Watergate complex to Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974. The name "Watergate" and the suffix "-gate" have since become synonymous with political scandals in the United States and elsewhere. The Watergate superblock is bounded on the north by Virginia Avenue, on the east by New Hampshire Avenue, on the south by F Street, and on the west by the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. It is in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood overlooking the Potomac River, next to the Kennedy Center and the embassy of Saudi Arabia. The nearest Metro station, 0.4 miles (650 m) distant, is Foggy Bottom-GWU. For more than a
Watergate complex was forced to attempt to sell the property. No buyer emerged and the Blackstone Group regained ownership of the hotel. The Blackstone Group transferred the Watergate Hotel to its Trizec Properties subsidiary. Trizec did not pay the hotel's property taxes for 2008 (which amounted to $250,000), and estimated that it would take $100 million to make the hotel habitable due to the stalled 2007 renovation. The hotel was put on the market in May 2009, but once again no buyer emerged. The hotel was auctioned off on July 21, 2009 (with the minimum bid beginning at $1 million), but there