 As of 1999 , the State Department was paying $ 360 @,@ 000 per year to lease the suite on a rolling basis ; the lease is renewed every ten years with an optional one or two year short @-@ term extension . In 2015 , it was announced the State Department would no longer permit staff to be housed at the Waldorf @-@ Astoria , due to security concerns arising from the recent purchase of the property by Chinese business interests . Whether the decision would impact the status of the residence was not made clear , however , as of March 2016 the hotel was still being occupied by the U.S. ambassador . 
