Politics Trump Signs Removed After Family's Washington Hotel Sells for Reported $375 Million A Miami-based investment group quickly got to work on plans to re-brand and re-open the hotel that it paid top dollar to run By Aaron Parsley Aaron Parsley Aaron Parsley has been a part of PEOPLE's digital team for more than 15 years. People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 12, 2022 12:32 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Donald Trump's family business completed the sale of a long-term lease on the Trump International Hotel in Washington on Wednesday to a Miami-based investor group for a reported $375 million. A crew was seen at the property after dark Wednesday, removing the Trump-branded signs a letter at a time, starting with the gold-plated family name above the hotel's main entrance. The buyers, CGI Merchant Group, reportedly plan to reopen as a Waldorf Astoria run by Hilton. The building, located on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol, is a D.C. landmark that was completed in 1899 to hold the city's post office and the U.S. Post Office Department headquarters. The sales price covers rights to operate the 263-room hotel within the Old Post Office building which is leased from the federal government. Donald Trump Actually Lost $70M on His D.C. Hotel While in Office, Congressional Investigators Say Washington real estate players are reportedly surprised at the high price tag of a hotel that lost more than $70 million during the four years of the Trump presidency. In 2020, the average price of a hotel in D.C. was $354,000 per room, The New York Times reports, while the Trumps sold theirs for what adds up to be well over $1 million per room. The family could make as much as $100 million in profit from the sale, sources close to the private deal told the AP. After completing a $200 million renovation, the hotel opened before the 2016 election that sent Trump to the White House, according to the Times. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images "We took a dilapidated and underutilized building and transformed it into one of the most iconic hotels in the world," Eric Trump, the former president's son and an executive vice president at the Trump Organization, said in a statement announcing the deal. During the Trump's four-year term, the hotel became a hub for the president's supporters, administration officials, lobbyists, Republican lawmakers, campaign staffers and visiting foreign dignitaries who would have paid for rooms, drinks, food and other services. Critics said this created perpetual ethics issues. Trump Org Asked Federal Government to Change D.C. Hotel Lease amid Coronavirus Shutdown: Reports House Democrats in Oct. 2021 revealed findings of an investigation into Trump's personal business dealings during his time in the White House, citing the Constitution's emoluments clause, forbidding a president from personally benefiting from foreign powers. The investigators said their analysis showed Trump's hotel had "received an estimated $3.7 million in payments from foreign governments" from 2017 through 2020. Trump, for his part, has long insisted maintaining his businesses while president was a burden, not a blessing. He claimed in 2019 his political turn had cost him at least $2 billion.