The D.C. Council will vote Tuesday, Nov. 10, on emergency measures to authorize up to $275 million in revenue bonds for a downtown office-to-housing conversion.

The project at 600 E St. NW would turn a vacant office building into roughly 415 apartments for students, faculty and staff from nonprofit colleges and universities. A full-service grocery store would occupy the ground floor.

Chairman Phil Mendelson placed the measures on the Nov. 10 legislative meeting agenda in a Nov. 5 memorandum to Council Secretary Nyasha Smith. The two items are the Madrone – DC Student Housing I, LLC Revenue Bonds Project Emergency Declaration Resolution and the corresponding Emergency Approval Resolution.

The developer, Madrone, is a California-based nonprofit that partners with universities, governments and health systems to build housing and other facilities. Madrone has completed student housing projects at Florida Institute of Technology and the University of Memphis, according to the organization's website.

Why the rush

Mendelson's memo states the emergency timeline exists because the applicant must close on financing in November if construction is to wrap up by August 2028. The two resolutions would let the District issue the bonds and loan the proceeds to Madrone for acquisition, renovation, construction and conversion of the building.

Where the money goes

The $275 million in bond proceeds would be split across several categories, according to the memo:

  • Acquisition of land and building: $44 million
  • Renovation: $81 million
  • Demolition: $13 million
  • Retail tenant improvements (grocery): $6 million
  • Soft costs: $27.5 million
  • Other costs: $103.5 million

The memo does not break down the $103.5 million "other costs" line, the largest single category.

No District liability

Taxpayers would not be on the hook. The bonds would not be a debt or liability of the District, according to the memo. They would be repaid solely by Madrone – DC Student Housing I, LLC.

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) provided financial review information cited in the memo. Stifel, a financial services firm, deemed the transaction financially feasible. Tiber Hudson determined that the applicant qualifies as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and that the project meets the legal requirements for the District's Industrial Revenue Bond program.

Downtown office context

The project would pull one more vacant building from D.C.'s office inventory. The city's office vacancy rate held essentially flat at roughly 19.3% in the third quarter of 2026, according to a KLNB/NAI market report. That report noted that conversions and redevelopment have reduced competitive inventory even as leasing remains selective.

The Council's Nov. 10 legislative meeting is where members will take up both emergency resolutions. The memo does not identify which nonprofit colleges or universities would send students and staff to the building.