Extensive structural transformation helped turn an underused 1980s office building into Old Town Alexandria’s first completed office-to-residential conversion.
CityHouse Old Town has received a 2026 Gold Nugget Grand Award in the Best Renovated, Restored or Adaptive Re-Use Residential Project category. The recognition celebrates a transformation that extends far beyond new finishes and residential amenities: converting the former office building required extensive structural reconfiguration from the inside out.
Developed by American Real Estate Partners (AREP), CityHouse Old Town transformed a 1983 commercial property at 1101 King Street into a 199-unit residential community. The project represents the first completed office-to-residential conversion in Old Town Alexandria, offering a timely example of how underused commercial properties can be adapted to meet changing community needs.
Making that transformation possible, however, required major structural surgery. As the project’s structural engineer, SK&A worked alongside architect Cooper Carry and general contractor Hoar Construction to reconfigure the existing building for residential use.
Approximately 71,000 square feet of existing concrete slab (about 3,550 tons!) was removed from the building. Three levels of sloped internal parking were demolished and replaced with new flat floors, allowing two former parking levels to become residential space. Because of the existing structural configuration, demolition proceeded carefully from the top down.
The project incorporated approximately 170 tons of new structural steel, 85 tons of metal decking, and 1,100 cubic yards of new concrete. Carbon-fiber reinforced polymer wraps were also used to temporarily stabilize lower-level columns as demolition progressed and new steel framing was installed.
One of the building’s most dramatic changes occurred at its center. The existing skylight was removed, portions of the seventh floor were opened, and the former commercial atrium was transformed into a six-story, open-air courtyard.
Rather than erase the property’s unconventional “wedding cake” form, the project team used it to create distinctive residences that would be difficult to reproduce through ground-up construction. The completed community includes 106 different floor plans among its 199 apartments, with features such as rounded walls, oversized windows, wide entries, private terraces, and views of Old Town, the Potomac River, and Washington, DC.
By retaining much of the original structure and brick exterior, the project extended the useful life of an existing building while increasing it from approximately 141,000 square feet of office space to a 236,000-square-foot residential community.
The Gold Nugget Grand Award recognizes not only the quality of the finished development, but also the ingenuity and collaboration required to achieve it. CityHouse Old Town demonstrates how thoughtful design, complex structural engineering, and adaptive reuse can give an aging commercial property an entirely new purpose.
Congratulations to American Real Estate Partners, Cooper Carry, Hoar Construction, and the entire CityHouse Old Town project team on this well-deserved recognition.
Sources:
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- 2026 Gold Nugget Awards Winners Book, PCBC and the California Building Industry Association
- American Real Estate Partners and Harrison Street Asset Management Complete CityHouse Old Town, the Market’s First Office-to-Residential Conversion, American Real Estate Partners
- Hoar Construction and American Real Estate Partners Complete CityHouse Old Town Office-to-Residential Conversion, Hoar Construction
- CityHouse Old Town Office-to-Residential Conversion, Cooper Carry
- Transforming Unused Office Space, Development magazine
- What’s Old Is New Again: How Alexandria Is Turning Empty Offices into Residences, Alexandria Economic Development Partnership
