Historic DC Student Housing Starts Makeover

After housing government workers in wartime and serving generations of students, two historic dormitories in the nation's capital will get a third life as market-rate communities.

By Adina Marcut

George Washington Carver Hall

George Washington Carver Hall

Howard University is partnering with Urban Investment Partners and Neighborhood Development Corp., on the $50 million redevelopment of two Washington, D.C., student housing communities into 162 residential apartments.

Wartime Service

Built in 1942 to house War Department employees, George Washington Carver Hall and Lucy Diggs Slowe Hall are located at 211 Elm St. and 1919 3rd St., respectively, in the capital’s LeDroit Park neighborhood.  The communities will keep their current names honoring historic figures in science and education, and plaques will be installed to commemorate their contributions. 

The university will maintain fee simple ownership of the property through a long-term capitalized ground lease structure and will share in the revenue generated by the properties. UIP Property Management will manage the communities upon their completion.

The two new communities will be near the Shaw-Howard U Metro station, Howard Theatre, and the popular Red Hen and Boundary Stone restaurants.

Lucy Diggs Slowe Hall

Lucy Diggs Slowe Hall

Each community will feature a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom units. Common-area amenities will include a fitness center, resident lounge, an outdoor amenity space and 50 parking spaces at a nearby university-owned parking facility. Carver Hall will include 15 loft apartments. 

“The strategy to diversify and improve University revenue streams is being furthered by innovative transactions such as these,” Wayne Frederick, Howard University president, said in a statement. “They will deliver capital to fund other campus modernization initiatives such as a new undergraduate Library, renovated program space for the School of Nursing and Allied Health, and the necessary pre-planning work for a new building for the School of Communications.”

Rendering courtesy of Howard University