Washington's Watergate Hotel fails to attract buyers

The Watergate Hotel in the U.S. capital, part of a complex made famous by a political scandal which brought down former U.S. President Richard Nixon, has failed to attract bidders at auction.

The landmark hotel on prestigious Virginia Avenue in Washington, D.C., went up for sale on Tuesday with a starting price of $25 million put forward by the current owner's lender, but there were no higher offers despite 10 registered bidders.

The hotel was made famous by the 1972 burglary into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, which were housed in the Watergate complex.

Investigations revealed Nixon and his staff conspired to cover up the break-in, especially its connection with the White House, which ultimately led to his resignation two years later.

A company called Monument Realty LLC bought the 251-room, 12-storey hotel in 2004 hoping to renovate the property.

But the Washington-based company closed the property two years ago and was forced into foreclosure last week after it was unable to repay a $40 million loan controlled by New York-based mortgage holder PB Capital Corp.

PB Capital Corp, a unit of Germany's Deutsche Postbank AG, has now taken back the hotel and auctioneers at Alex Cooper Auctioneers told Reuters Television that PB Capital will try to find a buyer. link....