An Indian realtor is among three bidders vying for a building which once housed the defence section of Pakistan’s embassy in Washington DC. The Indian realtor has reportedly placed a bid of about $5 million ( ₹41.42 crore), Pakistani website Dawn reported.
Pakistani diplomatic sources in the US capital told the website that the highest bidder of almost $6.8 million ( ₹56.33 crore) is a Jewish group that wants to build a synagogue in the building. The third bid of about $4 million ( ₹33.13 core) is from a Pakistani realtor.
Pakistani embassy officials have said that one of Islamabad’s three diplomatic properties in Washington, which happens to be a building on R Street NW, will be sold. The building was home to the embassy’s defence section from 1950s to early 2000s. However, neither the new or old embassies were being sold, the Pakistani officials told the website.
Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on Privatisation has asked the privatisation commission to appoint a financial advisor for leasing the Roosevelt Hotel site in New York. The Shehbaz Sharif government is considering a joint venture for a mixed-used development of the site. The Pakistani embassy officials said they were consulting an appraiser to assess whether they should sell the building in the present state or after renovation.
Social media was flooded with posts showing the present and the old embassy buildings, claiming that they were up for sale. But the embassy officials denied the report. The current embassy is in a new building constructed in early 2000s while the old one was on Massachusetts Avenue.
The embassy moved to the new building in early 2000s but Pakistan has kept the old building, having spent close to $7 million in its renovation. The R Street building, however, is said to be in a dilapidated condition with nearby residents complaining about it being a security hazard. This building was bought by then Pak ambassador Syed Amjad Ali between 1953 and 1956.
