A Washington building owned by Pakistan was sold for $7.1m

WASHINGTON: Pakistan sold the abandoned embassy building in Washington for $7.1 million, buyers and the embassy said on Thursday.

Since 2003, the structure has been a “blighted property.” In 2018, the building lost its diplomatic status and became a liability for the embassy. Dallas businessman Hafeez Khan bought the property.

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At a hotel ceremony in Washington, Pakistan’s Ambassador Masood Khan revealed the transaction, intending to “end media speculations” regarding the property.

Although at least one of the embassy’s buildings was vacant, he insisted they were not for sale. Mr Khan said the structure needed considerable renovation before they could decide what to do with it.

Since we have an emotional relationship to this property, I thought a Pakistani American should buy it. Mr. Hafeez remarked, “That’s why I bought it.” This year, the city degraded the building’s property classification to blighted and raised taxes on its assessed value.

Late last year, Washington’s diplomatic enclave’s former chancery was auctioned. After accepting one bid, the administration abruptly ended the process.

The city centre property sold for $6.8 million to the highest bidder. Pre-auction valuation of the building was $4.5 million.

For nearly a decade, the building has remained vacant. It fell apart due to neglect. Then-prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani approved a $7 million loan from the National Bank of Pakistan to restore it and another embassy facility in 2010.

Some of the loan was utilised to restore the main building, but it decayed. The main structure, which cost over a million dollars to renovate, is likewise vacant.

Real estate specialists fear that its rehabilitation money would be lost if its fate is not resolved quickly.