Scott Purcell, a Washington, D.C. real estate broker, thought he found the perfect buyer for a vacant, former ambassador’s residence last year in the nation’s capital. Despite the 13,500-square-foot mansion’s blighted condition, significant property tax liability and a water lien, the buyer was willing to pay $6.8 million in cash and could close in 45 days.
The only problem? The building’s owner, the government of Pakistan, would soon be ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote overseas. The deal fell through before closing.
“There was a new prime minister over there who had no idea about this property,” said Purcell, of Long & Foster Real Estate.
That didn’t stop Purcell though, who sold the property in July for more money to a Texas investor who plans to convert the home into a cultural center.
A Tall Order
Some neighbors in the District of Columbia’s affluent DuPont Circle neighborhood — known for its cluster of stately embassies — thought the building would never sell. Pakistan’s ambassadors moved out of the Gilded Age home, built in 1908 at 2201 R St NW, about 20 years ago. But since the property was a private residence and not protected by ambassadorial overlay (Pakistan’s embassy in Washington is in a different building), it wasn’t exempt from property taxes. Pakistan’s government didn’t pay the subsequent tax bills, and the home’s tax liability eventually grew to about $2 million. Meanwhile, the home was marred by both vandalism and interior disrepair, among other issues.
Purcell may have been the last listing agent on the property, but he was far from the first. By the time he took over, he heard from locally elected neighborhood commissioners that they were encouraging the city to put the house up for a tax sale.
Purcell had to move fast. He offered the house as-is in February 2022, and quickly received five offers, including the $6.8 million cash offer that fell through due to Pakistan’s political unrest. He kept working on the listing and eventually received a $7.1 million cash offer from Dallas-based Abdul Hafeez Khan, a Pakistani-American businessman behind Tweaker Energy drinks.
“It was never really off the market, but I solicited other offers,” Purcell said. “And we got an offer that was higher than the $6.8 million.”
There were still challenges, though. First the building’s $2 million tax liability. Pakistan took care of that by petitioning the U.S. State Department for an ambassadorial overlay for the property. The State Department granted the petition, wiping out the balance.
“I don’t know how, but they did it,” he said. The buyer still had to pay the water lien, which totaled $41,000, to clear the title for the sale.
Purcell said Khan plans to convert the home into a Pakistan-related cultural center but needs to gut and renovate the property. Attempts to reach Khan for comment were unsuccessful.
Purcell still has more work to do with Pakistan, which vacated its former embassy in DuPont Circle in 2011 and moved to a new facility along another prominent row of embassies in the District’s Van Ness neighborhood. Pakistan still owns the former embassy, and Purcell is responsible for bringing in a new tenant to fill the 19,000 square feet of office space at the property.