WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- The Watergate Hotel , part of a complex that became synonymous with President Richard Nixon 's downfall , attracted no bids at an auction Tuesday . The Watergate Hotel will most likely have to be sold privately after not attracting bids at auction . According to Paul Cooper , vice president of Alex Cooper Auctioneers , some 10 bidders ready to provide a $ 1 million deposit were registered for the auction . But the hotel fell back into the hands of its lender , PB Capital , after no one advanced the $ 25 million opening bid , the auction company said . The auction was sponsored by PB Capital , which holds a $ 40 million note on the hotel after the previous owner , Monument Reality , defaulted on its loan . Monument 's 30-day foreclosure note expired Thursday . Cooper said PB Capital will most likely sell the hotel privately after it takes over the title and will not try to operate the hotel itself . On the night of June 17 , 1972 , the hotel served as a base for an illegal break-in by operatives of the Nixon re-election campaign at the offices of the Democratic National Committee , located in the Watergate office building next door . Some of the burglars and their handlers , whose arrests began the investigation that led , two years later , to Nixon 's resignation , actually stayed at the Watergate hotel prior to the break-in . Among the hotel guests were former FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy , and former CIA operative Howard Hunt , both of whom later served prison time as a result of the Watergate break-in . Developers estimate the hotel could need up to $ 100 million in renovations . The Watergate complex was built in the late 1960s and consists of the hotel , two office buildings , and three apartment buildings . Only the hotel building was up for auction Tuesday . It closed two years ago for renovations , and possible conversions into co-op apartments .
Hotel falls back into the hands of its lender , PB Capital . PB Capital will most likely sell the hotel privately after it takes over the title . Hotel was a base for a break-in by operatives of the Nixon re-election campaign .