Meridian Group Files Office-to-Resi Plans in Arlington, Va.
By Nick Trombola September 9, 2024 5:46 pm
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Converting offices to residential buildings is no small feat, but one firm is opting for a conversion project across the Potomac from Washington, D.C.
The Meridian Group (TMG) has filed rezoning and site plan amendment papers for 2500 Wilson Boulevard, a five-story building on a 1.4-acre site in Arlington’s Courthouse neighborhood, about three miles west of the Virginia-D.C. border. TMGs filing describes the building, built in 1986, as “obsolete,” according to the Business Journals, which first reported the news.
TMG wants to redevelop the property into a 16-story, 323-unit apartment complex, which would also feature 18,000 square feet of retail space. Such a project would nearly quadruple the size of the office space currently occupying the land, from its current 104,000 square feet to 391,000 square feet, per the Business Journals. Studios Architecture and LandDesign will design the project.
The firm acquired the building from an affiliate of Nuveen Real Estate at the tail end of 2018 for $31.9 million, though at the time did not indicate it had conversion in mind.
TMG is no stranger to major redevelopment projects in the DMV. The firm in early 2017 purchased an eight-floor, 132,000-square-foot office building at 1901 L Street NW for $75 million, and then proceeded to gut and renovate the property, adding four floors, a new facade, a lobby and an HVAC system, among other improvements, which transformed it into a Class A trophy building.
Representatives for TMG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
TMG’s latest project in Arlington isn’t the only office-to-residential conversion happening on the western banks of the Potomac. A joint venture between Community Three and Whitaker Investment back in March landed a $96 million construction loan from Kennedy Wilson toward its 169-unit residential conversion project in Alexandria, less than 10 miles south of 2500 Wilson Boulevard.
Nick Trombola can be reached at NTrombola@commercialobserver.com.
