Editing Watergate complex (section)

====Office building====
The office building portion of the building contains {{convert|198000|sqft|m2}}.<ref name="Hedgpeth" />

In 1972, the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) occupied the entire sixth floor of the 11-story building at 2600 Virginia Avenue.<ref name="LewisPlot">{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Alfred E. |title=5 Held in Plot to Bug Democrats' Office Here |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 18, 1972}}</ref><ref name="Kessler">{{cite book |last=Kessler |first=Pamela |title=Undercover Washington: Where Famous Spies Lived, Worked, and Loved |location=Sterling, Virginia |publisher=Capital Books |year=2005 |isbn=1-931868-97-2}}</ref> The DNC had occupied the space since the building opened in 1967.<ref name="Democrats" /> On May 28, 1972, a team of burglars working for [[1972 United States presidential election#Republican nomination|President Richard M. Nixon's re-election campaign]] bugged the phones of and took photos in and near the DNC chairman's office.<ref name="Kutler" /><ref name="Men" /><ref name="Emery">{{cite book |last=Emery |first=Fred |title=Watergate |edition=Paperback |location=New York |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1995 |isbn=0-684-81323-8}}</ref> The [[Wiretapping|phone taps]] were monitored from the burglars' rooms (first Room 419, later Room 723) at the Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge across the street at 2601 Virginia Avenue NW.<ref name="Kutler" /><ref name="Men" /><ref name="Kessler" /><ref name="Emery" />{{efn|As of 2005, the hotel was owned by [[The George Washington University]] and used as a dormitory for graduate students.<ref name="Kessler" />}} During a second burglary on June 17, 1972, to replace a malfunctioning phone tap and collect more information, five of the burglars were arrested and the [[Watergate scandal]] began to unfold.<ref name="LewisPlot" /><ref name="Kutler" /><ref name="Men" /><ref name="Emery" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Szulc |first=Tad |title=Democratic Raid Tied to Realtor |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 19, 1972}}</ref> A plaque on the sixth floor of the office building portion of the Watergate Hotel commemorates the break-in.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carrier |first=Thomas J. |title=Washington, D.C.: A Historical Walking Tour |location=Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=1999 |isbn=0-7385-0049-6}}</ref> The sixth floor space, occupied by [[SAGE Publishing]] since 2015, houses a private exhibit commemorating the break-in and ensuing scandal.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-watergate-icon-now-quietly-celebrated-in-a-company-office/2016/02/23/77d1b4b4-d9b9-11e5-891a-4ed04f4213e8_story.html |title=A Watergate icon, now quietly celebrated in a company office |last=Zauzmer |first=Julie |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 23, 2016}}</ref>

The break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters was not the first break-in at the Watergate. The first break-in at the complex was the burglary of a residential unit in 1969 owned by [[Rose Mary Woods]], President Nixon's personal secretary.<ref name="Livingston" /><ref name="WoodsBurglary">{{cite news |title=Nixon Secretary Reports Looting |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 3, 1969}}</ref> The burglars took jewelry and some personal items.<ref name="WoodsBurglary" /> Woods was later accused of [[Nixon White House tapes#18½-minute gap|erasing {{frac|18|1|2}} minutes]] from President Nixon's secret [[Oval Office]] audio taping system—specifically, the tape from June 20, 1972, that proved central to the Watergate scandal.<ref name="Kutler" /><ref name="Men" /><ref name="Emery" />

In 1993, the British coal board pension fund sold the office portion of the building as well as the land under two of the three Watergate apartment buildings to JBG (now [[JBG Smith]]), an American firm, and Buvermo Properties, a Dutch company.<ref name="Haggerty" /> In 1997, they sold the office building to [[The Blackstone Group]]'s [[Trizec Properties]] division.<ref>{{cite news | last=Haggerty | first=Maryann | title=JBG Selling 21 Buildings to Canadian Company | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=September 30, 1997}}</ref> Trizec sold it to BentleyForbes, a private firm owned by [[C. Frederick Wehba]] and members of the Los Angeles-based Webha family, in 2005.<ref name="Hedgpeth" /><ref name="Rein" /><ref name="SoldForbes" /> In November 2011, after 20 months on the market, BentleyForbes sold the office building for $76 million to the Penzance Cos.<ref>{{cite news | last=O'Connell | first=Jonathan | title=Source: Penzance Lands Watergate Offices for $76 Million | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=November 22, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/12/AR2009031203271.html |last=Hedgpeth |first=Dana |title=Real Estate Firm Puts Watergate Office Tower Up for Sale |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=March 12, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106102433/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/12/AR2009031203271.html | archive-date=January 6, 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2012, the owner implemented a multimillion-dollar upgrade to the Watergate Office Building's lobby, common areas, and Virginia Avenue entrance.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2013/01/penzance-cos-signs-first-tenant-to.html |last=Sernovitz |first=Daniel J. |title=Penzance Signs First Tenant to Watergate Building | work=[[American City Business Journals]] |date=January 18, 2013 | url-access=subscription}}</ref> Hitt Contracting designed the renovations, and oversaw the construction.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2012/06/11/watergate-to-undergo-renovations.html | last=Sernovitz | first=Daniel J. |title=Watergate to undergo renovations |work=[[American City Business Journals]] | date=June 11, 2012 | url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106101819/http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2012/06/11/watergate-to-undergo-renovations.html | archive-date=January 6, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Penzance sold the office building to a subsidiary of Rockwood Capital for $75 million at the end of 2016.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2017/01/03/the-infamous-watergate-office-building-has-a-new.html |last=Sernovitz |first=Daniel J. | title=The infamous Watergate office building has a new owner| work=[[American City Business Journals]] |date=January 3, 2017 | url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105165629/http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2017/01/03/the-infamous-watergate-office-building-has-a-new.html |archive-date=January 5, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Brian Friedman acquired the building in 2019 for $101.5 million.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenhowley/2019/09/29/watergate-break-in-building-sells-for-1015m-to-dc-developer/ | title=Watergate Break-In Building Sells For $101.5 Million To D.C. Developer | first=Kathleen | last=Howley | work=[[Forbes]] | date=September 29, 2019 | url-access=limited}}</ref>