Stairway to Change: The Links, Incorporated

By Beth Herman

For 65-year-old powerhouse African-American women’s volunteer and service organization The Links, Incorporated, finding the right team to expand and modernize its outmoded national headquarters at 1200 Massachusetts Ave. NW was key to facilitating its future. Plagued by antiquated structural elements and inadequate electrical, cable and mechanical systems last addressed in a 1984 renovation, the organization was profoundly challenged by issues surrounding the desired integration of two distinct historical buildings from different eras into a single 21^st century workspace.

The first structure, which housed the organization’s current offices, was built in the 1930s as a single family home that became commercial space, with the other, consistently an apartment building, built in 1908 and more recently acquired though not yet utilized as office space. Seeking a design that embraced its mission and supported a visiting national staff, as well as accommodated expansive meetings and training, the organization would charge its architects with bringing state-of-the-art efficiency and sustainability components to an historical space, commissioning R. McGhee & Associates for the evolving task.

Defined by floors of varying elevations (there was no way to join them efficiently for the two buildings) and deficient structural systems in both buildings, the 1908 structure was also marked by multiple interior changes resulting in a substandard framing system. Additionally, the architects’ efforts to expand the headquarters from the first building’s 6,168 s.f., to a combined nearly 9,400 s.f. of office space, was fraught with unanticipated D.C. Historic Preservation Office hurdles.

Formerly on its board of directors, Principal Ronnie McGhee said his firm thought it had initially understood HPO’s objectives for this project. “Usually it’s the building’s exterior they want us to save,” McGhee explained. “But in this case, they wanted us to save some of the structure inside which really hamstrung us with the idea that we couldn’t change or manipulate all of the interior framing.”

Assiduously retaining historical elements such as existing joists and beams, among other items, McGhee said project manager Cary Blackwelder-Plair spent a great deal of time melding history with the organization’s quest for LEED Silver which, when attained, the architects say will make it the first LEED Silver building for an African-American organization.

Ratcheting it up on the LEED scorecard, sustainable elements include a green roof with drought-resistant plants, double hung windows, DIRTT System glass panels for interior office walls to help channel natural light, 58 percent FSC-compliant wood, low-VOC paints, carpeting and finishes, LED and CFL lamps and occupancy sensors, removal (where sanctioned) and reuse of existing wood structural elements and flooring, walls and insulation with an R- value of 20, renewable bamboo and cork flooring, and the use of vinyl and rubber in lieu of VCT . According to McGhee, working closely with Monarc Construction, Inc., and Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., 91 percent of demolition and construction waste was diverted from landfills.

Expanding space and agendas

With a membership of 12,000 professional women of color in 274 chapters spread among 42 states, the District and the Bahamas, a staff of 14 occupies the D.C. headquarters with accruing meetings, training, programs and philanthropic planning on its daily, weekly and/or monthly dance card. Divided into two entities: The Links, Incorporated, and The Links Foundation, Incorporated, the latter of which was founded in 2006 and is the organization’s philanthropic arm, respective needs and activities vary and a variety of spaces to support these pursuits were mandated, with shared common spaces like a kitchen/break room.

“One of the constraints of the original structure was the conference room was very small and there was very little flexibility of the building,” said Blackwelder-Plair. A conference space that barely accommodated eight or 10 could not be utilized for typically larger meetings and events, with the organization forced to rent hotel space. To that end, in the new design, a glass-walled conference room accommodating 16 opens with sliding doors to a lobby space for even larger functions. A second, basement-level conference/training space holds up to 32 people. Also in the basement, a library that houses and makes accessible the organization’s extensive archives replaces the former “compact” method of storage not uncommon to an organization experiencing growing pains: standard cardboard boxes.

Where the floorplan itself was concerned, the organization opted for a mix of defined office space with solid walls and more open spaces, though private offices contain glass corridor walls to utilize available natural light. “The building is an odd shape and is very tight,” Blackwelder-Plair said. “In fact once we started the demolition and (many) walls were gone, it felt like a huge, open building which is a big advantage for them.”

According to the architects, integral to the design was the inclusion of swing spaces or touch down office spaces. With officers scattered throughout the country (the former president was from Illinois and the current one is from Ohio), D.C. headquarter visits warrant spaces that facilitate work and even take “internal geography” into account. For the national treasurer, a touch down space for her abuts the finance group’s space for immediate access to like personnel.

For the organization’s Midwest-based president, a third floor executive suite replete with office, full kitchen, bedroom and bathroom facilitates work, economic and time factors, precluding the need for a hotel commute.

Light on the program

“One of the major elements for the project to be successful was the ability to be on one floor and see up an open stair to the other floors, though there’s a 5 to 7-ft difference in (each building’s) floor height,” McGhee said of the joining of the two structures. “Technically, you could have had a situation where a staircase was behind a wall, and you could have taken an elevator and gone up five feet to one level, then four feet to another, then five feet to the next,” he said, adding that all you’d really see is the inside of an elevator. Though there is an elevator with eight stops, the open stair which feeds the variegated levels provides a visual connection from one side to the next so the single-building concept is firmly established. The addition of both a skylight and roof window above the open staircase paints the area in available light.

Advocating green education and green housekeeping programs, McGhee said the client strongly supported the firm’s ideas, inching it higher on the LEED ladder.

“The biggest key to this project was getting an efficient layout out of all the programmatic, code and historical preservation requirements that came out of the building,” McGhee said. “It’s a very important project for our firm, but also for The Links, Incorporated and the African-American community overall.” 

Washington DC architectural design news

Strand Theater Redevelopment Moves Forward with Zoning Approval

Yesterday developers and architects presented their plans for the redevelopment of the historic Strand Theater and won unanimous approval from the BZA. The Board also granted several zoning variances, permitting developers to expand a historic landmark and a contributing historic structure, as well as an increase in the FAR and a reduction in the required parking. The Strand Theater and the adjacent contemporaneous building located from 5127-5131 Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue, NE in Deanwood are being packaged together in a redevelopment plan that sees both structures stabilized, renovated, and facades restored to their original grandeur. The ground floor of the renovated buildings will feature new retail options, while the second floor will house small incubator office space for "small and local disadvantaged businesses out of the Ward 7 corridor." In 2008, the District originally awarded the property's development to Washington Metropolitan Community Development Corporation (WCDC) and Banneker Ventures, but WCDC cut their ties with Banneker shortly after their initial proposal, and have since partnered with the Warrenton Group. Serving as fee developer, Warrenton's Principle Warren Williams attended the hearing in support of the project, providing the Board with a brief summary of the proposed redevelopment.

Architectural duties have been assumed by local firm R. McGhee & Associates, and their design plans, in cooperation with guidelines set by the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), will assist in restoring the historically significant architectural features of the Strand (such as the lengthy front awning and detailed cornice work) and its accompanying sister-building. An in-fill brick addition serving as the "building core" is also in the works, intended as a contemporary interpretation of what the Strand might look like if built with modern materials. The interiors will be extensively gutted and renovated to accommodate the ground floor retail space (likely featuring a restaurant or two) and “affordable” office space set to occupy the building upon completion. Principal Ronnie McGhee, who was recently appointed to the DC Board of Architecture and Interior Designers by Mayor Adrian Fenty, presented the architectural specifics to the BZA, and assured the Board that their plans had official approval from the HPRB and ANC7C. McGhee also promised that the iconic, the lighted Strand Theater sign, would be restored to the roof of the renovated building, bringing a welcome glow back to the area's skyline at night.

In 2008 Mayor Fenty bragged that: "There will be more energy back on this corner for the neighbors who live in the Ward 7 community, east of the river in general and for the entire city." Unfortunately, that energy has remained bottled up in storage these past two years, as the property continues to sit vacant and derelict. The Holy Christian Missionary Baptist church across the street, calling the structures as the currently stand an "eye sore," is also excited about the re-ignited redevelopment plans. Reverend Steve Young testified before the Board in support of the project and offered up use of the church's parking lot to alleviate parking concerns, saying: "whatever is needed to accommodate the project we're willing to comply." Developers also cited several convenient bus-lines that may service future retail patrons as justification for a reduction in required parking. By way of community benefits, developers additionally promised that a dug-out basement level will provide space to be used as a community meeting center, and that newly planted trees will improve the streetscape in compliance with the Great Streets Initiative. It was also noted that the area is currently "starved of retail options." The Board agreed that this was a impressive and commendable project that offers a big first step in revitalization of the surrounding area, as well as thoughtful preservation of a historic landmark. While there is still no timeline for expected groundbreaking and subsequent construction, this Zoning approval activity is a positive sign that developers are moving forward with their plans. In the next step forward, developers and architects will seek the blessing of the National Park Service.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Mt. Rainier - A Whole New Town

Call it Mt. Rainier 4g. The small Maryland hamlet on the Washington D.C. border is reflecting on being a great place to live - which it most certainly is(!) - with its cute little bungalows, cultural diversity, a small-town feel, proximity to downtown DC and, by golly, a historic little town center that even once had a streetcar line. But while the rest of the DC area has been consecrated with mixed-use projects, trendy lofts and retail development, approximately none of that occurs in Mt. Rainier, and the town needs a reinvention. Enter the urban planners.

Most Washington DC denizens go to Mt. Rainier about as often as they go to NASCAR or the Woodrow Wilson museum, but the town is only a good jog away from the Metro (red line, at that), on Rhode Island Avenue where it exits the District, and has the visual hallmarks of a once self-sustained community. But its apogee was in the '40's, when a rail line still connected it to DC, population was rising, and local retail boomed. But the automobile superceded the small town, and in 1958 the town began its decline, dropping from 11,000 to 7361 at its nadir. Conditions remain bleak: population is static, the working town center storefronts were torn down, leaving gaps in the once contiguous retail now filled by parking lots. One in 5 buildings in the commercial district are unoccupied. Average household income is $49,000 (to the District's $86,000), only one in four homes are owner occupied, and the median home price is $246,000 to DC's $358,000. And no one seems to go there.

That, planners (cautiously) assert, is about to change. In 1994, the county founded the Gateway Community Development Corporation, which dwindled, despite the boom, but is now being dusted off and reinvented. Seeking "economic revitalization" that the plan promised, on June 4, 2009, the Prince George's County District Council began the process of creating the Mt. Rainier mixed-use Town Center (with the ungainly M-U-TC acronym) to create a first class commercial district on the axis of Rhode Island Avenue and 34th Street. With the hope of a potential MARC station and trolley line in its future, planners see destination retail, thriving commerce, better architecture and statuary, and a streetscape that tilts design more toward pedestrians and visual appeal than prostration to the automobile. In short, a boulevard suitable for strolling, relaxing, eating and shopping.

Despite the fact that Mt. Rainier "boasts one of the largest and most vibrant artist communities in the Washington Metropolitan area," the problems are dire, but largely a function of design. As its own report notes, sidewalks are "extremely narrow" and not wheelchair - bike - stroller accessible, land is "underutilized," curbs have deteriorated, retail space is occupied as office space or less stable local proprietors like overabundant beauty salons. Perhaps most humiliatingly, cars passing through Mt. Rainier "tend to speed up rather than slow down."

But a lemons-to-lemonade approach could transform outdated buildings into showcased features, extending building fronts up to the municipal line, adding curb extensions and alternate paving at crosswalks on Rhode Island, turning a pre-war gas station into a cafe, with sycamore-lined bike lanes claimed from unnecessarily wide parking lanes. The new MARC station would be added on the existing rail line 4 blocks south of Rhode Island Avenue, and PG County would link to the District's streetcar line, already planned (in later phases) to run the length of Rhode Island Avenue.

To develop its updated, strollable urbanity, the county turned to Cunningham | Quill as the prime consultant to direct, inspire and build a consensus among Mt. Rainierians about what to achieve and how to accomplish it. The DC based architecture and design firm and hired others to collaberate, with R. McGhee & Associates on historic preservation as well as economic consultants, market analysts and transportation experts to help inform the process. "This is very collaberative, a plan that could become a model for other revitalization areas throughout the region" said Lee Quill, principal of the architecture firm. At the very least it was speedy; CQ was brought on in July 2009, and went through the entire consultative process with an "extensive community engagement process," followed by design, coming up with a plan it submitted to MNCPPC in April 2010. The plan was distributed to the public in July and is now in the public comment period. Quill says the plan is a significant improvement over the '94 plan, and more likely to succeed, since the '94 plan "did not have a vision component, only guidelines to help the community in shaping future desired development."

Despite the "very aggressive" schedule, Quill is guardedly optimistic. "As the economy comes back, those communities that have take the time to develop a vision, or level of development, walkability and sustainability...it provides a better assurance that development will move forward." Robert Duffy, Planning Supervisor at Prince George's County Planning Department, is optimistic that planners have gotten it right, but not ready to predict immediate results. "Its an incremental process that can take a number of years, but the plan is based on sound opportunities given the current economic climate." Duffy stresses that whatever the outcome, the updated plans can only be a good thing. "The plan attempts to adjust guidelines to reflect current conditions...No matter what, we still need to revise strategies and plans. Its difficult to say 'how soon,' but some goals can be very short term."

As for the inevitable question about financing, county officials hope that as interested parties see the wisdom of the plan and opportunity for growth, funding will happen. PG's Duffy says that "the plan makes a number of recommendations for redevelopment, and for capital improvements, which can be paid for through future development activity, or by a developer, or through various requests through WMATA and state of Maryland...Each project could have a different blend of financing." In other words, no dedicated funding exists, but the goal is fund-worthy. But success of the project will undoubtedly be tied to mass transit, and neither the trolley line, which is dependent upon DC's own back shelf development, nor the MARC station addition, appears to have anything like a hopeful timeline. Says Duffy, "there's been discussion with MARC, but given the state budget its important that businesses and residences work with and advocate for this to take place, and the trolley too. They are long term, they are very expensive, but rail transit is truly the great benefit here."

Quill says the plans are worth waiting for, noting that AIA Maryland gave it an award for urban design and planning. The plan will break the town center into Rhode Island Avenue ("the boulevard"), upper 34th ("Main Street"), and the civic center at the traffic circle. "We developed a vision collectively with the community and worked with committees on specific issues. We put together guidelines to help facilitate everything from window painting to signage, to converting the bus turnaround to a true civic green, and are working with WMATA. The city purchased the Eastern Star building in effort to make this a true civic core." Quill, who also planned part of Potomac Yards, stresses that with the community being an integral part of a design that aims for a true town center, the plan has a high chance of success. "The reinforcement and definition of the public realm, that's probably the real strength of this that can come back to everyone in the city. That's part of the strength of the plan. And now there's a clarity of vision of how to get there." Developers take note. And bring money.

Tenley Library Construction to Start

Years into discussions about the fate of Tenleytown Library, DC officials have announced that construction, or at least a ceremonial pretense, will at last begin this morning at 10:30am. After an embarrassingly nasty brawl over the fate of the postage stamp-sized parcel at Albemarle and Wisconsin, the fate of the library seems at long last decided. Sort of. Following the long term loss of the library in 2005, everything has gone according to plan, excepting, that is, the lack of plan for a new library, the city's belated selection of a developer for the site, the public outcry over the city's selection thereof, the battle over the right to build housing above a Metro (gasp!), a subsequent war between the DC Council, locals, and DMPED over control of the project, DMPED's decision to lead its own charge and issue an RFP for the project on its own, DMPED's mysterious shift in qualifications for the site - after submission of bids - which it shared with only 2 of the 3 applicants, DMPED's decision and hire LCOR, Inc. as the developer in July of 2008, the community's rejection of LCOR's plans, DMPED's pronouncement of a "rare opportunity" to bring subsidized housing to the "underserved (retail-challenged) Wisconsin Avenue," the quiet dropping of LCOR from the project in March of 2009, the Mayor's decision to build the library and then figure out if apartments should go on top of it, and his final pledge that the building would - damn the torpedoes - be completed in 2010. Did we miss anything? Water under the bridge though. 

Now work begins on the new library, and one thing is for sure, Forrester Construction will build it. Even if "it" is still undetermined. As of August, the city had not committed on a plan for the residences supposed to sit on top of the library, but rather had planned to build the library in the hopes that someone could somehow put a building on top of library shortly thereafter, consigning the project to permanent construction site status. Nor had the District selected an architect to design the library (now technically under construction), basing its plans instead on simple conceptual designs by the Freelon Group (see rendering at left) and R. McGhee & Associates. And Janney parent groups, which opposed the plan as a taking of its green space, will now lose its field as a construction staging ground for up to two years. And then construction may start all over again. Wow, glad that's all settled.

Washington DC commercial real estate news