When Fannie Mae moves out of its offices at 4250 Connecticut Avenue, UDC students will not be moving in.
Bernstein Management purchased the office and retail building from Fannie Mae for $24.8 million in 2016, and had been in talks with UDC about converting the office space into student housing. (UDC has been housing students in nearby apartment buildings.)
Fred Underwood, senior vice president with Bernstein, said at the January 16th meeting of ANC 3F that a partnership with UDC is not proceeding due to budget and time constraints.
“The owner and UDC have mutually agreed it was no longer feasible to move forward with the residential conversion project,” Underwood said.
Instead, 4250 Connecticut will remain a mixed-use office and retail property, albeit one that’s to undergo what Underwood described as “significant” upgrades. Bernstein hopes to choose an architect by the end of the week and submit its application for the modifications in the next couple of months. It is moving quickly because Fannie Mae has moved its departure date from January 2019 to November 2018.
4250 was constructed in 1981 as a planned unit development, and the modifications go through a community engagement and a public hearing process. David Dickinson, the ANC commissioner of the district that includes this project, suggested holding a community meeting at 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 25th, at the office of Van Ness Main Street (4340 Connecticut). Underwood was amenable. (David Dickinson confirms this meeting date, time and location. See his comment below.)
A Van Ness retail study commissioned by Bernstein, UDC and Van Ness Main Street will be released next week. The recommendations will guide Bernstein in its search to fill the ground-level retail space.