GW maintained its spot as one of the District’s top employers and has again not ranked among the District’s top taxpayers or tax-exempt property owners for the third-consecutive year, according to a 2024 financial report.
GW ranked as the fourth-largest employer in the city — a spot it has maintained since 2022 — and remained off the lists of top property taxpayers and tax-exempt property owners for the third-consecutive year, according to D.C.’s 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report released late last month. Tax experts said it’s common for universities like GW, which have property tax exemptions in D.C., to be absent from the list of top property taxpayers and to be top employers.
The University has also been absent from the list of top 10 tax-exempt property owners since 2022, per the report. All universities are exempt from paying property taxes in D.C. on buildings used for higher education purposes, according to the District tax code.
GW is the top private property owner in the District, but most of the University’s properties fall under the tax exemption, including its residence halls, gym and parking lots, absolving GW from paying about $27 million in property taxes in fiscal year 2024.
Steven Teitelbaum, a professor of finance and real estate at American University, said GW’s absence from the list of the District’s top taxpayers is not surprising because the University may own many properties, but most are tax-exempt, so GW does not pay taxes on the majority of its properties.
“It doesn't matter how much property a university owns or how valuable it is, a university is exempt from real estate taxes in D.C.,” Teitelbaum said in an email. “I doubt that you will find GU, American, Howard, Hopkins, Catholic, etc., all of which own sizable and valuable real estate, on the list of top real estate taxpayers either.”
About 30 percent of GW’s real estate portfolio consists of fully taxed properties, like commercial real estate spaces and office buildings, according to the D.C. Real Property Tax Administration. In fiscal year 2023, GW made more than $47 million in rental property income.
The University purchased the building at 2001 Pennsylvania Avenue in November for $35 million and acquired the off-campus apartment complex Residences on the Avenue in February 2024 for $140 million.
Some lots that GW owns are taxed, whether fully or partially, according to the Real Property Tax Administration, like if the building houses both educational and commercial uses. Ten properties that GW owns are partially taxed, like Shenkman Hall and the Media and Public Affairs building. Other properties, like 2200 Pennsylvania Ave., are fully taxed.
Teitelbaum said if an already tax-exempt property is used for non-tax-exempt reasons, like for commercial use, the District may begin to partially tax the property. Mitchell Hall was GW’s only property that was fully exempt from taxes in 2023 to become partially exempt in 2024, according to the Real Property Tax Administration.
“If an otherwise exempt property is used in part for a non-exempt purpose, or if a property is owned in part by a non-exempt entity, then the property would be only partially tax-exempt,” Teitelbaum said.
According to the report, GW has maintained its position as the fourth-largest employer in the District, behind two hospitals — Children’s National Medical Center and Washington Hospital Center — and Georgetown University. GW Hospital is also on the list as the District’s thirteenth-largest employer for the second straight year.
Caroline Bruckner, a professor at the Kogod School of Business at AU, said GW and other universities in the District have high employment because the University employs an “army” of people.
GW employed more than 2,400 faculty members as of 2023, according to the most current faculty and staff data. Bruckner said universities typically have a “massive workforce” so being one of the District’s top employers is expected.
“Think about universities as providing not only classrooms but bedrooms and cafeterias, you are housing and feeding thousands of students on top of educating them. The workforce that’s required to execute those responsibilities demands just large numbers of workers,” Bruckner said.
Brian Galle, a professor of tax policy at Georgetown University, said GW’s property tax exemption can have both positive and negative impacts on Foggy Bottom. He said the tax exemptions allow GW to “make more of an investment” in the neighborhood, which is beneficial for other residents in Foggy Bottom but could drive up neighborhood property prices.
The average home in Foggy Bottom costs $379,480, down 1.6 percent over the past year, according to the Zillow Home Values Index. Search site Apartment List named Foggy Bottom the District’s most expensive neighborhood in a 2016 report.
“A tax exemption has enabled GW to make more of an investment in its neighborhood, and that you know that it has had beneficial effects for its neighbors because there are more amenities and more development,” Galle said.
The District’s top property taxpayers consisted mostly of limited liability companies, a type of private company, linked to different addresses. The 1100 15th Street LLC, a real estate investment trust, has been the top property taxpayer in the District since 2022.
Galle also said real estate investment companies will hold their real estate assets in LLCs for different tax and legal purposes. He said the LLCs protect the company from legal liability, adding it is “typical” for these LLCs to manage an entire property.
“Usually, real estate investment companies hold their real estate assets through this legal entity, either a corporation or an LLC, for a combination of tax and other legal reasons,” Galle said.
