A stalled office-to-apartment conversion on Wisconsin Avenue in Tenleytown finally has a new owner with a plan to complete it. BMC Investments bought the half-built project for $9.5 million, ending a stretch of limbo for the site at 4620 Wisconsin Ave. NW. The deal gives a neighborhood that has watched an unfinished shell sit near its Metro station some hope of seeing it become housing.
The purchase was reported Tuesday by The Business Journals, which describes the 146-unit project and says the buyer plans to finish the job. The same report notes that the initial developer allegedly failed to complete construction and repay the loan. Other project descriptions cite slightly different unit counts, so the exact number of apartments is worth watching as plans firm up.
What Broadcast Was Supposed to Be
The development, known as Broadcast, spans 4620-4624 Wisconsin Avenue NW, UrbanTurf reports. The plan calls for 11,600 square feet of retail and 58 below-grade parking spaces, and 15 of the apartments were slated to be set aside for households earning up to 60% of area median income.
Urban Investment Partners, the project's original sponsor, describes it a bit differently. Its project page says the company would turn two separate office buildings into a rental building with 144 apartments and 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. The page also pitches the location as just one block from the Tenleytown Metro Station.
As for the building itself, BLDUP notes that the existing three-story office building was being converted into an eight-story complex.
How the Project Stalled
The trouble traces back to the debt. DMV Multifamily reported in August 2025 that the project's developer, an affiliate of Steve Schwat's Urban Investment Partners, allegedly defaulted on a nearly $29 million loan secured by its stake in the property. According to the bank's lawsuit, the loan had an outstanding balance of $25.7 million as of mid-March 2025.
The property changed hands for $9.5 million, well below the loan balance cited in the bank's suit.
A Busy Moment for Downtown-Style Conversions
Tenleytown's project lands in the middle of a citywide boom in turning offices into homes. Multifamily Dive reports that nationwide conversion projects jumped 28% year over year at the beginning of 2026, with Washington ranking second among jurisdictions at 8,479 units underway. The District also launched its Housing in Downtown initiative in 2024, offering a 20-year tax break and other incentives.
For context on pace, Multi-Housing News notes that Washington averaged four office conversions annually between 2016 and 2024, citing a 2025 CBRE viewpoint. UrbanTurf says the trend has only picked up steam.
What We Still Don't Know
Plenty remains unanswered about the Tenleytown deal. The available reporting does not say when construction will resume or when apartments might open, and it does not spell out the buyer's financing or other terms. It also does not say whether the retail tenants once lined up for the ground floor remain in the picture.
