DC-based Urban Investment Partners has bought a George Washington University dorm with plans for an $44M renovation.
The firm bought the 50-year-old building, at 2601 Virginia Ave NW, for $36M from the university, with CBRE repping the seller.
The dorm was once a Howard Johnson hotel, where cronies of the Nixon administration staked out the DNC HQ across Virginia Avenue. Coincidentally, that building also traded hands this summer.
UIP plans 200 apartments for the existing 97k SF building, and also plans to add 40k SF by extending the building and create another 50 units. The new building, branded as Boathouse, will also have an 8k to 10k SF diner or coffee shop, a rooftop deck, a swimming pool and a fitness center.
“We are going to create something never seen before in this city, focusing on access to the park and the river, promoting a healthful lifestyle that includes fitness, exercise and fresh food,” UIP principal Steve Schwat said in a release. “This is going to be an exciting place to live, equidistant from the Georgetown waterfront and the Foggy Bottom Metro stop, which is just a five-minute walk away.”
UIP also purchased three Tenleytown office buildings from American University in February with plans of creating apartments.
In May, Varsity Investments purchased a different GWU dorm with plans to turn it into a 197-unit, Millennial-designed apartment building.
