The pipeline for office-to-residential transformation projects in Washington, D.C., is growing.
Two commercial-to-residential projects were conditionally granted 20-year tax abatements, including an office building in the District's Foggy Bottom neighborhood and another property near The Wharf mixed-use development. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the grants at a ceremony for a separate office-to-residential conversion in the city that recently landed millions in financing.
With these latest incentive awards, the District has now advanced at least 10 projects via the Housing in Downtown program it launched in March 2024. The latest grants would increase the total number of residential units the program is set to help create to 2,563 residences, including 289 affordable units.
It's a step toward the city achieving its goal of bringing more than 15,000 new residents downtown by 2028, an effort to replace outdated office buildings with new dwellings.
"We are continuing to drive interest and demand for office-to-residential conversions, including ones outside the immediate Downtown core," Nina Albert, the city's deputy mayor for planning and economic development, said in a statement.
Real estate investment trust Carr Properties plans to redevelop the office property at 2121 Virginia Ave. NW to create a roughly 300-unit multifamily building with about 30 affordable apartments.
The D.C. firm bought the vacant building in the fall for $23.5 million and plans to demolish and replace it with a luxury housing complex.
In the second project, development group Jair Lynch plans to redevelop 899 Maine Ave. SW to bring 511 apartments, including 76 affordable units, to a site across from the $3.6 billion Wharf development along the Southwest waterfront.
Carr and Jair Lynch did not immediately respond to CoStar News' email requests for comment.