Morgan Lewis Moves Into New Digs

WASHINGTON, DC-After six years of preparation, Morgan Lewis has finally moved from its offices at 18th and M streets to its new 305,000-sf location at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue. The law firm, one of the 10 largest in the nation, signed on to occupy the building known as The Presidential back in February of 1996. The deal was contingent upon a $40-million renovation, but construction on the property didn’t begin until 2000, after the building’s mostly government-owned offices relocated. District records indicate that the structure changed ownership in 1999 in a $29.2 million transaction.

The new 14-story facility offers a two-story conference center, as well as a dining room and rooftop terrace with views of the Washington Monument. Studios Architecture served as the project’s designers and expanded the original 253,000-sf space by 52,000 sf with the addition of two floors. The redesign also entailed the relocation of the building’s main entrance, changing the address from what was once 415 12th St. to its current Pennsylvania Avenue address. “Our new Pennsylvania Avenue location puts us front and center in the legal, business and political community of the nation’s Capitol,” says Michael S. Kelly, the managing partner of the firm’s Washington office.