Willco has broken ground on an office-to-residential conversion project in the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District of Washington, D.C. The community, Elle, will feature 163 units in 185,000 square feet of space.
Originally, the site, also known as the Vanguard building, held the Peace Corps headquarters. Constructed in 1965 by Willco, the building was the first high-rise office tower in the Golden Triangle. The redevelopment is now the first large-scale office-to-multifamily community conversion in the area.
The Elle, a Class A project, will include 8,000 square feet of ground floor retail and a dog park, rooftop pool and restaurant. The building, situated at 111 20th St. NW, is anticipated to receive LEED Silver certification.
Residents will have access to dining and entertainment options and retail and public gathering spaces throughout the Golden Triangle. After a year of planning, the area has been reimagined by the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District as an upcoming mixed-use neighborhood and central business district.
DC in high demand
As of May of this year, the District had 37,345 units under construction. With high growth and high demand, the metro had the fourth-largest pipeline in the nation. Rental rates, on a year-over-year basis, increased by 10 percent as of the same month.
The need for increased housing in D.C. is drawing more developers to the area. Recently, Klein Enterprises acquired a development site for the construction of a 379-unit Class A property. It is anticipated to start building early next year.
