Washington's Skyscrapers: The Tallest Buildings in the DC Metro Area

Updated 08/02/13

Washington D.C. is well-known for its uniform skyline of buildings all built up to around the same height, with the few exceptions being a handful of famous monuments and the U.S. Capitol. The main reason that DC (which currently has a population of over 600,000 residents), doesn't have a towering skyline  like other major cities such as New York or San Francisco is the Heights of Buildings Act of 1910. 

The 1910 Act is the most recent of a series of height restrictions, the first of which was put into law by D.C. Commissioners in 1894 in response to DC's first residential "skyscraper," the 14-story/164 ft. Cairo Hotel (now a condominium building known simply as "The Cairo"). The 1910 Act passed by Congress, which is still in force today, states that maximum height for buildings in DC is 90 feet (27 m) on residential streets, 130 feet (40 m) on commercial streets, and 160 feet (49 m) on a small portion of Pennsylvania Ave.

The Cairo, DC's first "skyscraper"

Over the past decade or so (most recently in 2012) there have been numerous attempts to remove or relax the city's height limit. However, there has also been some vocal opposition, particularly from historical preservationists, that skyscrapers would ruin views of the city's iconic monuments. In general, the District government is very supportive of the removal of height limits in order for it to maintain more control over development, and to maximize land usage in a city that is quickly running out of space to grow and where rent is among the highest in the nation. 

Some proposals have suggested removing the limits in only certain parts of the city, such as east of the Anacostia river. As a big fan of DC architecture I personally wouldn't mind seeing the height limits remaining in place. The uniform-height urban "canyons" that exist downtown on major roads such as K Street and Connecticut Ave are unique to this country and projects an image of orderliness that matches DC's status as the seat of the federal government. Paris also has similar height limits in place for most of the city.