The following was taken from: Washington’s Best Addresses by James A. Goode
Famous as the largest apartment complex along the five mile length of Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington’s premier apartment house corridor, Van Ness Centre was built on an 18-acre plot over a six-year period between 1964 and 1970. The $50 million project was developed by Robert I. Silverman, whose Southeast Construction Company was responsible for the residential buildings, and Milton and Howard Polinger, who, in association with Stanley Zupnik, built the commercial building.
Although the Van Ness Centre was built as a rental complex, two of the three apartment houses have been converted to individual ownership. Van Ness North, including its land, was sold by the original owners for $26 million to a corporation headed by Conrad Cafritz in 1979 for conversion to a cooperative. The residents organized a tenants association but failed to buy the building. A majority of the tenants, however, purchased their units at reduced rates.
During the late 1970’s the original developers wisely purchased the leased land from the Chevy Chase Land Company. In 1980 Van Ness East and its land were sold to the tenants for $20 million for conversion to a condominium. Efforts to convert the Van Ness South, the largest building, into a condo failed in both 1980 and 1983 because of tenant opposition.
Van Ness Centre has become particularly popular with diplomats and other professionals. A noteworthy resident was Joseph Abel, the architect of most of the complex, who lived in a three-bedroom unit in Van Ness North from its opening until his death in late 1985. During his remarkable forty-year career, Abel designed more than a hundred luxury apartment houses in Washington. His designs ranged from Tudor Revival and eclectic buildings in the 1920’s, to Art Deco and early International Style in the 1930s and 1940s. His last major apartment house project before his retirement was Van Ness Centre.
And the name Van Ness? The complex was named for Van Ness Street, which in turn was derived from the city’s ninth mayor, John Peter Van Ness. A native of New York, Van Ness first came to Washington as a member of the House of Representatives shortly after 1800. Accepting a post offered by President Jefferson in the city militia, he was forced to resign his seat in Congress, which interpreted “separation of powers” as meaning that no one in the legislative branch could also hold an executive position. He remained in the city, serving as mayor. Van Ness married heiress Marcia Burns, whose father had owned a small plantation near the present site of the White House at the time the District of Columbia was laid out in 1791. Van Ness, the city’s largest land owner, remained active in civic affairs in Washington until his death in 1846.
We thank the author for permission to use the material from his book, Washington’s Best Addresses.
Time Line of Key Events at Van Ness North
1500 – Patowmack tribe quarries neighboring Soapstone Valley
1800 – John Van Ness comes to Washington
1890 – The Chevy Chase Land Company leases the plot that becomes Van Ness
1964 – Construction begins on the Van Ness Centre
1967 – Construction of Van Ness North begins
1970 – Construction ends with the completion of Van Ness South
1978 – Developers buy land from the Chevy Chase Land Company
1979 – Conversion of Van Ness North to a cooperative begins
1980 – Conversion of Van Ness East to a condominium begins
1981 – Van Ness Metro station opens
1983 – Plans to convert Van Ness South are abandoned
1996 – Van Ness North successfully refinances its corporate mortgage
1996 – Van Ness North becomes the first Washington coop on the Web