Overview
- The latest submission outlines a roughly 90,000-square-foot neoclassical addition with a formal ballroom and offices, matching the residence’s height and dropping a previously shown southern pediment.
- The National Capital Planning Commission is slated to weigh preliminary and final site and building plans on March 5, after the renderings were briefly posted then removed from its website, CNN reported.
- The National Trust for Historic Preservation is suing to stop construction, and a federal judge last month questioned the administration’s authority to proceed after demolition without explicit congressional approval.
- The East Wing was demolished in October; a White House memo says the mansion’s eastern facade was safeguarded and historic elements such as the cornerstone, colonnade columns and fixtures were preserved for potential integration.
- The administration characterizes the project as a privately financed $400 million build targeting a summer 2028 opening, with reporting indicating above-ground work could begin as soon as April.