With available space in the top 10% of D.C. office buildings at its lowest level in more than a decade and tenants continuing to trade up for better-quality space, a moment for renovations has arrived.

Owners new and old are pouring millions into a variety of repositioning programs, capitalizing on the lack of high-quality space in the city as leasing has perked up this year.

“There’s too much commodity office, but that doesn’t mean there’s too much good office,” Garfield Investments CEO John Mason said.

Garfield partnered on a deal last month to buy an office building next to Farragut Square, where he is planning a $10M repositioning and reserving millions more for tenant improvement allowances and brokerage fees.

He is one of a growing number of owners kicking off major upgrades at office buildings in the city, building new penthouses, lobbies, conference rooms and fitness centers to lure tenants that are increasingly looking to upgrade their space.

More than $210M has been spent across 10 renovation projects in D.C.’s commercial core since 2022, according to CBRE.

“Flight to quality doesn’t mean flight to the newest building,” Mason said. “It can mean a renovated building in an exceptional location that can compete with top-drawer amenities.”

The redevelopment play is happening across a spectrum.

There are the new owners buying buildings on the cheap and putting in large amounts of capital to improve shared tenant amenities, lease ground-floor restaurant spaces, bring in top brokerage teams and capitalize tenant improvement allowances.

Then there are the existing owners undertaking large-scale overhauls. These have been well-capitalized landlords who usually have a major tenant in tow and can shell out the cash needed for massive revamps.