The White House has brought in a new architect to advance President Donald Trump’s ambitious $300 million ballroom project.
Shalom Baranes, founder of Shalom Baranes Associates, has joined the project team to help realize what White House spokesman Davis Ingle called “the greatest addition to the White House since the Oval Office — the White House Ballroom.”
Baranes replaces James McCrery as the lead architect, though McCrery will remain involved as a “valuable consultant” as the project enters new phases, a White House official said. The East Wing of the White House has already been partially demolished to make way for the construction.
Renderings of the ballroom, which Trump has publicly shared, suggest a grand space designed to accommodate 900 people, though precise dimensions have not been disclosed. Official plans will soon be submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission.
The project’s cost has risen from an initial $200 million estimate to $300 million, with all funding coming from private donors, including Trump. Ingle described Baranes as “an accomplished architect whose work has shaped the architectural identity of our nation’s capital for decades” and said his expertise will be key to completing the project. Trump has said the ballroom will likely be “the finest ever built” and emphasized that it comes at no expense to taxpayers.