Showing posts with label Monarc Construction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monarc Construction. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Safety First: Dissecting the Mexican Cultural Institute

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By Mexican Cultural Institute Washington DC, John Bellingham, Monarc ConstructionBeth Mexican Cultural Institute Washington DC, John Bellingham, Monarc ConstructionHerman Its array of explosive Latin American murals propels one through history, geography, space and time. Standing before the dramatic interior walls of the Mexican Cultural Institute, tilling the fields or tickling the gods are well within reach. For Monarc Construction Principal John Bellingham, upgrading the Institute’s labyrinth of safety and security systems, and addressing handicap accessibility issues, without disturbing its signature murals and coterie of antiques, gilded objects, cut crystal, tile and ornate grille work was not your grandmother’s construction challenge. "It is magnificent inside," Bellingham said of the series of galleries that define the 40,000 s.f. space, and his commission to expand them. “It’s a four-story (Italianate) structure with 20-ft. ceilings that had been neglected badly.”Mexican Cultural Institute Washington DC, John Bellingham, Monarc ConstructionMexican Cultural Institute Washington DC, John Bellingham, Monarc Construction Built as a residence at 2829 16th Street NW for President Taft’s secretary of the treasury in 1910-11, the building was sold to the Mexican Embassy in 1921 and then designated as a cultural center in 1990 by President Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico (the embassy had moved to another venue the previous year). While adroitly circumventing artist Roberto Cueva del Rio’s masterful murals was indeed part of the challenge, major concerns included inadequate 30-inch-tall handrailsMexican Cultural Institute Washington DC, John Bellingham, Monarc Construction, property for lease in the building’s sprawling three-story stairwell, often utilized as space during receptions, as well as antiquated electrical, plumbing, fire and other safety systems, and also interior environmental issues. In fact when the Institute’s executive director, under whom the work began, was replaced by current Executive Director Alejandra de la Paz, elements such as an exterior envelope upgrade and restoration were added to the already comprehensive task list, with an emphasis on windows. Mexican Cultural Institute Washington DC, John Bellingham, Monarc Construction, architecture

Of wind and mortar “I remember standing there in the winter and the curtains were just blowing in the breeze because the air was coming in so much,” Bellingham said, adding for sustainability and preservation purposes the goal was not to replace but restore them, some 16 feet tall. Brick work was cleaned – the limestone repointed, and Bellingham noted because the bricks are German (thin and long), repairs had to come from cutting other bricks when nothing comparable could be found. In what was once a greenhouse in the back of the building but is currently a public space for presentations and the like, exquisite Calavera tile was restored with tremendous effort. When a match could not be obtained from its manufacturer in Puebla, Mexico, Richmond, Va. celebrated artisan and sculptor Charlie Ponticello was commissioned to replicate the tile.Mexican Cultural Institute Washington DC, John Bellingham, Monarc Construction, Beth Herman writer Scalpel, please “In buildings of this age, typically there are a lot of vertical chases as they were heated with hot water radiators,” Bellingham explained, adding the question of how to cut the art-laced walls for equipment upgrades was a painstaking issue. “It’s a matter of finding the chases again, opening them up, taking out abandoned piping in some cases and replacing it, and forming new chases,” he said. In the third floor library, with its polished walnut ceiling, years of incursions for construction or mechanical purposes had damaged it considerably, and Monarc also had to install components of its safety systems. Bellingham said by the end of the process, there was no way to determine where any work had been done, resulting in a great enhancement of the space. With the original wood balustrade just 30 inches high, safety concerns abounded for those gathered on stairways, especially during parties and receptions. “You could be pushed or literally fall backwards,” Bellingham said, “with the handrail coming up only to the back of your legs – not your waist.” Seeking not to impinge on the beauty of the balustrade or disturb it any way, a glass handrail was fabricated to stand in front of it.Mexican Cultural Institute Washington DC, John Bellingham, Monarc Construction And among the project’s more prickly challenges was the method in which to “sprinkle the stairs,” Bellingham recounted. “It’s a four-story lobby with an atrium that goes all the way from the ground floor to the roof,” bathed in murals and more. A decision to enhance the original cornice – which ran up under the stairs – and hide new pipes between the old and new cornice work camouflaged necessary pipes, Bellingham explained. Located on 15th Street in back of the structure, a 1,500-s.f. carriage house with collapsed roof was also restored, transformed into a new housing unit for visiting dignitaries and other personnel. “The whole building is a solid masonry structure,” Bellingham said of the Institute. “There was a lot of exploratory work, and we took down parts of the ceiling, went through walls, cut passageways and took down moldings to hide pipes and wiring, not to mention working around an old organ. We had to protect these great artifacts.” 

Washington DC commercial design

Monday, April 26, 2010

Takoma Overlook: Conversions Continue

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Not every condo developer is sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the market to improve. Even in the suburbs, some are betting that the lack of competition means that condo conversions are still viable. To that end, DC-based Tenacity Group is still converting units in their Takoma Overlook project from rental apartments to market-rate condos. The team purchased the Hampshire Towers apartments in mid 2006 for $15.3 million and rechristened them Takoma Overlook; the 1960s high-rise at 7333 and 7401 New Hampshire Avenue is just outside DC in Takoma Park neighborhood of Maryland. In 2007, the team's general contractor, Monarc Construction, began gutting the rental units and converting them to for-sale condos ranging in size from efficiencies to three-bedroom units.

The team at Monarc construction completed renovations on the first phase, covering the 94 units of the north wing, in December 2009, now 50% sold, according to the sales office. Now the team is working on both the South and West Wings (not of Jed Bartlet fame) to convert yet more units. The work in the West Wing's 44 units is now underway, with 8 units sold; the development team expects the first units to be ready by June. Work has even begun on the 94 units of the South Wing, which should begin delivering by the end of this year. The team is largely delivering one-bedrooms first because of demand; three-bedrooms will come last. Greg Coupe, Project Manager at Monarc Construction, said the project could finish as early as December.

The building is FHA approved, with one bedrooms from $124,500 and "huge" two-bedrooms from $229,500. Sales began in October of 2007.

Takoma, Maryland real estate development news

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Debonair Student Housing in Woodley

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Woodley Park real estate, Washington DCJust when Woodley Park residents thought they were safe from college kids, tucked safely across the bridge from rowdy Adams Morgan, a new development, the Debonair, will bring the college students right to their doorsteps. Debonair, by developers Ashbourne Developments, will bring 11,000 s.f. of student housing to 2608-2612 Connecticut Avenue, which currently sports a drycleaner and surface parking lot in the rear. Groundbreaking for the project is April 20th at 11 AM. Woodley Park real estateThe four-story residential building, directly next to the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro entrance, will have one level of parking, accessed from 24th Street. DCMud reported the project last June, but recently Boston University signed a long term lease for the apartment building as a home for its student interns. According to Crispin Etherington, founder of Ashbourne Development, "BU is currently located in a building two blocks away and several other universities have housing in the Woodley Park area." In a press release, project architect Todd Ray of Studio27 Architecture said, "the building is designed to complement the existing urban fabric." The structure is described as having an "historically influenced limestone and brick" facade with "three bays of oversized balconied windows." The owners of the Debonair Cleaners at 2610 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Shahram and Maria Taginya, hired Ashbourne in 2009 to create a residential building directly behind their storefront. The cleaners will stay in place during construction and a neighboring space has been leased by an unnamed Italian restaurant, which will open late summer 2010. The student housing construction is expected to be ready in time for the spring 2011 semester. Monarc Construction will serve as general contractor. 

Washington, DC real estate development news

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Debonair Development Coming to Woodley Park

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Woodley Park may soon become still more debonair now that the owners of the Debonair Cleaners at 2610 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Shahram and Maria Taginya, have taken on Annapolis-based developers Ashbourne Developments LLC to construct a four-story residential building directly behind their storefront.Woodley Park construction, Monarc Construction, Studio 27 DC Entitled, surprisingly enough, the Debonair Residences, the project will include "up to" 14 residential units and span the length of the existing one-story commercial outlets on site - Fusion's Alley restaurant and Baskin Robbins, to name a few - from 2608-2612 Connecticut Avenue, NW, directly next to the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro. A rear-entry garage will be built at basement level for residents coping with the scarcity of parking along the retail strip and be accessible from 24th Street. Plans by Studio 27 Architecture include balconies overlooking 24th, with a fourth-story roof terrace, but the historically protected commercial building facing Connecticut will be simultaneously “renovated and restored to a condition respectful of the original architecture” - i.e. the original height and roofline will remain along Connecticut Avenue. Washington DC commercial real estate According to Ashbourne President Crispin Etherington, a June 15th meeting with the local ANC 3C went “swimmingly,” though the project’s scheduled appearance before the District’s Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) has been pushed back to July for unspecified reasons. Ashbourne is currently projecting a third quarter 2009 start date for the Debonair “with delivery in the spring of 2010,” though a final construction schedule is contingent on HPRB approval. Monarc Construction will serve as general contractor.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

Friday, June 02, 2006

New Residential Project Announced for Takoma Park

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7333 New hampshire avenue, Takoma Park real estate
Monarc Construction, DC commercial real estateTakoma Park is about to see one of its big circa-1960’s bland box projects
undergo a transformation into the 21st century. The Hampshire Towers, located at 7333 New Hampshire Avenue, has recently been purchased by DC-based Tenacity Group and the Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) for $15.3 million. Initial plans call for the larger of the two towers to be converted into 232 condo units (sales by Tenacity), while the second building will house 218 rental units reserved for low-income tenants (management will be run by the development corporation). This preservation of one tower for rental units is a nod toward Takoma Park’s demographics and history as a rent-controlled renter refuge – while 23 percent of Montgomery County residents are renters, this number jumps to 55 percent in Takoma Park. Monarc Construction has been hired as the main contractor for this work, which is expected to begin early 2007, and will be conducted on a rolling basis.
 

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