The Watergate Hotel Hits the Market

Located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood along the Potomac River, the hotel sits on Virginia Avenue in close proximity to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Watergate houses within its wall 250 guestrooms, as well as approximately 10,000 sf of flex meeting space, 5,000 sf of exhibit space, and a nearly 6,400-sf ballroom. Blackstone acquired the property from Japan's Nikko Securities Co. in 1998 for $39 million. Nikko bought the hotel from the British Coal Board, a pension fund for coal miners, in 1990 in a $48 million deal.

The hotel, developed in 1965 by current president of IDI Group Cos. Giuseppe Cecchi, has undergone a few multi-million dollar restorations in its lifetime. District records list the property's assessed 2003 value at nearly $33.7 million. While the Watergate often refers to the entire complex--which consists of two office structures and three apartment buildings, in addition to the hotel--the hotel is the only structure that is up for sale. Industry speculation on how much the famed hotel will command this time around varies greatly, from a reported low of $50 million to a high of nearly $70 million. "We are just commencing marketing and have no concrete feedback to give yet," Eastdil managing director Lawrence B. Wolfe tells GlobeSt.com. "Although, we expect a strong response."