DOJ-To-Residential? 500-Unit Apartment Conversion Pitched For Judiciary Plaza Office Building

• February 19th 2025

by UrbanTurf Staff

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The wheels are in motion to convert an office building in downtown DC into a large residential project.

UrbanTurf has learned that plans will be presented to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday to convert the 11-story Judiciary Plaza office building at 450 5th Street NW (map) into a nearly 500-unit apartment project. The Georgetown Company is helming the conversion and Eric Colbert & Associates is in charge of the design. 

The conversion will aim to preserve as much of the existing building and facade as possible while removing portions of the property to allow for light and air to flow through the new apartments. Built in 1981, the Brutalist building is located within the Pennsylvania Avenue Historic District and has been occupied by a number of offices of the Department of Justice since 2006. 

"The overall design intent is to introduce residential use within the civic/government building context while respecting urban heights, setbacks and view sheds," documents filed with the CFA stated. "The architecture seeks to maintain the character of depth and shadow in the existing facades and to incorporate similar qualities into the new facades."

The conversion news comes about two months after Bisnow published a report that there is growing momentum to redevelop the cluster of federal office buildings in Southwest DC into a sprawling mixed-use development. 

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/doj-to-residential_500-unit_apartment_conversion_pitched_for_judiciary_plaz/23208.