JBG Smith Converting Arlington Assets Left and Right

Bethesda-based REIT JBG Smith is on a conversion crusade throughout Arlington, Virginia, having secured approvals for the redevelopment of a 550,000-square-foot office building across 2100 and 2200 Crystal drives, the Commercial Observer reported.

The redevelopment will see the property turned into a 195-unit multifamily building; the design phase is near completion and construction could start by year’s end.

JBG is also in contract to sell 2100 Crystal Drive to an undisclosed party, who will convert the office into a 344-key, dual-branded hotel.

JBG’s Crystal Plaza 5 megaproject has an uncertain future, but the developer planned to transform 2250 Crystal Drive and 223 23rd Street into 30-story towers with more than 1,400 units between the two buildings.

The REIT has already delivered more than 1,300 units so far in the area, and has other office-to-residential conversions in nascent stages in Arlington, according to UrbanTurf. The developer pitched projects under the county’s adaptive reuse process, aimed towards accelerating such projects.

JBG’s plans include 129 units at 1800 South Bell Street and 186 units at 1901 South Bell Street, the former of which was once leased to Amazon for office space. Both of those redevelopments would include retail components.

Earlier this year, RentCafe reported that there were more than 6,500 units in Washington, D.C.’s office-to-residential pipeline as the district charts a path forward while contending with sagging office occupancy rates.

Last month, international private equity firm Henderson Park and Los Angeles-based developer Lowe scored $180 million in construction financing from Deutsche Bank for Portals I in Southwest Washington. The plan is to convert the property into a 658,000-square-foot apartment complex with 428 units.

— Holden Walter-Warner