1625 Massachusetts Ave. NW 1

Ben Peters | Washington Business Journal

National Real Estate Development LLC has landed a loan to kick off its conversion of an office east of Dupont Circle into 157 apartments. The Philadelphia-based firm, a subsidiary of D.C.’s National Real Estate Advisors, secured the $62.8 million construction loan from Bank of America. The conversion of the 114,000-square-foot 1625 Massachusetts Ave. NW, at Scott Circle, is slated to break ground on Tuesday and deliver in 2026, according to the developer.
“Repurposing 1625 Massachusetts Avenue exemplifies the power of strong partnerships which are allowing this project to break ground in challenging economic times and developing much-needed housing for the District,” Katie Hartley, director of National Real Estate Development, said in a statement.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Marshall Scallan and Bindi Shah arranged the construction financing, per the developer.
The conversion of the former home of the Air Line Pilots Association International will retain the building’s original structure and exterior travertine fins, while the interiors will pay homage to its heritage in aviation. A new penthouse structure will be added to the roofline and exterior landscaping will improve green spaces along Massachusetts Avenue and 17th Street.
Eric Colbert & Associates and New York’s DXA Group lead the project’s design team.
Mark Sharer, D.C.-based mid-Atlantic market executive at Bank of America, said in a statement the financial institution is proud to be “part of the solution” in revitalizing the “underutilized office.”
National Real Estate Advisors was one of three conditionally approved recipients of D.C.’s Housing in Downtown tax abatements. The incentive is projected to save the firm $20.8 million over 20 years. It is unclear if the incentive award helped the developer secure the bank loan.
The Housing in Downtown program, which aims to revitalize the District’s core by adding 15,000 new residents, were also conditionally awarded to Post Brothers’ conversion of 1825 and 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW into 600 units, and Monument Realty’s conversion of 613-617 H St. NW in Chinatown into 152 units. The District currently has about 20 office-to-residential conversions in the pipeline, 10 of which are expected to benefit from the abatement.