Dozen Diplomats to Get New $25 Million Palatial Parisian Crib

The U.S. Embassy in Paris is building a new residential facility to house a dozen diplomatic staff members -- and the project will cost taxpayers up to $25 million to design and build.

The U.S. Department of State will construct the facility on U.S. government-owned property near the existing embassy, according to a presolicitation notice that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located via routine database research. The proposed compound includes plans for a 90-vehicle underground parking garage.The new structure will supplement, not replace, The Chancery, as the embassy is known, which:

Today, the Chancery faces the Avenue Gabriel and the gardens of the Champs-Elysées. To one side is the famous Hôtel de Crillon. From the Ambassador's office, one can admire what is probably the most beautiful example of 18th Century French architecture, the Place de la Concorde, with statues representing France's great cities, fountains evoking Saint Peter's Square in Rome and twenty gilded columns holding lamps.

Because of "local historic preservation controls," the selected contractor(s) must hire a "local design consultant" to achieve compliance.

Source document: Solicitation #S-AQMMA-12-R-0237.