Downtown D.C. Office Conversion Secures $176M Loan, New Majority Partner – Commercial Observer
One of Washington, D.C.’s largest office-to-residential redevelopments has secured a new majority partner and $175.6 million in construction financing.
A partnership of Stonebridge, the Bernstein Companies and Criterion Real Estate Capital sold a 72 percent stake in the conversion of 1990 K Street NW to an entity managed by MetLife Investment Management for $58.7 million, according to records reported by the Business Journals.
Kennedy Wilson Capital led the financing along with U.S. Fire Insurance, North River Insurance, Odyssey Reinsurance and Allied World Assurance. Cushman & Wakefield’s D.C.-based capital markets and debt advisory team arranged the financing.
The roughly $250 million redevelopment, which will be rebranded as 1999 Eye Street NW, will replace the former office building with a 14-story, 412,000-square-foot mixed-use property. Plans call for 340 market-rate apartments, 44 affordable units, 50 student housing units totaling 200 beds, along with 15,600 square feet of retail and 189 parking spaces.
Bernstein bought the property for $55.8 million in 2001, and Stonebridge and Criterion joined the ownership group last year. The conversion is part of Mayor Muriel Bowser Housing in Downtown program, which provides a 20-year tax abatement for office-to-residential conversions or redevelopments.
Demolition started in September 2025. The project is part of D.C.’s Housing in Downtown program, which offers a 20-year tax abatement for qualifying commercial-to-residential conversions and redevelopments. It is the second-largest project in the program’s pipeline, behind the planned conversion of the Universal Buildings on Connecticut Avenue into roughly 600 units.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
