The address Salesforce has chosen for a new Washington innovation center has a history that predates the company’s plans by decades. Akridge’s project history says 1401 New York Avenue NW was completed in 1983 to accommodate the National Food Processors Association’s laboratory and testing facility. DAVIS Construction’s project page documents a later renovation completed in 2016.
Salesforce now plans to turn space at the building, about half a block from the White House, into a meeting and demonstration venue for government officials, customers, partners and community organizations. The company says construction is scheduled to begin in late 2026, with the Salesforce Innovation Center D.C. expected to open in early 2028. Those dates are plans, not a report that construction has begun.
A new use for the New York Avenue site
The center is intended for events and hands-on technology demonstrations, including policy briefings and collaborative meetings, according to Salesforce’s announcement. The company says the site will support its work with federal, state and local agencies. The announcement describes conference and wellness amenities and an indoor-outdoor rooftop venue; it does not establish how often the space will host events or which organizations will use it.
The planned center is part of Salesforce’s broader Washington-area presence, not a replacement for its McLean, Virginia, office, which the company says will remain a regional hub. Salesforce reports more than 2,000 employees across the District, Maryland and Virginia. The company has also named Wendy R. Anderson as a senior vice president for government and global public affairs; the announcement identifies her alongside existing public-sector leaders Geof Kahn and Virginia Sharma.
The building’s documented past offers a useful contrast to its proposed next role: a site once designed for laboratory testing is slated to host gatherings focused on government technology. But Salesforce’s announcement outlines an intention, not evidence of the center’s eventual impact on public services or the surrounding community. The company has not yet opened the facility, and its construction and opening timetable remains prospective.
