Trump to turn Old Post Office into luxury hotel

[yellowcanine]

By Jonathan O’Connell, Published: February 7

Donald J. Trump is getting a Pennsylvania Avenue address in Washington, it just won’t be 1600.

The federal government announced Tuesday that the New York real estate magnate’s hotel company has been selected to turn Washington’s Old Post Office Pavilion into a luxury getaway.

Built in the 1890s, the Old Post Office is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the tallest buildings in the city, with a distinctive clock tower. Although it remains home to a smattering of federal offices and tourist-oriented retail stores and restaurants, the building has seen better days. It loses more than $6 million annually and became a target of federal officials looking to sell or lease underused government buildings.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/trump-to-turn-old-post-office-into-luxury-hotel/2012/02/07/gIQAlS9gxQ_story.html


This seriously pisses me off. This is a grand old building and Trump is going to be allowed to put one of his garish monstrosities in it. I know that part of DC needs economic development but is there no room for economic development with good taste? So just because the building has been mismanaged and is losing money we let muskrat head do his thing with it?
Highest and best use my foot. This is a national treasure. Do we have to commercialize everything?

[Liberal Veteran]

1. Trump is like the King Midas of Tacky.

Everything he touches turns into a study in tacky design.

[MADem]

2. He might not get too much leeway to screw with the exterior, at least. nt

[yellowcanine]

6. Even his stinking name visible on the outside is "screwing with the exterior" imo.

And the inside is also quite elegant as well - reminds me a bit of some of the great old railway stations. That will certainly be screwed up big time.

[MADem]

8. It's on the National Register--he'll be "overseen" and odds are good any ugly shit he does is easily

undone.

I live in a National Register house and it's hard as hell to do much of anything to it that doesn't look just like it did before...!

[yellowcanine]

9. I got that but I am guessing that "extenuating circumstances" + money will make muskrat head's

experience with the National Register a tad different from either you or me.

[MADem]

11. That could very well be--time will tell, I guess. nt

[yellowcanine]

12. Therein lies the problem though. With some things once it is done it can't be reversed easily.

Better to think long and hard about it first - "highest and best use" has ruined many fine pieces of property, not to mention historic buildings.

[MADem]

18. National Register will leave the exterior intact and the basic footprint in the interior.

They really can be difficult when it comes to doing much of anything, at least as regards the exterior.

He may be able to "House of Ill Repute" the thing up inside, but he won't be able to ruin it entirely. And it will all be reversible. I would expect that if he does anything squirrelly, they'd make him put money aside to put it right after all is said and done.

[onehandle]

3. Puke. nt

[all american girl]

4. Nooooo!!!!!!! I love that place.

[yellowcanine]

7. I know. I do too. The clock tower is great. Maybe it can still be stopped with a big enough

outcry but I am doubtful. The Republicans in Congress only see dollar signs in stuff like this and it would probably take an act of Congress to stop it.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

5. Oh great! The king of good taste strikes again. nt

[Great Caesars Ghost]

10. What would you do with the building?

I would probably make it into a sanitary shelter and free clinic. DC has enough hotels.

[grasswire]

13. damn -- that was a beautiful building nt

[jwirr]

14. If it is on the National Register of Historical Places then there are limits to the changes he can

make. We have an old Lighthouse in our community which is on the list and is owned by the historical society. We run it as a B&B but we could not change any of the structure. If he has any brains at all he will respect the historical value behind the building and work around it. Who owns the building?

[yellowcanine]

15. The government owns the building. In other words, we do. That is why I think it should be used for

some purpose with more national significance than some cheesy hotel.

[jwirr]

16. Thanks. I agree but I know that money is involved. We bought the Lighthouse for $1.00 because

we agreed to take over the cost of care for the building from the Coast Guard which is why we turned it into a B&B. In our case it worked because the Lighthouse is loved by our whole community. We would be in big trouble if we did not keep it up to snuff. I am not sure that will happen in the case of Trump.

[whistler162]

17. Maybe, I doubt it, he will do as good

a job as Radisson, who reused the old Erie Lackawanna HQ in Scranton as a hotel.

[hootinholler]

19. I wouldn't let that egomaniac anywhere near any building I own

If I were to actually own a building.

That building is tremendous and not just the facade. The interior is wonderful as well.

It would make a great hotel, but I surely wouldn't let trump touch it. One of the smaller legacy oriented hotel management companies would be a better choice.