Trump Sells DC Hotel To A-Rod Connected Investment Firm For $375M: Report

The Trump Organization has sold its controversial Washington, D.C., hotel to an investment firm with ties to baseball great Alex Rodriguez for $375 million.

What Happened: The Miami-based investment firm CGI Merchant Group acquired the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C., on Pennsylvania Avenue, according to a Wall Street Journal report sourced from unnamed people “familiar with the matter." The hotel is located within walking distance of the White House.

The property, the former Old Post Office Building, is owned by the federal government but was leased for a 60-year term at $3 million per year by Donald Trump’s company in 2012, who redeveloped the 1899 structure as a luxury hotel.

CGI plans to remove the Trump name from the property and has reportedly signed a pact with Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. HLT for the hotel to be branded and managed by Hilton’s Waldorf Astoria group.

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Why It Matters: The hotel became a sore spot after the real estate mogul’s 2016 election to the presidency. Trump refused to sell the property and critics of the former president argued on Capitol Hill and in court that foreign governments and special interest groups could leverage favors from the Trump administration by booking rooms and conference halls at the hotel. The property also became the site of multiple protest rallies against the Trump administration’s policies.

Last fall, CGI Merchant Group’s CEO Raoul Thomas announced plans to partner with retired New York Yankees star Rodriguez on a fund to acquire hotel properties across North America and the Caribbean, with a particular focus on “trophy assets with the potential for significant value appreciation.” However, the Washington hotel lost more than $70 million during Trump’s term in office, and Trump worked unsuccessfully with JLL JLL in 2019 to jettison the property ahead of the 2020 election.

Photo: Ted Eytan / Flickr Creative Commons