The only conversion underway involves the renovation of the former Planned Parenthood headquarters, on 16th Street Northwest, four blocks north of the White House. To be known as the Adele, the high-end project will have 13 condos ranging from $859,000 to $2.4 million.

The situation is not yet dire: Washington’s office vacancy rate is lower than the region’s, which is 16.3 percent and expected to rise to nearly 17 percent by late 2019, according to Newmark Knight Frank, a New York-based real estate services firm. But the fear is, with more office buildings being built, the overall commercial vacancy rates in the district will also climb, leading to lower office rents.

Proponents hope that the conversion bill will help both the market and the neighborhood.

“We believe this bill will strengthen city’s tax base while adding residents and ensuring the longtime economic vitality of our downtown,” said Leona Agouridis, executive director of the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District. “It is a policy question: Do we want to have residents in the downtown area? If so, what are we willing to do to help realize it? This is a catalyst.”

Gerry Widdicombe, a consultant to the DowntownDC Business Improvement District, said the idea behind the legislation was to “educate the market on how this can be done” without hurting the city’s tax base or the building owner’s bottom line. “It’s working in the suburbs because their office markets are really, really weak.”