Urban Investment Partners (UIP) has acquired Tilden Hall, a 76-unit apartment building located at 3945 Connecticut Avenue, NW in Washington, DC, for $13.3 million. The seller, DARO Realty, was represented by CBRE’s Robert Meehling and Brian Margerum, supported by the CBRE Multifamily Team. DARO had owned the property since 1955.

UIP coordinated the acquisition – its third for 2015 – with the Tilden Hall Tenants Association. UIP and the TA also worked together to plan a major renovation of the building to be performed by UIP subsidiary UIP General Contracting Inc. The $18 million project will include upgrading the building’s electric service, installing individually controlled heating and air conditioning in each apartment, plumbing replacements and upgrades, and upgrading all common areas and apartment interiors (with a particular focus on kitchens and baths), while maintaining the structure’s historic character. A small addition in the rear of the building will be constructed.

“Every Tilden Hall tenant who stays through the renovation will enjoy a completely renovated apartment with no increase in rent,” said Steve Schwat, Principal at UIP. “We’re proud to have been selected by another tenant association in DC, to bring their building up to 21^st century standards and in this case, we’re able to deliver 100% of the units fully renovated for all remaining tenants, at no increase in monthly rent.”

Completed in 1924, Tilden Hall was designed by prolific architect Frederic B. Pyle in the Colonial Revival style. Its historic design, includes a classical entry portico, belt courses (horizontal rows of brick in the building’s façade), and decorative cartouches – an ancient Egyptian symbol popular at the time. It was one of the city’s first “suburban” apartment buildings, with extensive landscaping and a U-shaped form that maximizes natural lighting in each apartment.

Tilden Hall was one of many apartment buildings constructed along the Connecticut Avenue corridor and other parts of the city in the1920s to address a housing shortage following World War I, which brought a large number of civilian Federal workers to the city. Apartment construction was concentrated along newly created streetcar lines, including the one that began running along Connecticut Avenue in 1892.

From its origins as a “streetcar suburb” – and earlier as the site of President Grover Cleveland’s summer estate - Cleveland Park remains one of Washington’s most desirable neighborhoods. Its centrally located Metrorail station provides easy access to the rest of the city. With popular shops, restaurants, and apartments including Tilden Hall lining its main streets, the leafy neighborhood is known for its spacious single-family homes built in a variety of styles including Colonial Revival, Mission Revival, Queen Anne, Craftsman, Italianate, and Tudor.

The UIP family of companies owns and manages more than 3,000 apartments in Washington, DC and Maryland and has renovated and restored more than 20 downtown apartment buildings over the last ten years. UIP’s primary focus includes working with Tenants in Washington, DC and helping them exercise their TOPA (Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act) rights.  UIP is also active in entitling land, new infill development, and acquiring residential assets in the close-in Washington, DC suburbs. For more information, visit www.uipllc.com and www.uippm.com.