Officials announced in a release Thursday they will begin relocating at least seven administrative units to 2001 Pennsylvania Ave. and repurpose vacated spaces for academics and student life.
The Offices of the President, Provost, Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel, Communications and Marketing, Government and Community Relations and University Advancement will begin relocating to the building, which GW acquired in October 2024 for $35 million, beginning this year and continuing through 2027, according to the release. The release states that the relocations will allow officials to terminate several leases in other buildings over the next five years, reducing operating expenses and opening formerly occupied spaces for new academic and student life uses.
“As academic and student-facing spaces are currently at a premium, relocating administrative offices to 2001 Penn will also open up additional campus resources for students and faculty, creating much-desired room for growth,” the release states.
Karen Zinn, the associate vice president for the Office of Real Estate, announced at a Campus Plan Advisory Committee meeting last March that officials planned to convert the building to office space for University use as leases of its current tenants expire. Officials relocated the Office of the Board of Trustees to the building in November after the lease for the Board’s former offices expired.
The release states moving the seven units is the first phase of officials’ relocation plan, which will end with GW occupying about 40 percent of the building by 2027. The release states another 25 percent of the building will become available by 2028 and the remainder will become available over the next “several years” as the University ends current tenants’ leases.
Relocating the offices will allow officials to repurpose the vacated spaces for academics and student life and provide “swing space” to support maintenance and future renovations of academic and administrative buildings, per the release.
The Office of the President, Office of the Provost and Office of Government and Community Relations will relocate from 1918 F Street, a building next to Thurston Hall, which the University lists as its primary address, and the Office of the CFO and Division of University Advancement will relocate from 1922 F Street.
The other two offices set to relocate in the first phase, general counsel and communications and marketing, are housed in University-leased spaces at 2000 Pennsylvania Ave., above Western Market.
Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes said in the release that “regular administrative processes” will handle the planning for additional uses of 2001 Pennsylvania Ave. and officials will engage the community in the planning, although he did not specify how. He said the vacated spaces present “so many opportunities” for the University.
“By consolidating administrative offices in University-owned property, we are reducing long-term costs, enhancing the collaboration among our leadership teams, and creating much-needed flexibility on campus,” Fernandes said in the release.