Bank Hires Brokerage Firm to Market Watergate Hotel

The bank trying to sell the shuttered Watergate Hotel has hired a top commercial real estate brokerage firm to market the property, a sign that the fate of the Washington landmark remains in limbo.

CB Richard Ellis officials announced the deal Monday and said they are preparing an offering prospectus to potential buyers around the world who have shown interest or might be interested in purchasing the hotel, said Marc Magazine, a senior vice president for the brokerage firm's hotel division.

German-owned bank PB Capital paid $25 million for the foreclosed hotel at an auction in July after D.C. developer Monument Realty defaulted on a $40 million loan. Since then, "Multiple people have called," Magazine said. "The bank had to decide whether to negotiate with those people themselves or to hire experts in the field to negotiate."

Magazine said PB Capital is in negotiations with Robert Holland, an international residential and commercial developer who has built projects on the Georgetown waterfront and in Washington's West End. Holland has said he is working with the Dubai-based Jumeriah Group, owners of a luxury hotel chain that would operate the 251-room Watergate, part of the complex of buildings made famous by the 1972 burglary that led to President Richard M. Nixon's resignation.

Magazine said the bank is also interested in talking to "other potential buyers."