Job Spotlight – Broad & Washington

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Author: Tony Horos, Director of Project Management, Miller & Long

Broad & Washington is a large mixed-use project located at the northeast corner of East Broad Street and North Washington Street (Route 7 and Route 29) in Falls Church, Virginia. It features a 45,000 SF Whole Foods Market, 8,000 SF of ground floor retail including a theater for the arts, five levels of 339 apartments (with 10% permanent affordable housing), and four levels of underground and above-grade parking. It represents an exciting new step for the city of Falls Church in terms of revitalizing the area by bringing commerce, entertainment, and residential living to the center of the city.

Miller & Long is working with general contractor, John Moriarty & Associates of Virginia, on this 28,000 CY project. The owner, architect, and structural engineer are Insight Property Group, MV&A, and Structura, Inc., respectively. Overall, the building has one basement level, levels one through eight, plus a roof. Cast-in-place concrete is utilized up to level four, with the balance being wood framing. The CIP portion is largely mild steel, with post-tensioning beams on the second through fourth floors. Two tower cranes service the job which is spread out over 2.7 acres.

Our scope begins below grade with 120,000 SF of spread footings/slab on grade and mat foundation, forming the main parking area for the project. On the first floor, the south half of the first elevated deck is at grade and houses the Whole Foods, residential lobby, retail, and theater with the balance as parking. Level two features a similar footprint with high framing whereas level three is largely parking and mechanical areas. Miller & Long tops out the building at level four, which transitions to the residential units surrounding three courtyard amenity spaces for the residents to enjoy.

The location of the project presents some challenges. Being a downtown residential center, work/noise hours are restricted and there is extremely limited space on site for staging. Additionally, Route 7 and Route 29 are major thoroughfares, so lane closures are not easily obtained. While the south side of the project is only one level below the street, the north side is 30’+ below grade and a series of rakers and walers are in place. To provide the best finished product, Miller & Long utilized  shotcrete on most of the foundation walls in this area. The total estimated shotcrete used is 550 CY.

Under the leadership of Superintendent Richard Blueford and Vice President of Construction Keith Fultz, the team is making rapid progress across this large project. Key members of the team include Jimy Montiel, Oscar Medrano, Jesse Evans, Jose Ortiz-Reyes, Jose Lazo, Juan Carranza, Alfredo Argueta, Dilmer Bonilla-Garcia, Jose Abrego-Urbina, Fernando Martinez, Juliana Lozano, Matthew Moran, and Tony Horos. We give a hearty thanks to the team for all their hard work and offer congratulations on what we know will be a project well done!