WASHINGTON – The Philippines is divesting some of its properties in the United States including an old, unused chancery in Washington DC that it has owned since the days of US colonialism and reeks of history, embassy officials said.
The chancery building at 1617 Massachusetts Avenue, just across the new embassy, predates the independence of the Republic of the Philippines and was the headquarters of the government-in-exile of the Commonwealth of the Philippines during the Japanese occupation of the country in World War II.
But the four-story, 12,000 sq. ft. building is now a sad relic of its old self, and the challenge facing Manila is how to preserve the old chancery’s historic façade, cut costs and turn a profit.
Property taxes for the old building, in a posh area in Washington, come to nearly $35,000 a year.
Embassy officials said it has been decided to lease the building – Johns Hopkins University has apparently expressed interest in the property – after it is cleaned up.
Three contractors have submitted bids, all well below $100,000, to do the work and Manila is considering which to accept, embassy officials said.
Bids have also been received to demolish an old house in Houston, Texas, which was the residence of the Philippine consul general during the Marcos regime. The plan is to sell the vacant lot.
A similar vacant lot in Seattle was sold off by the government early this year for well over $1 million, earning it a tidy profit, embassy officials said.
When the present embassy at 1600 Massachusetts Avenue was built on a vacant lot between Corregidor and Bataan Streets across the old embassy during the 1990s, use of the old embassy building was offered to the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) rent-free for 25 years.
But NaFFAA declined the offer because the cost of restoration would have been too prohibitive, said Armando Heredia, the organization’s national administrator.
He estimated the cost of restoration at about $1 million.
The Philippines maintains other properties in Washington DC, New York, San Francisco and Hawaii.