The White House is expected to present plans for a new ballroom this month

WASHINGTON — The White House is expected to submit plans for President Donald Trump’s new ballroom to the Federal Planning Commission before the end of the year, about three months after construction begins.

Will Scharf, whom Trump appointed chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, said at the committee’s monthly meeting on Thursday that his White House colleagues told him the long-awaited plans would be presented sometime in December.

Read more: Who pays for Trump’s $300 million auditorium?

“Once the plans are presented, the role of this committee and its professional staff will begin,” said Scharf, who is also a senior aide to the Republican president in the White House.

He said the review process would take place at a “normal and deliberative pace.”

Separately, the White House confirmed on Thursday that a second architectural firm has been added to the project.

Spokesman Davis Engel said architect Shalom Baranis of Washington, D.C., is needed as construction moves into a new phase. The company has worked on federal properties throughout the nation’s capital, including the Pentagon and Treasury buildings, according to its website.

“As we begin the transition to the next phase of development on the White House Auditorium, the administration is excited to have the extremely talented Shalom Baranis join the team of experts to execute President Trump’s vision for building what will be the greatest addition to the White House since the Oval Office – the White House Auditorium,” Engel said in an email statement.

“Shalom is an accomplished architect whose work has shaped the architectural identity of our nation’s capital for decades, and his experience will be a great asset to the completion of this project,” Engel said.

The initial firm, McCrery Architects, also based in Washington, remains a consulting firm.

If the 90,000-square-foot hall is built as proposed over the summer, and is expected to be ready before Trump’s term ends in 2029, it would dwarf the White House itself, at nearly twice its size, and the president has said it will seat 999 people.

The estimated price tag is $300 million, up from the $200 million initially set by the White House.

Trump said the hall will not cost taxpayers a dime because it is privately funded by individuals he says are “patriots,” American corporations and himself. He did not mention the amount of the contribution from his own funds.

The White House released a list of 37 donors that includes cryptocurrency billionaires, charitable organizations, sports team owners, powerful financiers, tech and tobacco giants, media companies, supporters of Republican causes, and some of the president’s neighbors in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump has long wanted to create a ballroom in the White House, and he regularly complains about the inability of its two largest halls, the State Dining Room and the East Hall, to host large events. He has also criticized the use of large tents set up at the South Grounds for events with more than a hundred people, such as formal dinners.

Last month, when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited, Trump said he upset a lot of people because he had to decline their requests to attend a dinner in the East Room in honor of the prince due to space limitations.

“I just wish we had about 2,000 more seats,” Trump said during dinner, referring to the proposed ballroom. “We would fill every one of them twice.” “But you’ll have that one pretty soon, and we’ll have to do another one in about two years from now.”

In September, Trump moved forward with site preparation work for the ballroom despite the lack of a signature from the National Capital Planning Commission, the executive branch agency that has jurisdiction over construction and major renovations of government buildings in the area.

Scharf distinguished between demolition work and above-ground construction, saying that the committee only has jurisdiction over the latter. L. Preston Bryant Jr., a former chairman of the commission under President Barack Obama, told The Associated Press that the approval process typically involves four stages, including early consultation when a project is conceptual.

the pictures: The White House begins demolition of the East Wing to build the Trump Ballroom

In October, Trump demolished the East Wing, where he proposed building the ballroom. Site preparation work has continued daily since then, with the sound of construction heard amid the hustle and bustle of the White House.

The East Wing was the traditional base of operations for the First Lady and her staff. There are also many other White House offices in this wing. Everyone is currently working out of space elsewhere in the White House or an adjacent office building.

The Washington Post was first to report the addition of a new architect.