425 Eye Street renovations

Last December the GSA relocated ICE headquarters from their 30 year home at the Chester A. Arthur building (425 Eye Street NW) to Southwest DC. The Paramount Group, which purchased the CAAB building in 2005 for 135.5 million dollars, plans to upgrade the seven-story 384,520 s.f. class B office building to class A office space.

Renovation work has recently begun at the building which begs the question what level of transformation does Paramount have planned? I've come across an old brochure for the property which may not reflect the latest details but should be reasonably accurate. (ed note: notice the reflections of the DuMont in the windows of the rendering)

brochure excerpt:

425 Eye Street’s transformation was inspired and designed by the innovative thinkers at SmithGroup Architects. Attention to detail, commitment to sustainability, and world class design have earned SmithGroup awards around the globe. Their cornerstones of design are reflected in the material throughout 425 Eye Street.

The brochure states that the building will aspire to a LEED Silver rating. The renderings suggest that the structure will remain at the current seven story height. The biggest transformation to the exterior would be the reskinning of the building with new windows and a sleek grey finish. The west wing of the building is pictured with a glass curtain wall.


The renderings depict the ground level as being at grade with the sidewalk. This is clearly not the case as sunken terraces occupy the Eye and Fourth street frontage. It should be interesting to watch how these renovations unfold.