned Old Post Office Pavilion has been set aside as the industry recovers.”
According to Davis, “We have toured only the most discerning buyers and are proud to be representing such an iconic asset. Trump International Hotel, Washington D.C. is one of the finest hotels anywhere in the world and we look forward to working with the Trump Organization on finding the right fit once the industry is back up and running.”
The inability to dump the lease comes at a bad time for the Trump family with the report pointing out that seven of the Trump Organization’s ten most profitable properties are currently sitting idle due to coronavirus concerns and an attendant drop in traffic.
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