Project Snapshot: The Ace nears completion on Arthur Ashe Blvd.

Nearly 300 apartments are preparing to come online along Arthur Ashe Boulevard. 

Construction of The Ace is nearing completion at 1201 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. The new seven-story mixed-use building includes 295 apartments as well as ground-floor commercial space. 

The Ace is the first local project for D.C. developers SJG Properties and Level 2 Development, which began plotting the development in 2021 when they bought the 3.3-acre site for a then-record breaking price of $12.5 million. 

Now, four years later, the building is preparing to welcome its first residents at the end of the month, SJG’s COO Ted Brownfield said.

The project was one of many delayed because of rising interest rates and construction costs, but in 2023 the developers secured financing for the nearly $100 million project and kicked off construction. The developers also brought in Cresset Partners, a Chicago investment firm, as a partner to help finance the project. 

The Ace has no shortage of amenities, including in its third-floor courtyard that will include a pool, bar area, a Big Green Egg grill and communal table. 

“It’s going to feel like a resort,” said the building’s GM Karen Loving. “You’re not going to have to leave.”

The Ace also has a gym, coworking area, pet park and cleaning area, building-wide Wi-Fi and temperature-controlled package delivery area. Units are fit with smart thermostats and locks. 

Brownfield said apartments are renting at about $3 per square foot. Studios at The Ace rent for around $1,600 per month, and one-bedrooms rent from roughly $1,600 to $2,700. Two-bedroom units are listed between $2,800 to $4,500. 

“We’ve seen that there’s been a demand for high-end finishes in amenitized buildings,” Brownfield said. “We feel good that there’s a market for it.”

Nearly half of the building’s 13,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space has already been claimed by an unidentified Japanese barbecue restaurant. Brownfield said the hope is to find other tenants that would also be an amenity to residents, like a salon or fitness studio. Divaris’ Read Goode and Rachel James have the listing. 

SJG and Level 2’s 2021 land deal for The Ace also included the former Cort Furniture building at 1207 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. Brownfield said they’ve been looking into leasing it back out, but the focus has been on filling The Ace’s commercial space. 

Georgia-based Fortune-Johnson was The Ace’s general contractor and local firm Poole & Poole Architecture was the architect.

Level 2 has another multifamily project underway around the corner at 2700 W. Leigh St., where it’s working on a nearly 400-unit building with development giant Greystar next to Movieland. 

To the south of The Ace is 1101 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., where construction of a long-planned “cohousing” development has been stalled for nearly a year. The future of that property is unclear as a lawsuit from the project’s general contractor is seeking to force the land’s sale. 

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