Willow Bridge Starts DC Office-to-Resi
The Department of Homeland Security was formerly housed in the 50-year-old building.
Willow Bridge Property Co. has kicked off the redevelopment of a 264-unit community, called “1125,” with a groundbreaking ceremony at 1125 15th St., N.W., in Washington, D.C. The project will convert an existing 50-year-old office building into residential units. Located near Thomas Circle, the structure was formerly the home of the Department of Homeland Security.
The planned 13-story high-rise will offer studio, one- and two-bedroom residences, ranging from 477 to 1,297 square feet. The community is a few blocks from the White House and directly across the street from Midtown Center, an 867,000-square-foot office building that includes nearly 40,000 square feet of retail.
Common-area amenities at 1125 will include a rooftop with a pool and firepits, a fitness center and three two-story coworking spaces. Apartment interiors will feature 42-inch custom cabinets, stainless steel Bosch appliances, smart technology access control and HVAC.
Select homes will include balconies. The development will also feature over 2,500 square feet of ground-floor retail and below-grade parking.
Hikock Cole is the architecture firm heading up the project. It is expected to begin delivering units in spring of 2026.
Formerly the Lincoln Property Co.’s residential division, Willow Bridge operates a portfolio in 75 markets. Headquartered in Dallas, the company has built more than 200,000 apartments and manages 220,000 units.
The conversion of 1125 isn’t the only such redevelopment that Willow Bridge has undertaken in the D.C. market. Earlier this month, the company completed the office-to-residential conversion project, Balsa, at 1313 L St., N.W. The project was a former office building, completed in the 1980s and home to a nonprofit. It now features 222 units and a variety of amenities.
Office-to-Res hits its stride
Office conversions had a strong year in 2024, with 73 of them completed by November, according to a CBRE report that month. And, there was another 30 scheduled for delivery by year-end—the most since the company began tracking conversion projects in 2016.
As of the third quarter of 2024, 71 million square feet of office space, or about 1.7 percent of U.S. office inventory, was slated for or already undergoing conversion, CBRE reports. That is the same amount of activity as in the first quarter 2024, suggesting that the pipeline is replenishing as projects are finished.
And more recently, according to a RentCafe report, when 2025 kicked off there were 168,500 units in various stages of conversion across the nation, 70,700 of which were from office buildings alone. Read more to find out which specific metros are experiencing exponential growth.
