Located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood along the PotomacRiver, the hotel sits on Virginia Avenue in close proximity to theKennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Watergate houses withinits wall 250 guestrooms, as well as approximately 10,000 sf of flexmeeting space, 5,000 sf of exhibit space, and a nearly 6,400-sfballroom. Blackstone acquired the property from Japan's NikkoSecurities Co. in 1998 for $39 million. Nikko bought the hotel fromthe British Coal Board, a pension fund for coal miners, in 1990 ina $48 million deal.

The hotel, developed in 1965 by current president of IDI GroupCos. Giuseppe Cecchi, has undergone a few multi-million dollarrestorations in its lifetime. District records list the property'sassessed 2003 value at nearly $33.7 million. While the Watergateoften refers to the entire complex--which consists of two officestructures and three apartment buildings, in addition to thehotel--the hotel is the only structure that is up for sale.Industry speculation on how much the famed hotel will command thistime around varies greatly, from a reported low of $50 million to ahigh of nearly $70 million. "We are just commencing marketing andhave no concrete feedback to give yet," Eastdil managing directorLawrence B. Wolfe tells GlobeSt.com. "Although, we expect a strongresponse."