Overview
- NCPC chair Will Scharf said the White House will file formal ballroom designs in December, about three months after construction began.
- Shalom Baranes Associates has been named lead architect, with James McCrery II remaining as a consultant after reported disputes over the project’s scale.
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal introduced the No Palaces Act to require NCPC review before any demolition and to mandate congressional approval for privately funded White House construction.
- The East Wing was demolished in October, and site preparation has continued even though design plans have not yet been submitted for review.
- The project is described as roughly 90,000 square feet with a capacity of 999 and an estimated $300 million budget to be covered by private donations, with a donor list released by the White House.