From Mansion Conversion To SunTrust Plaza: The 280 Units Coming To Adams Morgan And Mount Pleasant

• September 28th

by UrbanTurf Staff

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The past year has been one of progress for the residential pipeline in Adams Morgan and Mount Pleasant.

Two Jubilee Housing projects have opened. The legal fight over the former SunTrust plaza is officially over. And a 44-unit affordable building on Champlain Street has won zoning approval. The biggest new addition is in Mount Pleasant, where Dila Development plans to turn a limestone mansion at 16th Street and Park Road NW into about 90 condos. In all, six residential projects are now in the works in and around the neighborhood, totaling roughly 280 units.

Below, UrbanTurf revisits what has happened since our last look at the residential pipeline in Adams Morgan and Mount Pleasant. If we missed a large project in the works, please shoot us an email at editor(at)urbanturf.com. 

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SunTrust Plaza Affordable Development

The last legal obstacle for one of DC's most contentious development sites is gone. In December 2025, Jubilee Housing, the Kalorama Citizens Association and Adams Morgan for Reasonable Development signed an agreement ending a lawsuit that had been going on for almost a decade over the former SunTrust branch and plaza at 18th Street and Columbia Road (map).

The plans have also shifted a bit. Jubilee now describes the project as a six-story, mixed-use building with 51 affordable units, a habitable penthouse, below-grade parking and a community plaza. It is targeting a 2027 groundbreaking. Eric Colbert & Associates is the architect.

UrbanTurf first started covering development plans for the site a decade ago, when PN Hoffman pitched a six-story, 58-unit condominium building there. Years of community pushback and court proceedings followed. That led to the demise of the condo project and to the bank donating the property to Jubilee in 2023.

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2384 Champlain Street

This summer, DC's Zoning Commission unanimously gave final approval to Champlain Street Partners planned unit development and map amendment for 2384 Champlain Street NW (map). The approval allows for a five-story building with 44 affordable units to move forward.

The TEASS\WARREN-designed project will be affordable to households earning 30% to 80% of median family income. As part of the approval, the applicant agreed to a condition guaranteeing that at least 15% of units remain inclusionary zoning units even if the project's financing changes. The development team also includes Housing Help Plus, MED Developers and Mutreja Development LLC.

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2009 18th Street NW

A new residential development is on the boards for the southern edge of the neighborhood. 

The five-story, 31-unit residential building has been pitched for 2009 18th Street NW (map). The one-story building at the site will be razed to make way for the new development, which will have two floors of underground parking.

The design has gone through a number of revisions, including adding balconies along 18th Street, replacing a pair of street-level units with amenity space, and adding planted areas along the base of the building on 18th Street. 

The Teass/Warren Architects-designed project is the latest plan for the 18th Street site which previously housed a restaurant. Al Fresco Grill and Tap opened back in 2023, but closed only after about a year in operation.

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1610 Columbia Road

Dila Development is planning a six-story, 34-unit condominium building just south of the Unification Church at 1610 Columbia Road NW (map). It originally proposed a nine-story building but cut the height after concerns from neighbors and preservation officials. The concept, designed by 2Plys Architecture and Development, appears to be part of larger plans for the church property. Earlier filings said those plans include converting the historic church itself into apartments.

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Brass Knob Warehouse Redevelopment

King's Creek's plans for the former Brass Knob warehouse at 2329 and 2335 Champlain Street NW have changed from a retrofit to a teardown. The developer says the building is too contaminated to save: the contamination came from a former gas station next door and has long been under a DC environmental cleanup case. While workers were drilling for the facade stabilization, fumes trapped in the basement ignited in a brief flash fire. An environmental consultant then recommended demolishing the building.

The approved project, designed by Bonstra|Haresign Architects, calls for 31 units, six of them IZ. Unit sizes would range from 428-square-foot studios to 994-square-foot two-bedrooms. There will also be a fitness center, 16 bicycle spaces, 8 vehicle spaces and one carshare space.

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16th Street Mansion To Condo Conversion

A 90-unit condominium project is proposed for a limestone mansion and adjacent buildings at the corner of 16th and Park Road NW. 

Dila Development, working with DC-based architecture firm 2Plys, has plans for a three-phase conversion. Phase one focuses on the historic mansion at 3224 16th Street NW — a limestone building that once embodied Mary Foote Henderson's early-20th century vision to line 16th Street with diplomatic palaces — which will become 21 condos.

The second phase will address 3220 16th Street, with a five-level addition built above the existing two-story school building. In the third phase, running concurrently with the second, the adjacent townhouse at 1604 Park Road NW will receive a multi-story addition above and behind its rear wing. When complete, the project will yield 64 units in the mansion parcel and 23 more in the Park Road parcel.

The development is looking to deliver in 2028.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/from_a_mansion_conversion_to_the_suntrust_plaza_the_280_units_coming/25041.