The Leader - November/December 2008 - (Page 27)

B LEN DIN G THE O LD W I TH THE N E W : URBAN O UTFI TTE RS ’ H Q MOV E S TO P HIL AD E L P HIA NAVY Y ARD chased four buildings – numbers 7, 12, 15 and 543 – each for $1. They leased Building 10, whose exterior had already undergone extensive renovation, for 99 years. Over the next 23 months, a team of architects, landscape architects, engineers and historic preservation consultants rehabilitated ﬁve historic buildings – over 330,000 sq.ft. (30,658 sq.m.) and over 10 acres (4 hectares) of riverfront campus. Using a combination of public funding for infrastructure upgrades and incentives such as the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive Program, approximately $100 million was invested into the campus and buildings. Except for Building 10, none of the buildings were well documented, causing signiﬁcant logistical, design and engineering challenges. Using the combination of a high deﬁnition 3-D laser scanning service, archived Navy drawings, an extensive on site survey including a detailed window survey of over 1,000 individual windows, the team assembled the necessary as-built documentation in less than eight weeks. The campus master plan dictated each building to house a different retail division of the company with the largest building, 543 adjacent to Dry Dock 1, serving as the campus commons, complete with a public restaurant, library, training complex, ﬁtness center and corporate IT support. Additionally, the master plan preserved the "Navy Yard" character by celebrating public open space, respecting the memory of buildings demolished, and maintaining and restoring rail lines and past ship-production related circulation patterns. Speciﬁcally, each building was uncovered, celebrated and re-established to it's original character. The exteriors of each were carefully cleaned, repaired and restored. Windows were carefully refurbished or replaced in kind. Since the original clay tile roof for building 15 had outrun its intended lifespace, the entire roof was replaced with the clay tile from the same 100-year-old manufacturer. Granite, brick and cast iron was hand scraped to remove loose paint, stabilized and protected. Inside, dropped ceilings and ofﬁce partitions were removed to expose the original metal roof truss systems in building 12 and ornate cast iron columns in building 7. New concrete ﬂoors were installed on the ﬁrst ﬂoors above the 100-year ﬂood level to meet code and the original wood ﬂooring was reﬁnished on others. Found artifacts such as signage, sinks, light ﬁxtures, doors – even a decompression tank room – were tagged, cleaned and reused. Structural steel remains exposed, cranes and jib booms uncovered, and former steel bending pits now serve as beautiful koi ponds – the centerpiece of an interior garden in Building 543. The surrounding site was also reinstated and the old rail lines and past circulation patterns were uncovered and revealed. There have been growing pains. Urban’s explosive growth has outpaced the space. All vacant seats were utilized within the six months after the move. Sixty-eight spaces were added in 2006. Over 200 are planned for 2008.The company expects 40 percent growth rate in new hires by 2010. To accommodate, Urban recently purchased two additional buildings at the Navy Yard. MS&R is once again working with Urban Outﬁtters on a series of spaces – including the expansion of existing buildings. A four-year facility expansion plan will accommodate growth, including on-site photo studios and additional support services. Urban Outﬁtters’ relocation sparked major redevelopment, restoration and rejuvenation. Today, the Navy Yard has 7,000 employees from various businesses and 4 million sq.ft. (371,612 sq.m.) of leased ofﬁce space, with the capacity of building up to 12 million sq.ft. (1.1 million sq.m.) of ofﬁce space. Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street credited Urban Outﬁtters in a speech to the Chamber of Commerce. The Navy Yard is Philadelphia’s new frontier, Street said, and is the cool work center for creative talent. “The rebirth of the Navy Yard seeks to make use of our signature asset – our historic waterfront – to spur Philadelphia’s economic development and growth,” said Street. “We are in the process of creating a bold new Navy Yard – a bustling center of business and economic activity. We’re developing an entirely new neighborhood within the city, a new waterfront that will draw people from through the region to work, play and live.” About the Authors David Ziel joined Urban Outﬁtters, Inc. as Chief Development Ofﬁcer in August of 2005, with responsibility across all brands for developing systems and strategy to fuel growth. Jeffrey Scherer, FAIA is a founding principal of MS&R, and has worked with numerous academic institutions and the majority of the ﬁrm's major corporate clients. Josh Stowers, AIA, LEED AP, has been with MS&R for six years. He holds a Master of Architecture and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Minnesota's College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (CALA). For more information on this topic, go to CoreNet Global’s Knowledge Center Online. The Inside Story: New Headquarters Helps Revitalize AGL Resources www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCMS/ kcoAsset?assetInode=46758 Adobe Systems Incorporated Headquarters www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCMS/ kcoAsset?assetInode=1410198 2 0 0 8 TH E L E ADE R 27 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER http://www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCMS/kcoAsset?assetInode=46758 http://www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCMS/kcoAsset?assetInode=1410198

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - November/December 2008

The Leader - November/December 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Leveraging Business Geography My Work @ Bank of America Blending the Old with the New A Tool for Growth Creating Real Estate Value Nokia-Siemens Networks’ Peter Doran DTZ’s James Maddock Annual Economic Development Directory The Georgia Report Location Profile: Magdeburg, Germany Linking Corporate Real Estate to the Enterprise 3rd Quarter 2008 Adding Value in Challenging Times Australia and New York Shell’s Paul Huston Economic Development in the News A Look Ahead In our Next Issue Calendar of Seminars Index of Advertisers Chapter Learning: The Global Perspective

The Leader - November/December 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.