Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, is nearing a deal to purchase Fox News anchor Bret Baier’s opulent Washington, DC mansion.
The French-style estate, located in the upscale Foxhall neighborhood, was listed for $31.9 million last year and recently reduced to $28.99 million.
While the final sale price has not been disclosed, real estate experts say it could surpass the DC area’s current residential record of $24 million, set by a Georgetown home in 2007, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the transaction.
The Baiers acquired the 1.5-acre property in 2018 for $5.4 million before investing roughly $25 million to construct the 16,250-square-foot mansion.
Modeled after the Château du Grand-Lucé in France, the residence features five bedrooms, a marble fountain, a climate-controlled wine room, an indoor sports court, a game room and a putting green.
The sale comes as Baier and his wife, Amy, have relocated to Palm Beach, Florida, where they purchased a $37 million mansion.
Lutnick, a key player in Trump’s inner circle and a prominent financial executive, is no stranger to luxury real estate.
He owns a penthouse in Manhattan and an estate in Bridgehampton, New York.
The transaction, expected to close this week, is seen as a boost for Washington’s high-end housing market, which has been gaining momentum since Trump’s election victory in November.
Many incoming administration officials are searching for prestigious properties in the area, further driving demand.
If this deal breaks the area record, “that would be a boon for the whole market,” Robert Hryniewicki of Washington Fine Properties, a local real estate agent not involved in the sale, told the Journal.
