Watergate sold for 25 million dollars to German-owned firm

Jul 21, 2009, 22:36 GMT

Washington - Washington's Watergate Hotel, the site of the 1972 burglary that led to the downfall of a president, was sold Tuesday to a subsidiary of Deutsche Postbank after an auction failed to attract much interest.

The subsidiary, PB Capital, bought the Watergate from Monument Reality for 25 million dollars in the only bid for the infamous hotel, David Astrove, an attorney for PB Capital, confirmed.

The Watergate, a prestigious address in its time overlooking the Potomac River, opened in 1967 and was frequented by dozens of big names, but is best known for the break-in that brought down former president Richard Nixon.

A team of burglars broke into the facility seeking to bug the headquarters of the Democratic Party ahead of the 1972 presidential election. Nixon's subsequent attempt to cover up a White House role in the break-in led to his August 1974 resignation.

Watergate has been closed since 2007. Monument bought Watergate in 2004 hoping to renovate the facility, but was forced into foreclosure on the property last week, unable to repay a 40-million- dollar loan controlled by PB Capital.

Astrove said in a telephone interview that PB Capital plans to sell the Watergate.