Indiana University To Buy Dupont Office Building To Establish First D.C. Campus

As D.C. leaders point to growing demand from higher education institutions as a solution to fill vacant downtown offices, another major university is establishing a campus in the city: Indiana University. 

The Big 10 university is under contract to buy the 1960s-era office building at 1619 Massachusetts Ave. NW from Johns Hopkins University to use for offices, classrooms and dorms, an IU spokesperson confirmed to Bisnow. 

The property held Hopkins’ D.C.-based programming before the school consolidated its operations at the former Newseum building on Pennsylvania Avenue last year. Hopkins had put 1619 Mass. Ave. and two other buildings on the market in the summer of 2023.

Indiana plans to bring classrooms, offices and housing for around 40 students to the property, an attorney for the school said this month in a presentation to a Dupont Circle advisory neighborhood commission, where Hopkins was also represented.

The plan is to keep the facade and dimensions of the 59K SF, eight-story building but renovate the interior for Indiana's use. A spokesperson for IU declined to provide additional comment beyond the presentation.

Johns Hopkins has owned the property, which was built in 1964 on an embassy-heavy stretch of downtown, since 1986. It sits just feet from the Peruvian and Australian embassies and across the street from the Embassy of the Philippines at Scott Circle.

Indiana University's takeover of the property would necessitate an amendment of Johns Hopkins’ campus plan, which was approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment in 1986. The amendment would remove the property from the plan but keep a nearby building, 1740 Massachusetts Ave. NW, for Johns Hopkins' use. Meanwhile, IU would need to establish its own campus plan for 1619 Mass. Ave.

The plans need to go through the D.C. Zoning Commission, which requires the parties to meet with the local ANC first. The universities expect to file their plans simultaneously this month.

D.C. leaders have been pushing to expand universities' presence downtown as a way to boost vibrancy and fill vacant office buildings.

The Downtown Action Plan released this summer earmarks the area south of Dupont as the Penn West Equity, Innovation and University District and proposes “proactive recruitment efforts” to bring in new satellite campuses and expand existing ones to help “backfill or reposition existing office space that sits vacant today.”

“DC is a place where people come to change the world,” Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Nina Albert said in a statement to Bisnow. “We’re excited by Indiana University’s plans to establish a campus in the nation’s capital and tap into the growing ecosystem of higher education institutions in Downtown DC.”

“Universities create jobs, bring vibrancy, increase innovation, fuel our city’s talent pipeline, and continue to be a crucial part of our comeback,” she added.

Indiana, which has more than 90,000 undergraduate and graduate students, has some small, leased locations throughout the District, an IU spokesperson told Bisnow. But the acquisition of 1619 Mass. Ave. would establish a permanent, dedicated building for a variety of university operations.

Golden Triangle Business Improvement District Executive Director Leona Agouridis called the move “exciting” and said the BID has been meeting with universities to determine how it can best meet their needs in the area.

“We expect to see more universities continuing to follow this trend, expanding their presence around the Golden Triangle where we have many buildings that can be repurposed for university classrooms, offices, and student housing,” she said in an email to Bisnow. 

Several universities have made moves to establish presences and expand around the Golden Triangle. Last month, Syracuse University opened a new space at 1333 New Hampshire Ave., a property next to the Dupont Metro station where Princeton University signed a lease in February 2023. 

In the spring of 2023, the University of Southern California purchased the 60K SF former headquarters of the National Association of Broadcasters in the heart of Dupont for its D.C. campus. That summer, Texas A&M expanded its Farragut North footprint from 47K SF to more than 70K SF at 1620 L St. NW, inking space for the next 15 years.