WASHINGTON, DC-The Georgetown Heating Plant finally traded after a last-minute outbreak of bidding between two bidders – aka bidder #2 and bidder #5. The winning bid of $19.5 million was ultimately placed by bidder #2. (Hat tip, again, to Urban Turf for following the sale so closely).

The plant is eight-story art deco building located on more than 90,000 square feet of land in the high-barrier Georgetown submarket. The property, located at 1051 29th Street NW, is potentially the only site left in the neighborhood where a hotel or office with views of the Potomac could be constructed. Not only that but it is adjacent to the Georgetown Four Seasons Hotel with waterways on both sides and a five-minute walk of Georgetown Waterfront Park. So valuable was this property that Congress took the General Services Administration to task for letting it sit empty, off the market, for so long.

Yet for a long time no one seemed to want it.

The auction originally had a soft close date of February 19, which was extended at the last minute when two bidders emerged to duke it out over the property.

Meanwhile, another battle is brewing over another federal real estate transaction – the new location of the FBI building. Multiple submarkets around town have thrown their hat in the ring. The House of Representatives was due to discuss plans for the building on Wednesday but the government was closed due to weather.