Can one of the few, pre-20th century buildings left in D.C. be married with real estate mogul Donald Trump’s uber-fancy and modern tastes?
The govenment agency that handles leasing seems to think so. It announced Tuesday its selected the Trump Organization to redevelop the historic Old Post Office building and annex on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Trump proposal calls for converting the 1899 building into a luxury hotel with more than 250 rooms, world-renowned restaurants, a spa, and conference facilities, “while preserving and enhancing all of its historic features,” according to the General Services Agency.
Known among historic preservationists as the last major example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture to be built in the District, the Post Office was decommissioned and nearly destroyed in the 1920s. It faced demolition again in the 1970s until preservationists stepped in and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
It has served as an overflow building for government offices but today is mostly known for its vaccuous upper floor office space and ground-floor food court popular with tourists. In 2008, Congress directed GSA to find long term leasee for the Old Post Office under Section 111 of the National Historic Preservation Act, thereby guaranteeing the restoration and retention of all of its historic features while allowing the private sector to determine how to develop it to its fullest potential.
