Washington: Sahil Khan, the highest bidder for the Pakistan Embassy property in Washington, wants to set up an institute after renovating the ‘historic’ building.
Khan has made a $6.8 billion bid to buy the old Chancery building on R-Street in northwest Washington, DC.
“The highest bid has been placed, after which the bidding process should be completed,” Khan told JEE News.
The Pakistani businessman said he made the bid because of the building’s “historical status”, adding that he had sent the draft contract to the Pakistan government.
In November last year, Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb announced that the cabinet had given the green light to the proposal to auction one of the two buildings owned by the Pakistani embassy in Washington.
He said that in 2010, the then Prime Minister approved the renovation of these two buildings. The renovation of one building was completed but only 60% of the other building could be completed.
The minister said that the US government has revoked the building’s diplomatic status and so far the government has paid $819,000 as taxes. He said after 2019, $1.3 million in taxes were paid on the building without any use.
As the building was unfit for use due to incomplete renovation and loss of its diplomatic status, the Cabinet approved the proposal to auction the building in a transparent manner.
He said that in the past a bid of $4.5 million was given but now a bid of $6.9 million was given which was $2.3 million more than the previous one. If Pakistan does not auction the said building, America itself will auction it.
Meanwhile, in December, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch also confirmed the approval of the sale.
In her weekly presser, spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the building in question was the smaller of the two buildings that housed the Pakistan embassy in the past and was vacant when the embassy moved to new premises in 2003.
Selling the property became important, he said, not only because it was vacant and dilapidated, but also because the building did not have diplomatic status and was subject to local building and tax regulations.
“Therefore, the Government of Pakistan, after a thorough inter-ministerial process, has decided that the property will be sold in an open bidding process meeting all the codicil and legal regulations,” he explained.
