A popular museum may be moving out of the district.

The International Spy Museum needs to vacate its Penn Quarter building. Its lease expires in 2017 and rent has increased since the museum opened in 2002.

News4 learned the museum is having trouble finding a new location, and top museum officials say their search may take them away from our region.

The museum had previously planned to move to an expanded Carnegie Library, but that deal fell apart late last year after the D.C. Historical Preservation Review Board failed to approve the expansion of the historic building.

Several other cities are actively trying to lure the museum away fromD.C..

Museum officials told News4 they would like to stay in the D.C. area and are doing everything they can to make that happen.