Funkstown – Big Changes at the Kennedy Center, the Saudi Embassy, and Watergate

By Frank Leone

The southwest corner of Foggy Bottom is occupied by the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, the Watergate complex, and the Saudi Arabian Embassy. Each of these buildings may be undergoing changes soon. The Kennedy Center (2700 F St.) is scheduled to close for a two-year “renovation.”  The Saudi Arabian Embassy, once the Peoples Life Insurance building (601 New Hampshire Ave.), intends to renovate its façade to incorporate Saudi architectural principles. And the Watergate 2600 Virginia Avenue office building (the site of the infamous break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters) plans to convert six floors to condominiums and apartments. All of these buildings were built on land that once housed the Heurich and other breweries, the Hygeia Ice Company, the Washington Gas Works, lumber yards, coal yards, warehouses, and other industrial facilities (as well as row houses, Pete’s Bar, a wax museum, Riverside Stadium, and horse-riding schools and stables).

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts opened in 1971 after a multi-year effort to establish a national cultural venue.  See Funkstown – Connecting the City to Foggy Bottom’s Kennedy Center. The building is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic places and subject to certain protections. The recent challenges the Kennedy Center faces are well known.  Virtually since his inauguration, President Trump has criticized the building’s structure, management, programming, and nearly everything else. He has affixed his name to the building (which was established as a memorial to President Kennedy), painted the thin gold exterior columns (which recall a musical instrument) white, and cut down willow trees. What will happen to the building during potential renovations is unclear (and currently in litigation), but hopefully actions will be limited to necessary infrastructure repairs. You can engage through Keep the KC, support the Kennedy Center Advocacy Fund, and follow the litigation here.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Embassy (originally Peoples Life Insurance), main entrance at 601 New Hampshire Ave./Jamal Khashoggi Way. (F. Leone, May 2026)

The Saudi Arabian Embassy was originally built as the headquarters for the Peoples Life insurance Company in 1957-1959. It was thus the first major building reclaiming the former industrial area of southwest Foggy Bottom. The five-story structure of Georgia marble and Swedish granite was “a modern version of federal style” intended to harmonize with D.C.’s government buildings. The building was designed by Mills, Petticord & Mills, a prominent mid-20th-century D.C.-based architecture and engineering firm. Their buildings include George Washington University’s Brutalist Gelman Library (2130 H. St, b. 1971-1973) and Walter G. Ross Hall (Medical School, 2300 I St., b. 1970). Like many GWU structures, the Peoples Life building was built by Charles H. Tompkins Co.

The Peoples Life property was originally included in the area for a potential cultural center and the chair of the center’s commission on the center, Agnes Meyer, complained that the building would be an “eyesore,” and its “antiquated architecture would not fit with our modern plans.” But Peoples Life went ahead with their construction plan in 1957, and it did not interfere with what became the Kennedy Center site. (The Potomac Freeway was also routed around the building.) At that time, the neighborhood was more concerned about the 1957 loss of Pete’s Restaurant (and its visiting goats).

The Peoples Life Insurance Company was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1903. Its first policy was written on the site of what became its final D.C. home. It was one of the oldest D.C.-based businesses with national operations and one of D.C.’s largest financial institutions. At its peak, the building housed over 400 employees and supported the community with music and art programs. In 1983, Peoples Life Insurance consolidated with a related company in Durham, NC, and sold the property to Saudi Arabia. In 1998, the company merged with Monumental Life Insurance, and is now part of Transamerica.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia purchased the building to use as its embassy in 1983. In 2022, the section of New Hampshire Ave in front of the embassy was symbolically named Jamal Khashoggi Way, in honor of the journalist whose murder has been attributed to the Saudi government. On May 7, 2026 architects for the Saudi government (HOK) presented renovation plans to the Commission on Fine Arts.  The plans reflect Saudi architectural principles of the “Salmani Code” which include concepts of verticality, warm stone color and materiality, shading, triangles, and geometric motifs. The project also includes a new mail facility and business consular building and a higher security fence. The building is not currently listed on the National Register.

One of three (similar) New Hampshire Ave. façade options presented to the Commission on Fine Arts. The main changes involve a grander entrance and windows. The third option for the building retains rectangular stone patterns instead of the triangle pattern shown in option one. (HOK Presentation)

The Watergate complex consists of three cooperative residential buildings, two office buildings, a hotel, and common space with stores (including Watergate Gallery). See Funkstown – The Watergate Break-In at 50. The complex is listed on the National Register. The owners of the 11-story 2600 Virginia Avenue office building plan to convert floors six to nine to 76 apartments and floors ten and eleven to 11 condominium units. The conversion of office space to residential use is an increasingly popular option for suitable buildings – it provides needed housing and disposes of unused office space. Unfortunately, the conversion includes the sixth-floor offices occupied by the Democratic National Committee which were the site of the 1972 Watergate break-in that ended Nixon’s presidency.  We hope that historic office space is preserved in some way, perhaps as part of the Watergate Museum. The 600 New Hampshire Ave. office building at Watergate South (which houses Tazza Cafe) was recently sold but is not expected to undergo any major changes.

The Watergate 2600 Office Building from across Virginia Ave. The top two floors (10 & 11) are slated for condominiums, while floors 6 to 9 will be apartments. The lower floors will remain office space. Note the 6^th floor balcony where police were observed by Committee to Re-Elect the President staffer Alfred Baldwin, who was keeping a look-out from room 723 of what used to be a Howard Johnson’s across the Street. GWU preserved room 723 when the building was a dorm, but the new apartment building did not. (F. Leone May 2026)

Sources: “Milton Viorst, “Structure to Go Up on Site Sought as Cultural Center,” Washington Post, Sept. 7, 1957, p. B1;“Peoples Life Will Open New Home,” Washington Post, Aug. 23, 1959, p. C9; Molly McCluskey, “The People’s Insurance Company,” Diplomatica, January 30, 2024; Urban Turf Staff, “Saudi Arabia Plans Sweeping Renovation Of Its U.S. Embassy,” Washington Business Journal, May 19, 2026; HOK, Renovations of the Embassy of the Kingdom Saudi Arabia Washington DC, Commission of Fine Arts Concept Review May 7, 2026; Ben Peters, “Partial Conversion Eyed for Watergate Office,” Washington Business Journal, Mar. 27, 2026; FBA History Project.