Norton to Speak at Ceremonial Lease Signing of Old Post Office Building

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will speak at the ceremonial lease signing of the Old Post Office (OPO) building on Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at 9:30 a.m., at the OPO building (1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW), room M-09, marking the culmination of her 15-year effort to get the General Services Administration (GSA) to redevelop the OPO building and annex. In June, Norton's long-fought effort bore fruit when GSA reached terms with the Trump Organization on a 60-year lease to redevelop and manage the historic building as a luxury hotel. Norton said the lease starts a win-win for all involved – the federal government, the District of Columbia and the Trump Organization. The deal requires a minimum base rent and a percentage of the revenue to go to the federal government.

All along, Norton was able to get strong bipartisan support for the project, especially from two chairs of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, former Representative Jim Oberstar (R-MN) and Representative John Mica (R-FL). Mica even held two hearings in a cold, vacant OPO building to put proverbial heat on the project. Norton tried for almost 10 years to get GSA to use its administrative authority to redevelop the building, but the Office of Management and Budget kept stalling. Therefore, in 2008, Norton successfully passed her bill, the Old Post Office Development Act, to require the GSA to proceed with redevelopment.

Published: September 9, 2013