Award of Excellence
Best DC Urban Office: Over 150,000 SF

Project Team

Akridge - (Owner + Developer)
Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) - (Owner)
OTJ Architects - (Architect)
WDG Architecture - (Architect)
Davis - (General Contractor)
Akridge - (Broker + Project Management)
A. Zahner Company

Project Description

2100 L Street delivers a stunning, 190,000-square-foot building that elevates DC’s architecture to new heights and features signature amenities that truly differentiate it from other trophy office buildings. Its delivery marks the culmination of nearly two decades of collaboration between the ownership group, community stakeholders, and the District. Even more noteworthy, the project includes a multitude of community benefits carefully chosen to honor the legacy of U.S. Congressman and abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens. The ownership team has already leased the major-ity of the project, a testament to their ability to deliver unparalleled design while also contributing to the local community.

2100 L Street is a modern, trophy office building with a striking architectural veil that spans the façade and rooftop. Designed by world-renowned artist Jan Hendrix, the veil’s intricate pattern was inspired by the leaf structure of the Willow Oak tree found throughout DC and on K Street. The A. Zahner Company fabricated the stainless steel veil, which reflects light and creates dynamic view lines both inside and outside the building. Several of the building’s signature amenities are named after the veil and the Willow Oak tree that inspired it. The building boasts a landscaped rooftop terrace, penthouse lounge, and adjacent catering kitchen all named the Willowtop, as well as a penthouse conference room named the Oakside. Combined, Willowtop and Oakside provide Clients an ideal location to meet, collaborate, and socialize in Client-only space maintained by a white-glove property management team. In addition, 2100 L Street has an art gallery and terrace, named the Drew Gallery after the promi-nent Stevens School alumna Charles E. Drew. The Drew Gallery will feature the artwork of local Black artists provides Clients another space to socialize and entertain guests. 2100 L Street also has a small park named Legacy Garden that honors the legacy of Thaddeus Stevens, as well as a state-of-the-art fitness center, a bicycle storage room with a maintenance station, and spa-quality locker rooms. The building also features floor-to-ceiling glass and a grand, two-story lobby with oxidized nickel panels. 2100 L Street’s highly desirable location also provides easy access to a number of neighborhood amenities and four bustling Metro lines.

The ownership group dedicated 22 years to-date to the purchase and development of 2100 L Street. The building sits on two parcels –the his-toric Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School land parcel and the former national headquarters of the Humane Society of the United States’ parcel (HSUS). Ownership first identified the opportunity to redevelop the location in 1998, starting discussions with the District of Columbia to rede-velop the property. In 2009, then-Mayor Adrian Fenty re-awarded the site to Equity Residential, Inc. to redevelop the lot into an apartment build-ing and restaurant. This upset neighbors, who fought that decision, and in 2011, Mayor Vincent Gray rebid the project. With wide support from the community, the city awarded the project to 2100 L Street’s ownership team the next year. Concurrent with finalizing the Stevens School deal, the ownership team purchased the HSUS headquarters located at the corner of 21st and L Streets. The combined sites not only allowed for the development of a corner office building, but also enabled the team to increase the size of the project by approximately 50,000 square feet.

An integral part of 2100 L Street is the benefits it provides the community. The ownership team worked closely with the District and community organizations to incorporate several design elements and outreach programs to benefit the community at large. 2100 L Street honors both the historic Stevens School, which was one of DC’s first public schools built for the education of African American children, and its namesake, Thad-deus Stevens, who was a U.S. Congressman and a strong abolitionist. The property will include a rotating art gallery of works from Black artists, an exterior art feature commemorating Thaddeus Stevens, and an augmented reality (“AR”) lobby exhibit celebrating the history of the Stevens School and many of its famous alumni. 2100 L Street has also provided various community benefits, including a college scholarship program for local DC students, which has already awarded scholarships to four impressive applicants. 2100 L Street also participates in a program working with local schools to expose students to real estate development and construction.

2100 L Street not only delivered a beautiful, architecturally striking building that provides multiple community benefits, but it also delivered ma-jority leased. The global law firm, Morrison & Foerster LLP, preleased 54 percent of the buildin and occupy floors 6-10. In addition, Updata Part-ners, a software venture capital group, has preleased approximately 5,100 square feet on the fifth floor. Because of its incredible design and the many community benefits it provides, 2100 L Street will impact DC for years to come. .