Under Armour Plans Massive HQ in South Baltimore

A 50-acre campus with 3.9 million square feet of office, manufacturing and athletic space, and a manmade urban lake and are the signature features of planned new global headquarters for Under Armour along the Port Covington waterfront. A total of 10,000 employees are expected to work at the South Baltimore campus once it is built out.   

The new corporate campus is being designed by the Pittsburgh office of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson.

The firm has designed studio space at Pixar and Disney Studios as well as the iconic Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

Frank Grauman, a principal with the design firm, said the Under Armour project will include environmental, spacial and urban characteristics that detail “Baltimore’s sense of itself” — both past and present.

The plans call for public access to the waterfront in certain areas of the secure corporate campus, a field house with indoor practice fields and a basketball court, a 100,000-square foot manufacturing hub and 2.9 million square feet of office space, some of it in a landmark tower to be built in the first phase by 2018.

The tower will showcase Under Armour’s interlocking UA logo to travelers on Interstate 95 located on the northern rim of the Port Covington site. Three towers as tall as 460 feet could be built, depending on the company's growth, architects told the design panel.

The campus will also include a 7,000-seat stadium on the waterfront where executives from Under Armour say possible local rivalries like the Loyola vs. Calvert Hall Turkey Bowl game and the City College-Baltimore Polytechnic football game could be played each year.

“We see this as transformative for the city and transformative for Under Armour,” said Neil Jurgens, vice president for corporate real estate at Under Armour.

The 170,000-square-foot project sits in a completely overhauled former Sam’s Club. The space is now being called Building 37, named after company founder and CEO Kevin Plank’s jersey number on the University of Maryland football team.

The site of a recently shuttered Wal-Mart store at Port Covington will also be used for the future campus.

Earlier this month, executives from Sagamore Development Co. unveiled plans for a massive redevelopment of 266 acres of Port Covington into a mixed-use project over the next decade. The Under Armour campus is part of that development.

Under Armour currently hoists its corporate flag in a former Procter & Gamble soap factory in Locust Point. There, 1,800 employees work in offices that are landlocked and cannot expand because of existing residential and industrial developments and the nearby national park, Fort McHenry, where the Battle of Baltimore took place in 1814.

The cost of the entire project is expected to be in the billions, Under Armour and Sagamore Development officials have said.

Sagamore Development officials are seeking tax breaks from the city of Baltimore for the entire development and have opened discussions with the Baltimore Development Corp., the city’s quasi-public development arm, over establishing a tax increment financing district at Port Covington.

A TIF designation from the city that will allow Sagamore Development and Under Armour to build infrastructure at the site with proceeds from a private bond sale that is repaid with diverted property tax revenues for decades.

The new corporate headquarters will be “an iconic high-performance global headquarters” that will have sustainable features that include a man-made lake to help cool the buildings that will use less electricity and water than a campus of its size in the past.

Port Covington has for decades been an industrial site, and it still has existing industrial companies open for business there.

Environmental remediation will commence immediately on certain parts of the waterfront and the property.

Overall, Sagamore’s plans for Port Covington include 13 million square feet of office, retail and residential space and 40 acres of public park land.

Plank's Sagamore Spirit whiskey distillery is currently under construction at the site.

Jurgens said the corporate executives and representatives of Sagamore Development plan to aggressively pursue public transportation options with the city to help employees and visitors gain access to the site.

They include an extension of the light rail line in nearby Westport, a circulator bus and water taxi service.

Developer Plans to Build Reston’s Tallest Building

Reston Town Center is ready to get a new gateway in the form of a 23-story, trophy class office tower being planned for 1760 Reston Parkway by RTC Partnership. The 330-foot building has already been approved and would be 125 feet taller than anything currently in Fairfax County.

The 420,000 square foot project would replace an existing 61,000-square-foot office building at, often known as the Town Center Office Building.

RTC already has approval for mixed-use office and retail project.

Richard Whealen, managing partner of the ownership group, said the building’s distinctiveness should set it apart from other offices nearby, some starving for tenants.

“Despite the fact that office vacancies are relatively high along the Dulles Toll Road corridor, the time is right for a high-end office tower in Reston,” Whealen said in a press release.

The plans have attracted increased attention because of the property’s prominent location on Reston Parkway at Bowman Towne Drive, where Fairfax County planners have called for a signature office structure. The building’s design is more contemporary than many other Reston buildings.

RTC recently retained HOK, the largest U.S.-based architecture and engineering firm, to do “some refinement and enhancement” to the original design from Reston-based architect, Polleo Group.

Polleo has designed residential projects such as the mixed-use Spectrum development in Reston and Kennedy Row, a multifamily residential project on East Capitol Street in the District.

The design incorporates a six-story lobby atrium at the intersection of Reston Parkway and Bowman Towne Drive.

The first five floors would consist of retail and parking, with offices on the 18 stories above. On the sixth floor, the developers plan an outdoor 38,000-square-foot terrace (and green roof) that they envision featuring outdoor seating from a restaurant on that floor.

“Hopefully these features will attract a high-end restaurant that could have both indoor and outdoor seating with a striking view of the Reston Town Center and surrounding properties,” Whealen said.

The site is currently home to a five-story, 61,000-square-foot office building that Whealen bought more than 10 years ago.

The board approved the redevelopment plan in 2012, as Whealen fended off opposition from some neighbors and county staff who argued the proposed office tower is too tall and dense for its immediate surroundings.

The site is less than a mile from the planned Reston Town Center Metro station.

RTC has not announced a firm construction timeline, giving the company flexibility to begin demolition on the existing building.

The developers will join a handful building speculative office projects in Northern Virginia or planning them for coming months. In Tysons Corner, Lerner Enterprises has begun an office project and Macerich Group plans to begin one soon. In Rosslyn, Monday Properties is building a speculative office tower in Rosslyn and the JBG Companies plan one.

Like those projects, RTC envisions 1760 Reston Parkway as a property that will be accessible to Metrorail. The Wiehle Avenue station, on the Silver Line, is expected to be complete in 2014 and is a 10- or 15-minute walk from the property.

One of Whealen's key supporters was Reston founder Robert E. Simon, who died in September at the age of 101.

Shakespeare Theatre Plans Mixed-Use Project in D.C.

Erkiletian Development and the Shakespeare Theatre Co. have filed plans to construct a 136-unit mixed-use project in Southwest Washington, D.C... The seven-story project, known as The Bard, is planned to house everything from residential space to artist studios to non-profit office space to educational space. The development will also house the Shakespeare Theatre's costume fabrication studio.

The development site is located at 501 I Street SW, the former home to Southeastern University, which was razed last year.

The entire project will span 149,298 square feet with 131,273 square feet tailored for residential space.

Building heights will vary from 42 feet high to over 73 feet high.

The space for the Shakespeare Theatre Company would essentially consolidate the company’s operations in DC, and will include the costume studio, four rehearsal spaces, two classrooms and additional storage below grade, in addition to office space.

All of the residential units to be rental apartments, with 93 market-rate and nine inclusionary zoning. For the Shakespeare Theatre, 29 of the units will be set aside for actors and five will be for fellows.

The project will also include an underground parking garage with 36 spaces will be for residents, 16 spaces for non-profit office use, nine spaces for art use, and nine spaces for education use.

Despite the limited number of spaces for residents, the site, 501 I Street SW, is only a couple blocks from the Waterfront Metro station. There will also be 75 long-term and 10 short-term bicycle parking spaces on-site.

In the effort to appease residents' concerns, the developers reduced the height and the number of units planned.

Proposed benefits of the project include: free use of the assembly spaces/conference rooms for community meetings; annual donations to the multi-day festival, SW ArtsFest; and scholarships to sponsor up to 10 low-income children to attend the Shakespeare Theatre summer camp.

With this project, the developer hopes to further satisfy three goals in the D.C. Office of Planning's Southwest Neighborhood Plan.

These goals are to strengthen I Street as a cultural corridor, grow the presence of the arts throughout the Southwest neighborhood, and build on and market existing cultural assets and institutions to reinforce the concept of an arts and cultural destination.

The site of the development is the former home of Southeastern University. The area is currently vacant and consists of approximately 36,476 square feet of land area. Shalom Baranes Associates is the architect of the project.

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Arlington Approves Construction of New Village Center

Changing Columbia Pike from a concrete corridor of surface parking lots into a lively main street, as is Arlington’s goal, comes one project at a time.

At the corner of Columbia Pike and George Mason Drive, a big, new development is planned with new apartments and retail for Arlington, Virginia.

The Arlington County Board recently approved a project, dubbed "Columbia Pike Village Center," that features a six-story apartment building.

Reston-based Orr Partners will replace the Food Star supermarket and its associated parking lot with 365 market-rate apartments atop 82,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. KGD Architecture designed the building.

Plans include a 50,000-square-foot grocery store, a three-level, 604-space parking garage and a 22,150 square foot public square, designed by landscape architect Oculus, featuring a garden, public art and a water feature.

Orr Partners has also retained Kendra Haste, a “contemporary animal sculptor” based in Surrey, England, to design public art for the square.

The grocery store is likely to be a Harris Teeter, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The developer will also widen the sidewalks to six feet, to provide space for outdoor dining, and set aside 152 secure bicycle parking spaces.

“We’re really excited about it,” said Ryan Orr, Orr’s vice president of acquisitions and development. “I think for Columbia Pike, it’s a game changer.”

In order to make room for the three-acre project, the developments currently on the lot will be razed. The developments include a Food Star supermarket and a pool hall, called Hi Cue Billiards.

“This is an exciting project that will bring more vitality to an important intersection on Columbia Pike and we look forward to its completion,” said Arlington County Board Chair Libby.

Construction is slated to begin later this year.

Arlington offers incentives for developing along Columbia Pike, including streamlined review and higher density. Proposed projects there are reviewed using the Form Based Code zoning tool, which focuses on physical form and the relationship between building facades and public spaces, as opposed to traditional zoning and its focus on dwellings per acre and floor-area ratio.

Since 2003, when Arlington adopted Form Based Code as a rule, the county has approved 14 projects along Columbia Pike totaling more than 2,000 residential units (612 affordable), more than 220,000 square feet of retail, a public plaza, a community center, and a new Giant supermarket.

Arlington County's decision to nix its streetcar plans has not spelled doom for Columbia Pike's growth.

In the wake of the November 2014 cancellation of the controversial streetcar system, developers have sought approval for roughly a half dozen new projects along the 3.5-mile corridor totaling nearly 1,000 residential units and more than 100,000 square feet of retail.

Columbia Pike remains a corridor dominated by pavement, and the Arlington board has yet to reveal how it will move people with streetcar no longer in the plans. But the development community remains amenable, at least, to Arlington's goal of creating a lively "Main Street" atmosphere on Columbia Pike.

Massive Development Planned Near Rhode Island Ave Metro

As one of the largest redevelopment projects in Washington, D.C., developer MRP Realty is planning on razing a retail center near the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station to construct 1.56 million-square-feet of residential, 245,000-square-feet of retail, and 1,992 parking spaces. The retail center, known as Rhode Island Center, will be razed to construct seven buildings with ground-floor retail, covering roughly six blocks of space.

The development plan calls for 1,555 residential units with eight percent set aside for affordable housing. The units will range from studios to three-bedrooms.

The first of the six-phase project will redevelop two buildings along Rhode Island Avenue NE into 345 residential units. Construction is expected to begin in 2016.

MRP, with B&R Associates LP and Sandrock LP, proposes to transform 13 acres encompassing the Rhode Island Center — anchored by Save-A-Lot, Big Lots and Foreman Mills — a self-storage warehouse and 13 single-story retailers into a mixed-use, transit-oriented community that promises to “ultimately establish this locale as a destination in and of itself.”

The project will replace a shopping center that was the “product of the times in which it was built: it is auto-centric, set back from the street and does not interact with the greater community; it does not facilitate connections within the community but rather isolates itself, creating a barrier between the Metropolitan Branch Trail and the pedestrian path to the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metrorail Station.”

The development proposal calls for six new blocks along an extended street grid, all consisting of residential over ground-floor retail and 1,992 parking spaces.

The development site is bounded by Fourth Street NE to the west, Rhode Island Avenue to the south, the Metrorail tracks and the Metropolitan Branch Trail to the east and the Edgewood Terrace apartments to the north.

The number of units: 1,555, in a mix of studio to three-bedroom. Eight percent of the gross floor area, or 124,612 square feet, will be set aside as affordable.

There will be seven buildings. The first phase will feature two buildings on the two blocks closest to the Metro, to Rhode Island Row and the Brentwood Shopping Center.

The design of the first two buildings, totaling 345 units, “will pay homage to the industrial area that helped shape this neighborhood while generating an architectural vocabulary unique to this project.



Northeast D.C., -- from Rhode Island Ave to Union Market, to NoMa Brookland to H Street, to New York Avenue -- is the epicenter of D.C.'s booming redevelopment pipeline.

Only last month, the JBG Cos. and the Boundary Companies proposed building 691 residential units over retail for the New York Avenue-Florida Avenue intersection.


Edens will break ground soon on multiple projects at Union Market, while LCOR recently picked up $30 million loan to build the 187-unit Edison at 340 Florida Ave. NE, and Level 2 Development has earned Zoning Commission approval for the 315-unit Highline at Union Market, 320 Florida Ave. NE.
 

NC Dept of Labor Issues Fine for Electrician's Death

North Carolina Department of Labor has issued a $5,600 fine to another state agency in connection with a worker death in April. The Labor Department fined the Department of Administration for the death of electrician Hal Rue. State officials said Rue was setting up an aerial lift outside the State Archives building when the lift toppled on him on April 13.

“When I saw the amount, I thought that was a low amount,” said Rue’s widow, Marlene. The two would have celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary in July. “I think the real grief has come later on, realizing I’m not going to see him again, not on this Earth.”

An Oct. 14 letter from the Labor Department said its position had not changed after the two departments couldn’t reach a settlement. The Department of Administration has 15 working days from receipt of that letter to pay the penalty or appeal it to an independent board.

The fine was issued under the general duty clause, which requires employers to provide workplaces free from recognized hazards. The maximum penalty was $7,000.

“Safety measures that weren’t in place, they need to put them in place. Take it very seriously because it can happen. They’ve seen it,” said Marlene Rue.

A spokesman for the Department of Labor said the Department of Administration paid the fine Thursday. However, a spokesman for the Department of Administration also noted attorneys for his agency are still trying to determine if they’ll take any additional action.

“All of Mr. Rue’s work family was saddened by this tragic accident. At the end of the day we want to see all of our employees go home safely. We would like to thank the Department of Labor for their help and advice, and have already implemented additional safety measures across all of our divisions,” said Chris Mears, spokesman for the Department of Administration. 
 

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Electricians Seriously Burned at Charlotte Hotel

Two electricians suffered serious injuries after being burned at a hotel in southwest Charlotte Thursday afternoon, according to officials.

Firefighters said the workers, who were electrical contractors, were burned while working on an electrical panel at a Ramada Inn. They said a flash fire sparked up during the incident.

"We don’t know exactly.  They were working on a panel, it’s a main large electrical panel that’s 480 volts and whatever happened something in there went wrong and it flashed and like I said electricity and a flash fire," said Battalion Chief Paula McDaniel.

Both workers were taken by ambulance to an area hospital. Their names and conditions have not been released.

Fire crews say there was not a fire when they arrived, but that firefighters reported seeing a small amount of smoke. A guest at the hotel said that he saw smoke on the first floor of the hotel.  Kenny Smith says he left his room when he heard the fire alarm.

"So three of us ran downstairs to the outside door downstairs to the bottom door we open up the first door all we saw was full of smoke so then after that the three of us cut out the side door and back and ran around the corner.  But they still haven’t come out and said anything to us," Smith said.

Duke Energy cut power to the hotel, they said, as a precaution.

Guests were allowed back into the hotel later in the evening.
    

$98M FBI Central Records Center Complex

After nearly a decade, Congress has approved construction of a FBI records management complex in Frederick County, Virginia. Funding includes $97,853,000 for the General Services Administration that’s specifically identified to be spent on the FBI’s Central Records Complex. 

Frederick County was selected in a comprehensive site search based on its merits largely because of its location.

It is far enough from Washington to be reasonably safe if the capital were attacked, but close enough to enable government officials to visit quickly whenever necessary.

The GSA is presently considering three different parcels near Winchester on which to construct the new FBI records facility.

Frederick County fit its criteria for site selection, including its proximity to Washington, D.C., reliable transportation and communication networks, an educated work force and an absence of potential terrorist targets.

Once the GSA completes the supplemental environmental impact study, the agency plans to buy the land in early 2016. The GSA will proceed with the facility’s design and begin construction in the early 2017.

When completed, the $98 million state-of-the-art facility will serve as the central repository for all FBI records and facilitate quick access to vital records and information.

It is projected that the new complex will employ approximately 1,200 people — including new positions and transfers from other FBI facilities.

These initiatives will significantly improve search and record-retrieval capabilities by increasing search accuracy; by decreasing search time; and by reducing lost files, missing serials, and the manual movement of files.

When complete, the overall impact will be to reduce even further the FBI’s pending Freedom of Information/Privacy Act numbers and processing times.

“This is good for national security, it’s good for the FBI, it’s good for the country and I think it’s good for Frederick County, too,” Rep. Frank Wolf, R-10th, said. “The FBI employs some of the finest people in the world, and you have a lot of people who work for the FBI already living out there.”

The bureau’s records center has been on the area’s list of the Ten Most Wanted economic development projects for years.

Presently, the bureau operates a records management center in leased space at 170 Marcel Drive — off Tasker Road just northwest of the Walmart Supercenter on Front Royal Pike. More than 500 people work at that site. The FBI’s 10-year lease expires in August 2016.

That GSA is recommending a 256,500 square foot facility — more than double the 106,296-square-feet it’s leasing— and 430-space parking lot. The complex would support the FBI’s current and future critical record management space needs.

Heery International has been awarded the contract to manage construction for the FBI's Central Records Complex, and assist the GSA in selection of the design/build contractor.