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 News Archive  WCS Construction 10th Anniversary March marked the 10th anniversary of WCS Construction, LLC. From its humble beginnings overseeing the maintenance of William C. Smith rental properties under Skip McMahon and Jim Anglemyer, the company expanded to become a construction management firm in its own right. Owned by Chris Smith, WCS Construction constructed many of Southeast Washington, DC residential renovations under President Jim Anglemyer's leadership, and diversified into new construction of both residential and commercial projects in the DC metro area. For over 10 years, WCS Construction's general contracting services have been instrumental to the success of numerous residential and commercial projects in and around the Washington, DC area. With dozens of awards and thousands of units completed, we now look forward to new high-rise commercial and residential projects on the horizon. WCS Construction wishes to acknowledge our highly experienced management team both in and off the field, including one of the best administration teams in the business that has assured the smooth running of operations. Thank you to our clients and subcontractors for sharing in what has been a successful decade of growth and industry achievement. 2 M Street Moves Forward  After a successful preconstruction and value engineering effort, WCS Construction's proactive efforts have led to the early start of on-site preconstruction activities. Dry utility work is underway to provide temporary power for the project, utilizing permanent PEPCO infrastructure and to clear street lighting conduit work in advance of the official July, 2011 ground breaking. Sheeting, shoring and underpinning designs are in permit review, dewatering designs are complete and the concrete subcontract has been awarded to Miller and Long with release of reinforcing steel detailing. The start of this major 314 unit, new concrete high-rise apartment building, represents another successful partnered effort between the William C. Smith & Company, the DC Housing Authority, HUD and WCS Construction.Developed by the William C. Smith & Company and designed by Eric Colbert & Associates, the 2 M Street project will comprise 389,900 SF contained in a 12-story concrete super structure, clad with masonry, decorative metals and soaring full height windows. The building is set atop a 75,000 SF, 2-story, 184 space below grade parking garage, which will feature an 8,000 sf on-garage structure courtyard. Amenities abound in this Class A, LEED Gold project featuring a 75' roof top swimming pool, roof top party room, extensive green roof areas including raised planters and meandering tenant accessible walk ways to enjoy the lush roof top landscaping and city views. The ground level amenities include a 2-story lobby, club room with bar and billiards, theater, indoor ˝ basketball court and a spiraled staircase access to a 2nd floor, 1,200 sf fitness facility. A business center café, kid's activity room, conference room, separate lounge area, plus 6,000 sf of retail space is all included in the plan for future resident "at-home" convenience. Proximity to Capitol Hill and nearby metro stations highlight the appeal of this urban community project. Imbedded in the shell of the project plan are nine, two-story, 3-bedroom townhouse units. WCS Construction goals will include significant CBE/LSDBE Subcontractor participation and proactive Community Neighborhood Employment Plans. With preconstruction planning activities actively in progress, goal occupancy 24 months after the start of the 28 month project is anticipated. Upcoming Preconstruction Projects Square 737  Located on H Street SE and I Street SE off New Jersey Ave., Washington, DC. Square 737 will be a residential new construction project consisting of 427 units with 13 stories above-grade and three levels of underground parking. This project is being developed by William C. Smith & Company. The site development includes relocating an existing 50' deep sewer, and redeveloping H Street and I Street to connect to New Jersey Ave. We are currently working with utility and site contractors. This will start September 2011 with construction to start March of 2012. The 427 units planned for the first phase are only the beginning of a project with a projected 1,200 units total. Designed by Esocoff & Associates Architects, Square 737 will take advantage of the Washington, DC cityscape with a beautiful view of the Capitol and Washington Monument. The project has 33,000 SF of amenities and retail on the ground floor. Amenities include an indoor swimming pool, spa, fitness room, theater, club room, indoor garden suite room and a rooftop swimming pool. Skyland Town Center  Located on Alabama Avenue and Good Hope Road SE, Washington, DC, the Skyland Town Center will feature retail on the ground floor with three and four story residential units above. The development team includes Rappaport Companies, William C. Smith & Co., Harrison-Malone Development, Washington East Foundation and Marshall Heights Community Development Organization. The project will include 475 units and 20 townhouse units with structured and ground level parking for nearly 1,800 parking spaces. Designed by Torti Gallas and Partners, this $106 million project is expected to start in 2013.Lockridge Baseball Field Opening  When not playing on their home field, the Barry Farm Beavers will use the newly renovated Lockridge Baseball Field at Mississippi Ave and Wheeler Road in Southeast. DC Mayor Vincent Gray; Wanda Lockridge; UBF President Barry Lenoir; Chris Smith of William C. Smith Co.; two Beaver coaches; Jesus Aguirre, director of DC Department of Parks and Recreation; and Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry gathered at home base following the ballpark's ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, April 15th. In less than 45 days from approved permit to dedication, WCS Construction enlisted several key subcontractors to turn an underused ill-draining open field into a class A baseball field for the community. This philanthropic endeavor included extensive grading and soil import, asphalt trails, concrete pads with bleaches and benchers, a mow strip at the fence lines, 130,000 square feet of sod, new water and electrical service for the field irrigation system, and two bio swales with storm drainage. DC Mayor Vincent Gray and Wanda Lockridge, wife of the late William Lockridge, unveiled a plaque marking the new baseball field named in Lockridge's honor. The City Homes at Sheridan Station  The City Homes at Sheridan Station (formerly B Townhomes) is scheduled to break ground the first week in May. The first building consists of 14 (2 over 2's) town house condos of a 54 unit phase one. The first condo units will be available in November. This is just the beginning of a multiple phase project consisting of over 500 units. This multi million dollar project is developed by William C. Smith & Co and designed by SK&I Architectural Design Group.Park Vista Apartments Complete  WCS Construction is pleased to announce that the renovations of Park Vista Apartments are complete, one and a half months ahead of schedule. The Park Vista development included the conversion of a 78 unit apartment project into an 83 unit apartment project, including a rental office. Park Vista was constructed in 1948 and is made up of three clusters of building with 15 stairwells total. These buildings are brick and concrete block construction with supporting steel columns, beams and wood roofs. After the completion of the total gut demolition and abatement of all asbestos and lead materials, Park Vista was transformed into a contemporary apartment community. The units now offer all new components and increased interior space created by extensive additions to many of the buildings. The rental office was renovated and five new units were created in the basement space. The project contains six accessible units. The project is a breath of fresh air to an often neglected Ward 8 neighborhood, and filled up with tenants as fast as we could turn them over to Property Management. WCS Construction Garners More Awards and a Presidential Citation2010 marks another successful year for WCS Construction. In September we received two Awards from the Associated Builders and Contractors Metro Washington Chapter. We are proud to announce the following projects that received recognition in October:
The Solomon G. Brown's focal point is its third floor Chapel. This room, with 15 to 20-foot ceilings, included an art translucent PVC stretch ceiling that sloped in four directions. The ceiling also included a state of the art light and sound system with back lighting above the ceiling, illuminating the Chapel itself. The final effect was beautiful and spiritual. The Delta Associates 14th Annual Apartment and Condominium Industry Awards for Excellence bestowed the honor of its Best Mid-Atlantic Low-Rise Apartment Community upon The Reserve at Tysons Corner. Delta Associates is the leading multi-family research and advisory firm in the nation. The Reserve at Tysons Corner is owned and managed by Simpson Housing LLP and designed by SK&I Architectural Design Group. The four-story wood-frame over two-story podium parking garage follows in the model of success of Avera Station, headed by the same award winning WCS Construction project management team: Jim Anglemyer, Dave Kutchma and Chris Akkerman. The $50 million dollar, 267 unit project was completed in December 2009 in just 20 months, two months ahead of the GMP Contract Schedule and with cost savings returned to the Owner in excess of $2.4M. The Reserve recently won the ABC's Award of Excellence, followed by a 2010 Washington Contractor Award for the category of New Construction under $75 million. The awards are held annually by the Associated General Contractors of DC. This year the event was held at Lincoln Theatre, Washington DC, on October 6th. Also recognized was 801 N. Capitol Street Lobby Renovation for the category of Renovation and Restoration under $75 million. This also marks the project's second award, following an Associated Builders and Contractors Excellence Award last month. The building at 801 N Capitol Street Lobby was a commercial interior renovation designed by Gensler for Cassidy & Turley. It was previously occupied by the Department of Housing and Community Development of the District of Columbia government. At the end of the renovation, the footprint of the lobby was doubled, including the 10-feet high ceiling, which was raised by two feet from the existing ceiling elevation. Page 2
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