WASHINGTON, DC—Mill Creek Residential has acquired the former Italian Embassy at 2700 16th St., NW, and plans to convert it into a luxury apartment building.

The building, which was completed in 1925, features Neo-Renaissance architecture. It was designed by Whitney Warren and Charles D. Wetmore, whose work also includes Grand Central Terminal in New York.

The building went on to house the diplomatic mission of the Italian Republic to the United States until 2002. The new chancery is located about two miles away at 3000 Whitehaven St.

Its pedigree, to say nothing of its location, cannot be beat, says Sean Caldwell, senior managing director of the Mid-Atlantic Region for Mill Creek Residential.

"This is one of the most desirable pieces of real estate in the DC metro region, and the Italian Embassy project represents a unique opportunity to create a high-profile community in the District's most in-demand submarket," he says in a prepared statement.

The company's redevelopment designs will follow the guidelines of the Historic Preservation Review Board. Mill Creek tentatively aims to begin construction on the community in 2016. Plans call for the renovation of the existing building and the construction of a nine-story high-rise with two levels of below-grade parking.

The existing Embassy building will offer a limited number of apartment homes to complement the larger high-rise. Mill Creek owns and operates 2,671 apartment homes in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and has begun construction on more than 1,400 additional apartments, not including the Italian Embassy project.

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