500-Unit Apartment Conversion Pitched For Judiciary Plaza Office Building Moves Forward

• May 27th

by UrbanTurf Staff

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The plan to convert a DC building that houses Department of Justice offices into a large residential project continues to move forward. 

A modification to a planned unit development has been filed with DC's Zoning Commission in order 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. 

Interestingly, this section of DC -- long known as a home to federal office buildings -- was originally a residential neighborhood. 

"In the middle of the 19th century, known as the “City Hall Neighborhood,” the area was home to Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, Daniel Webster, and other prominent legislators, government officials, and attorneys," the Zoning Commission filing stated. "The transition from residential to commercial use took place towards the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th centuries with construction of the National Building Museum, formerly the Pension Building, as well as several courthouses and government buildings."

The PUD modification will likely go before the Zoning Commission in the coming months. The conversion received conceptual design approval from the Commission of Fine Arts in February. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/500-unit_apartment_conversion_pitched_for_judiciary_plaza_office_building/23540.