Mayor Bowser Breaks Ground on The Geneva, DC’s Largest-Ever Office-to-Residential Conversion

(Washington, DC) - Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser broke ground on The Geneva, the largest office-to-residential conversion project in Washington, DC's history. The project will deliver 532 new homes, including 60 permanently affordable units, as part of the Bowser Administration's continued work to bring more residents Downtown, stabilize the commercial office market, and deliver housing across all eight wards.

"From the start, our Housing in Downtown strategy has been about turning challenges into opportunities-taking underused office buildings and converting them into homes that strengthen our city," said Mayor Bowser. "The Geneva shows what it looks like when we follow through on that vision. We are delivering housing, bringing more people Downtown, and setting a national standard for how cities adapt and grow."

The Geneva received support from the District's Housing in Downtown (HID) program, which is designed to catalyze new residential development and add thousands of new residents to Downtown DC through a 20-year tax abatement for commercial-to-residential conversions. Through a $41 million investment, the District estimates that HID will help deliver 6.7 million square feet of new residential use, or 8,400 new housing units. The Geneva represents a major milestone in the District's Comeback Plan and underscores DC's position as a national leader in converting underutilized office space into vibrant residential communities.

Located at 1825-1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, the 604,000-square-foot property will be converted into a 15-story, LEED-certified residential building featuring 57,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. The project is also backed by a record-setting $465 million in Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing from Nuveen Green Capital and a $110 million senior loan from Mavik, bringing total project financing to $575 million.

"The superlative scale and quality of the Geneva project are equaled by its 'forever' location. Long-time partners Mavik and Nuveen Green Capital and our team saw the incredible potential, and together we generated an ingenious, relevant, and repeatable capital structure which we will use again in the future," said Matt Pestronk, President of Post Brothers. "Mayor Bowser and her team were a pleasure to work with in terms of supporting the approval process for a large project while being extremely responsive and putting its Housing in Downtown Tax Abatement to work. This strong public-private partnership with the Bowser Administration and DC Green Bank demonstrates why the District exceeded its goal of 36,000 new housing units by 2025 and is well on its way of adding 15,000 new residents to downtown by 2028. We're particularly proud that this project will deliver 60 affordable housing units in this high-opportunity neighborhood."

At the groundbreaking, Mayor Bowser also announced two additional commercial-to-residential projects conditionally awarded tax abatements through the HID program:

• 2121 Virginia Avenue NW, redeveloped by Carr Properties, delivering 300 homes, including 30 affordable units; and
• 899 Maine Avenue SW, redeveloped by Jair Lynch, delivering 511 homes, including 76 affordable units.

With these awards, the District has now advanced 10 Housing in Downtown projects since the program launched in March 2024, bringing the total to 2,563 housing units, including 289 affordable units. Projects include:

"Through the Mayor's investments in the Housing in Downtown program, we are continuing to drive interest and demand for office-to-residential conversions, including ones outside the immediate Downtown core," said Deputy Mayor Nina Albert. "Projects like The Geneva are helping to solidify DC as a leader in conversion projects and showcase their potential as we seek to stabilize our commercial office market while delivering much-needed housing."

Since launching the District's Comeback Plan in 2023, Mayor Bowser has positioned Washington, DC as a national model for office-to-residential conversions by pairing targeted incentives with disciplined execution. In 2024 and 2025, 1,904 housing units were converted from office space. There are an estimated 1,803 units currently under construction, and an additional 4,258 units are in the District's conversion pipeline - putting DC on track to meet the Mayor's goal of adding 15,000 new residents Downtown.

This work builds on the Bowser Administration's broader housing record across all eight wards. Under Mayor Bowser's leadership, the District has combined historic investments with smart policy reforms to expand housing opportunities citywide-surpassing the goal of 36,000 new homes by 2025 ahead of schedule and delivering more than 15,000 new affordable homes. HID has extended that momentum by unlocking more than $1 billion in private investment, transforming vacant office space into homes, creating thousands of construction jobs, and generating long-term tax revenue. Together, these efforts reflect a sustained commitment to strengthening neighborhoods, stabilizing the economy, and running through the tape by building a more vibrant Downtown for the future.

Learn more on the HID program.

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