Amazon Financing Conversion Of Downtown D.C. Office Building To Affordable Housing
A downtown D.C. office building is slated for a conversion to 145 all-affordable residential units, with Amazon providing part of the financing.
The project will be led by Agorsor Equity, which purchased the property between Metro Center and McPherson Square for $14M, according to records in the office of the D.C. Recorder of Deeds. The building at 1201 L St. NW was previously owned by the American Health Care Association since 1987.
The four-story building totals 36K SF, and it is in a zoning area with a maximum height of 130 feet. Agorsor told Bisnow the project is proposed for 133K SF, with delivery expected in 2026.
The purchase was funded through a loan from the Amazon Housing Equity Fund’s accelerator program, which aims to support minority-led developers and minority-led local nonprofits in developing affordable housing within each of the Equity Fund’s markets: Puget Sound, Washington, Nashville, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C.
This project is the first downtown conversion to receive funding through the D.C. accelerator program. Agorsor Equity Principal Christopher Agorsor is part of the program's first cohort of fellows, which kicked off in April 2022 with 15 local developers of color.
“We’re excited to partner with the Amazon Housing Equity Fund and Capital Impact Partners on 1201 L Street and to bring this affordable housing community to life," said Agorsor in an email to Bisnow.
"Through this partnership, we’re creating 145 affordable homes in a great neighborhood with access to transit, schools and more. We hope to be able to bring more projects like this to life in the near future."
Agorsor was an American professional soccer player before launching the development firm with commercial and residential properties in D.C. and Virginia.
Amazon and its D.C. accelerator partner, local nonprofit Capital Impact Partners, provided below-market loans totaling just shy of $20M for acquisition and pre-development: $14.35M from Amazon and $5.54M from Capital Impact Partners, according to deed records.
“1201 L Street is the kind of project the Amazon Housing Equity fund and our Accelerator program were designed to help bring to life," Amazon Housing Equity Fund principal Senthil Sankaran wrote in an email to Bisnow.
"We’re grateful for the opportunity to provide capital to support the development of more affordable housing in downtown D.C., and continue to be impressed by the work of our Accelerator cohort.”
The conversion is planned to offer housing for those making below 30% and up to 80% of the area median income, and the development will be locked in as affordable for the next 99 years, according to Amazon. The property is already zoned to permit a residential development.
Mayor Muriel Bowser has highlighted the potential impact of office-to-residential conversions as a way to revitalize downtown and transform underutilized space in once commuter-heavy corridors.
The city offers some incentives for such conversions, including tax abatements, but developers say that the financing — given high interest rates and inflation — along with time-intensive zoning processes, affordable housing and sustainability requirements, make conversions difficult to justify.
UPDATE: JUNE 26 8:30 A.M. ET: This story has been updated to reflect the new name of the development firm and a delivery timeline, projected square footage and a quote from the developer.
