Alexis Lockshin on CREW EDU'S April building tour: Georgetown University's "Downtown Campus"

On Thursday, April 10th, the CREW (Commercial Women in Real Estate) committee on which I serve organized and hosted an informative evening featuring Georgetown University’s recently completed “Downtown campus” located at 640 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, in DC’s East End neighborhood.  Attendees learned about the development from key players intimately involved in the project, including:

Jodi Ernst – Georgetown University (End User)

Stephanie Heffernan – Cassidy Turley (Leasing Agent)

John Landry – Brookfield Properties (Owner)

Brian Pilot – STUDIOS Architecture (Architect)

Matthew Weirich – DAVIS Construction (Contractor) 

The dynamic panel examined how the primary stakeholders created a sense of trust and transparency to communicate and reach common goals.  Attendees heard about the challenges and victories that came with building such a unique higher education facility, in a non-traditional educational building and neighborhood.  We learned about the history of Georgetown’s search for the right space for the school and the path to get to where it is today.  

In particular, Georgetown’s Jodi Ernst delved into the details of getting the school’s decision makers on board with the location (i.e., the idea of not being at – or near –37th and O Streets, NW).  Jodi also explained how the expansion complemented the school’s mission of educating students to be self-reflective, critical thinkers committed to serving others.  Cassidy Turley’s Stephanie Heffernan told the story of the two-year long search for the right space for the school and how the team ultimately secured the 91,000 square foot lease at 640 Massachusetts Avenue.  Stephanie noted that the main driver behind selecting the location was always the Campus Plan (i.e., Georgetown’s commitment to the city to move 1,100 grad students out of Georgetown – the 20007 zip code – by 2014).  John Landry from Brookfield Properties described how the building’s location was a key driver for the attractiveness of the space and discussed why the school was a good fit as the new tenant for the space.  Brian Pilot from Studios Architecture explained the design process that went into creating the state-of-the-art space – one that re-imagines the educational experience for today’s students, faculty, staff, alumni and community leaders.  Brian also discussed the facility’s unique environment for students and faculty to collaborate and learn.  The space features 30 classrooms with integrated technology, 14 group study rooms, a 125-person auditorium, digital media lab and broadcast studio, interfaith chapel, library, bookstore, café and multiple functional lounge spaces. 

To conclude the panel portion of the evening, DAVIS Construction’s Matthew Weirich highlighted the complexity of completing construction in ten short months (see timeline and some photos below) in order to be ready to open for the fall 2013 semester.  Matt also discussed the challenges of building on such a tight spot (in the middle of the city) and how the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) as the main construction delivery tool helped to deliver the project on time and under budget.

The insightful evening concluded with a tour of Georgetown’s attractive, and highly-functional, new space.  As a side note, I took classes in this building during the final semester of my Georgetown master in real estate program and, as a student, I can attest to the fact that the space is amazing!  

See the transformation of Georgetown’s new space from construction to completion in a great 1-minute video at http://bcove.me/0yufs49z.