Government to sell €3.7m former residence of Irish ambassador in Washington

The former residence of the Irish ambassador in Washington, DC.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is selling two ambassador residences in prime locations in the United States, that are set to fetch millions on the property markets in Washington and New York City.

It has emerged it is selling the former residence of the Irish ambassador in Washington, DC, with the nine-bedroom mansion estimated to be worth in excess of €3.7m.

It is also selling the former official accommodation of the permanent representative of Ireland to the UN in New York, which is located on the plush, upmarket East End Avenue, overlooking the East River and Roosevelt Island. Current homes for sale in the area reach as high as €9.1m.

The 7,763-square-foot property in Washington had been the official residence of Ireland’s ambassador to the United States, but was vacated in 2021 after a health and safety report identified “significant issues” with the building.

Since then, the department has been renting a nine-bedroom, 13-bathroom mansion with a pool for the ambassador at 2221 30th Street, which was the most expensive property listing in the US capital when it was put on the market for $18.5m in 2021.

A DFA spokeswoman confirmed this week that it had decided to dispose of the current official accommodation at 2244 S Street following a review of the department’s “property footprint” in Washington, DC. It has separately begun the process of acquiring new official accommodation in the city.

“A comprehensive review has been completed which has concluded that disposing of the property is the most economically beneficial option,” she explained.

A real estate agent will now be appointed to manage the sale, and will be paid a fee in the region of €380,000 for their services, according to a tender advertised by the department earlier this week.

No estimated value was provided for the real estate agent for the New York sale.

It was reported back in 2009 that the Department of Foreign Affairs had spent more than €800,000 refurbishing the apartment on East End Avenue, which translated to around $1.3m in dollar terms to the taxpayer.

During its refurbishment, temporary accommodation was sourced for the then-ambassador at a cost of almost €20,000 per month.

At the time, a department spokesperson told the Irish Times that the cost was not excessive in the context of New York and that “in New York, any kind of work does not come cheaply”.

The DFA revealed earlier this year that its mansion at 2244 S Street in Washington, which was built in 1924 for the uncle of President Franklin D Roosevelt, required significant renovation work to address a number of safety issues.

It was subsequently vacated and the 14,750-square-foot property at 2221 30th Street has since been rented for use as the official residence of Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, as well as a promotional space for hosting events.

The property is located in an area of the city nicknamed ‘Embassy Row’, and was previously described by the Washington Post as having “more marble than a Vegas penthouse suite”.

The department has not revealed how much rent it is paying for the luxury mansion, but noted that it serves both as the temporary residence of the Irish ambassador and a venue for the promotion of trade, investment, economic and cultural relations between Ireland and the US.

It also owns the Irish embassy at 2234 Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, which was purchased by the State in 1949.

According to a review of the Department of Foreign Affairs' overseas leased property portfolio in 2021, it had a global network of 169 overseas properties of which 35 were owned and the rest leased.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said, "The Department of Foreign Affairs owns a property at 1 East End Avenue in New York which, since 1957, has served as the official accommodation for the Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The Department has conducted a review of the property and has concluded that disposing of the property is the most economically beneficial option.

"The Department is currently considering the most appropriate options for the future provision of official accommodation for the Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York."