Both the purchasers and the embassy acknowledged on Thursday that Pakistan had successfully sold the vacant embassy building in Washington for $7.1 million.
Since 2003, the building has remained empty and has been designated a "blighted property" by the municipal authorities. The building became a problem for the embassy when its diplomatic status was terminated in 2018. The property was bought by Hafeez Khan, a Dallas-based Pakistani-American businessman.
Pakistan's Ambassador Masood Khan announced the sale at a ceremony held in a hotel in Washington with the intention of "putting an end to media speculations" on the property.
He said that other structures owned by the embassy were not up for sale, despite the fact that at least one of them was still unoccupied. It would need to undergo considerable renovation before it could determine what to do with the structure.
"We have an emotional connection to this house, so when I heard about the auction, I believed a Pakistani American should buy it. I bought it for that reason, Hafeez remarked. The building's property classification was reduced to "blighted" earlier this year, and taxes on its assessed value were also raised.
The building in Washington's diplomatic neighborhood, which was once a chancery, was placed up for auction in late 2017. Three proposals were submitted, and it appears that the administration only selected one of them before abruptly ending the process.
For the property, which is located in the middle of the city, the best bidder made an offer of $6.8 million. A pre-auction baseline for the building's appraisal was established at $4.5 million.
The structure has lain empty for well over a decade. The building deteriorated because sufficient maintenance was not provided for it. For the purpose of restoring it and another facility that housed the embassy, the then-prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gillani, authorized a $7 million loan from the National Bank of Pakistan in 2010.
While some of the money was used to rehabilitate the main structure, the structure itself was permitted to deteriorate. Even though it was rebuilt years ago at a cost of over a million dollars, the main structure is still empty.
Real estate specialists caution that if its fate is not resolved quickly, the money invested in its rehabilitation will also be squandered.
Since 2003, the building has remained empty and has been designated a "blighted property" by the municipal authorities. The building became a problem for the embassy when its diplomatic status was terminated in 2018. The property was bought by Hafeez Khan, a Dallas-based Pakistani-American businessman.
Pakistan's Ambassador Masood Khan announced the sale at a ceremony held in a hotel in Washington with the intention of "putting an end to media speculations" on the property.
He said that other structures owned by the embassy were not up for sale, despite the fact that at least one of them was still unoccupied. It would need to undergo considerable renovation before it could determine what to do with the structure.
"We have an emotional connection to this house, so when I heard about the auction, I believed a Pakistani American should buy it. I bought it for that reason, Hafeez remarked. The building's property classification was reduced to "blighted" earlier this year, and taxes on its assessed value were also raised.
The building in Washington's diplomatic neighborhood, which was once a chancery, was placed up for auction in late 2017. Three proposals were submitted, and it appears that the administration only selected one of them before abruptly ending the process.
For the property, which is located in the middle of the city, the best bidder made an offer of $6.8 million. A pre-auction baseline for the building's appraisal was established at $4.5 million.
The structure has lain empty for well over a decade. The building deteriorated because sufficient maintenance was not provided for it. For the purpose of restoring it and another facility that housed the embassy, the then-prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gillani, authorized a $7 million loan from the National Bank of Pakistan in 2010.
While some of the money was used to rehabilitate the main structure, the structure itself was permitted to deteriorate. Even though it was rebuilt years ago at a cost of over a million dollars, the main structure is still empty.
Real estate specialists caution that if its fate is not resolved quickly, the money invested in its rehabilitation will also be squandered.