text: Zeckendorf had assigned I. M. Pei, at the time a staff architect in his firm of Webb & Knapp, to provide the overall design of the plaza, promenade, and park (including building siting). In 1955 Pei had started his own firm, which worked primarily on Zeckendorf's projects, and Pei's associate Araldo Cossutta became the lead architect for the North Building (955 L'Enfant Plaza SW) and the South Building (950 L'Enfant Plaza SW). But by 1962 the scale of the project had been revised; the hotel building was unaffected, but the number of office buildings had shrunk from eight to three. Zeckendorf added an underground shopping mall of shops and restaurants to the project in November 1962, and construction on the promenade and plaza was slated to begin in April 1963. But Zeckendorf's vast real estate empire began to suffer severe financial difficulties in 1964, and indeed the company went bankrupt in 1965. With Zeckendorf unable to make good on his construction pledges, the Redevelopment Land Agency forced him to withdraw and sell his interest in L'Enfant Plaza in November 1964.
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  The buyer of Zeckendorf's property and leases was the L'Enfant Plaza Corp. (also known as L'Enfant Properties, Inc.). L'Enfant Plaza Corp. was a syndicate led by former United States Air Force Lieutenant General Elwood R. Quesada, and included Chase Manhattan Bank president David Rockefeller, D.C. businessman David A. Garrett, investment banker André Meyer, and the real estate investment firm of Gerry Brothers & Co. Quesada said that if the Redevelopment Land Agency approved the sale, his company would begin immediate construction of the promenade, the parking garage beneath it, and the plaza using the Pei firm's 10-year-old plans. The agency gave its approval on January 21, 1965, and the sale was finalized on August 30.