Nvidia takes downtown D.C. office as tech chases the capital

Nvidia has leased office space in downtown Washington, D.C., subleasing 27,600 square feet in the historic Woodies Building at 1025 F Street NW near Metro Center — a fresh sign of technology firms planting flags in the capital.

The Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker had been hunting for roughly 30,000 square feet in the district since at least September 2025. Its new home is a half-million-square-foot property owned by Douglas Development Corp., built in the 1880s as the Woodward & Lothrop flagship department store.

Why it matters. Washington’s office market has leaned for decades on the federal government and its contractors, but a widening roster of technology tenants is changing the mix. As AI and infrastructure policy increasingly runs through Washington, proximity to regulators and agencies has value — and a marquee name like Nvidia taking space downtown signals the trend has staying power for the national office narrative.

The numbers. Technology firms accounted for 10% of D.C. leasing in the first half of 2026, an outsized share for a government town. Recent tech deals include CoreWeave’s 22,590 square feet and SpaceX’s 24,100 square feet, while Google has 231,000 square feet planned. The activity helps backfill space such as the roughly 200,000 square feet the FBI vacated in November.

What’s next. Neither Nvidia nor Douglas Development commented on the deal, and lease terms were not disclosed. But the sublease adds to a stream of tech expansions that landlords hope will absorb availability across downtown — a test of whether the sector can meaningfully reshape demand in a market long defined by government tenants.