Dupont Apartment Building Reopens After Renovation

In keeping with its past successes buying and renovating historic but neglected apartment buildings, Urban Investment Partners (UIP) is putting the finishing touches on their $1.8 million renovation of the Absecon Apartments - now named The Shelby - in Dupont Circle. Located at 1706 T Street, NW, the Shelby is just one of the century-old rental properties in the area that's been blighted by years of mismanagement and poor upkeep. According UIP’s Steve Schwat, the condition of the building took even the seasoned real estate professionals by surprise.

"When [buildings] are fully furnished have a nice young couple living in there, they don’t look so bad. But everything in the building is at twice its expected useful life,” said Schwat. “[At T Street], we had units in the basement that were built but never permitted…It was just crazy in there - holes in the floor, holes in the walls. It was as bad as I’ve ever seen it.”

Luckily for prospective renters and the neighborhood in general, the developer - working in tandem with Bonstra Haresign | ARCHITECTS and their in-house general contractor, Urban CM – has succeeded in completely overhauling the once dilapidated building and its 24-units. Said Schwat: "The entire building was renovated, we performed selective demolition, all new electric, all new plumbing, all new separately controlled HVAC, granite counters and stainless steel appliances. It’s pretty much condo-grade finishes, but it’s a rental building."

Additionally, UIP has taken it upon itself to reincorporate original elements of the building’s façade that vanished from lack of upkeep over the intervening decades. As a contributing site to the Strivers Historic District of Dupont Circle, the development team will be outfitting the Shelby with a steel and glass version of its original awning. Other architectural flourishes, along with a new front entry door, will round out the renovation for what Schwat calls an “Ian Schrager, boutique hotel kind of feel." The Shelby is currently leasing up with occupancy set to begin on May 1^st. Open houses for potential residents are scheduled for April 17th, 18th, and 19th, 9-5 each day. For more information call 202-244-3811.

UIP is doing much the same with two other concurrent rental renovations in the District: at The Macklin at 2911 Newark Street, NW and a second at 1921 Kalorama Road, NW.

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