Indiana limestone would be used for the facade on the first three floors, with rusticated brick and terra cotta trim on all upper floors. By June 6, however, the cost of the hotel had risen to $8 million ($ in dollars), largely due to a sizeable expansion in the size of the ballrooms (the largest of which could now seat 1,600 people), meeting rooms, and other public spaces on the first two floors and first basement level. Ground for the new hotel was broken in July 1922. Structural engineer F. E. Gillen designed the foundation, and oversaw its construction. As excavation began, workers quickly uncovered the stumps of massive cypress trees, some of the trunks nearly in diameter. Geologists estimated the stumps at 100,000 years old. As workers dug deeper, they discovered that an underground branch of Rock Creek ran below the site. This forced the foundation to be dug to bedrock, some below ground. The facade along Connecticut Avenue was in length, along DeSales Street in length, and along 17th Street in length. The main promenade running through the center of the hotel was wide and long, while the lobby was wide and long. Wainscoting and floors in the public rooms of the hotel were of Botticino marble and featured walnut moldings. A glass dome covered the Palm Court, which as decorated on the interior with ornamental ironwork in the Italianate style. Excavation of the foundation was completed in late November 1922, several weeks ahead of schedule. Steel for the frame began arriving the week of January 21, 1923, and erection of the building's frame was expected to take 10 weeks. More than 500 men worked on erecting the frame, while 2,000 men erected the facade and interior walls, and worked laying electrical, water, sewer, and gas lines. Longacre Engineering Company of New York was the general contractor. Construction costs continued to rise, however. Although scheduled to open January 1, 1924, the hotel remained unfinished. The Allan E. Walker Investment Company, the largest shareholder in the Hotel Walker Company began running short of funds, slowing construction. Nearing bankruptcy, the Walker Investment sold its interest in the Hotel Walker to C.C. Mitchell & Company, builder of large apartment complexes and hotels in Boston and Detroit. The reported price of the sale was $5.7 million for the $8.5 million hotel. But in fact, costs had risen much higher, and the hotel's