No bidders for shuttered Watergate hotel

WASHINGTON, July 22 (UPI) -- The hotel at Washington's Watergate complex remained in the hands of lenders Wednesday after no one purchased it at an auction, officials say.

Officials of Alex Cooper Auctioneers told CNN 10 bidders had signed up to participate in a sale of the hotel, which is located next to the office building where burglars broke into Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972, triggering the infamous Watergate scandal that caused U.S. President Richard M. Nixon's resignation.

After the opening bid of $25 million for the Watergate Hotel, none of the bidders advanced it, and the hotel -- which has been closed for two years -- reverted to PB Capital, which holds a $40 million note on the hotel. Its previous owner, Monument Reality, defaulted on a loan for the late 1960s-era hotel as plans to convert it to condominiums and apartments stalled.

PB Capital may now try to negotiate a private sale and will not try to operate the facility itself. Some $100 million in renovations may be needed to bring the aging structure up to modern standards, CNN said.