As government office buildings go, the former headquarters for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Capitol Hill had seen better days. The imposing if drab 1970s-era office building was in need of a serious refresh after the agency decided to move out of the leased space and consolidate operations in Maryland.
And it got one.
The building's owner, Office Properties Income Trust, commissioned a $200 million overhaul that stripped the building down to its steel innards, replaced the building's brick facade with a curtain of glass and added three floors to the building's existing seven. A 10-story atrium was even cut into the core of the building.
No longer just housing outdated office space, 20 Mass now sports a robust mix of uses including street-level retail, a 274-room luxury Royal Sonesta hotel, 183,000 square feet of high-end office space and a 14,500 square feet penthouse amenity suite with views of the U.S. Capitol.
The comprehensive conversion earned the property a CoStar Impact Award, as judged by the real estate professionals familiar with the market.
Michael Hetchkop, an Impact Awards judge and principal for lease forensics at the brokerage Cresa, said the transformation turned an "old government agency building into first-class retail, hotel and office space."
About the Project: Environmentally friendly enhancements and renovation of the structure saved 6,905 metric tons of CO2 emissions, which is equal to emissions from 1,488 cars in one year.
What the Judges Said: "This project demonstrates the innovative reuse of an obsolete office building into a sustainable, enduring hotel — serving as an example of an evolving and very needed paradigm shift in building repurposing and post-pandemic [central business district] recovery," wrote Ashley Labadie, senior manager for planning and economic development at the National Landing Business Improvement District.
They Made It Happen: Executive Vice President Chris Bilotto, Vice President Jesse Abair, Senior Project Manager Chris Cotter and Associate Project Manager Lucy Meyers led the development team at The RMR Group. Leo A Daly is the architect. The general contractor was DPR Construction. CBRE handled office leasing and JLL led retail leasing.
Senior market manager Nina Thilert contributed.
This story has been updated to clarify RMR's role in managing the project.