Development News

Wonder Bread Factory renovations almost complete

Elevation - Washington D.C. Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Renovations are nearly complete at 641 S Street NW, the old Wonder Bread factory, and potential tenants are in talks to move in, says Thomas Schneck, Douglas Development’s sales and marketing manager.

“Renovations will be finished in June,” says Schneck. “And we’re almost done with the exterior. The pretty touches with landscaping are not done, but the upper level windows are all in and the only thing missing are the first- and basement-level windows now.”

The windows all had to be custom-built on-site, says Schneck, because each window was a different size. But even more remarkable than the floor-to-ceiling windows visible from the outside, are the changes Douglas Development and R2Land OTJ architects had to contend with inside the building.

“We were forced to remove everything—even put in new floors,” says Schneck. “Because of the severe roof damage, over the years water got in and vegetation was literally growing on the wooden floors. We completely cored the whole thing.”

The four-story building now has the outside walls, but inside it is a total open floor plan on every level. Depending on who signs the lease and when, Douglas Development could help construct in the interior walls, but so far the company hasn’t crossed that bridge.

The 98,000 square foot mixed-use building was reported to have their entire third floor—20,678 square feet of space—leased to furniture consultancy group WorkSpaces LLC, as originally reported by the Washington Business Journal last June. However, WorkSpaces has since filed bankruptcy and so there are no set tenants for the building.

One thing that has remained constant are the 27 underground parking spaces.

The Wonder Bread Factory was originally a three-story building built sometime between 1900 to 1920 as the Dorsh’s White Cross Bakery. Wonder Bread and Hostess Cake producer Continental Baking Co. then bought the building in 1936. The building was closed in the 1980s and has since been vacant.

McNulty divulges plans for "palace of fermentation" in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood

Fresh Water - Cleveland Thursday, April 04, 2013

Sam McNulty has the best kind of problem an owner can have; he's selling so much beer at Market Garden Brewery and NanoBrew in Ohio City that he can hardly keep up with demand. Selling kegs to patrons or restaurants that want to carry popular varieties like Pearl Street Wheat or CitroMax IPA is out of the question.

McNulty and his partners expect to solve their space crunch by early next year with the redevelopment of the Market Culinary Building, a 43,000-square-foot warehouse at W. 24th Street and Bridge Avenue. McNulty has taken to calling the place the "palace of fermentation."

After purchasing the building last year for $800,000, McNulty, brewmaster Andy Tveekram and partners Mike Foran and Mark Priemer will spend an undisclosed sum rehabbing it into a hub for beermaking, cheesemaking, charcuterie, distilling, kombucha and other types of fermentation. They'll offer classes and tours from beermaking to sausage making to butchering whole, pasture-raised animals.

"Bar Cento was the first restaurant in the state to serve farm-raised venison," explains McNulty. "We had a big coming-out party for venison. We had a whole deer sitting on the bartop, and Chef Lambert did a demonstration of how to break down a whole animal. That event sold out within two hours of listing tickets for sale."

"People are very interested in artisanal food, who’s making it," he adds. "They want to know it’s local, fresh, and the animals are raised, harvested humanely."

The building, which sits on an acre of land, will solve the beermaking problem and then some -- the large space offers room to grow. McNulty says the foursome also plans to open a retail shop sometime next year to sell homemade products.

"We'll sell charcuterie, cheese, fresh eggs," he says. "Everything we put out will be on a very boutique level. We'll pick out four to six recipes we've perfected at Market Garden and then make them to distribute to restaurants in the area."

The point is to complement the West Side Market, which McNulty wholeheartedly supports but feels needs to boost local products and update its hours. "At one point we considered buying a stand, but we didn't want to limit ourselves to the impractical hours the market keeps. We'll be open on days the market isn't."

Irish graffiti artist Maser creates mural in Cincinnati neighborhood

Soapbox - Cincinnati Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Final Friday is going international this month with a kick-off event for "Get Up," a dynamic mural fashioned by world-renowned graffiti artist Maser. The Cincinnati piece is the second of a series of inspirational public art installations that Maser is creating across the United States.

The colorful mural features figures that are pushing and pulling each other out of situations in which they've been mired, explains Andrew Salzbrun, managing partner at AGAR. The Over-the-Rhine based company, which creates authentic "immersive experiences" between brands and consumers, brought Maser to Cincinnati.

Maser and AGAR first connected during a project they worked on together, a skateboard park in Bentonville, Ark. As the company found out more about Maser and his work, they thought he would make a great addition to Cincinnati's public art culture.

"This piece is about positive social messaging," says Salzbrun. "It's about grabbing one's neighbor or peer and pulling them up out of a bad a situation. That situation could be debt, it could be addiction, it could be poverty. The figures are hoisting each other, and striving to get each other out of the bad situation."

Maser began creating the mural in mid-March. It's on a wall in the Pendleton neighborhood at 522 E. 12th St. It's at the intersection of 12th, Pendleton and Reading. The mural was filled in with primer and finished in spray paint.

The mural will officially be unveiled this Friday as part of Pendelton's Final Friday. Dubbed "An Urban Ballyhoo of Artistic Expression," the free reception will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. in the warehouse next door to the mural. Inside, Maser will be showcasing additional art installations, and live music will be provided by Archer’s Paradox, Black Signal and DJ Clockwork.

“Maser is not only shedding a positive light on graffiti,” says Josh Heuser, owner of AGAR. “He is inspiring and motivating people through his unique art style.”

Maser has been creating art across the globe since 1995. You can see his work in Austria, Belgium, Copenhagen, Germany, Holland, London, Prague, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, as well as his birthplace—Ireland. Maser has studied fine art and achieved a qualification in Design Communication. Among his many achievements, he has been awarded with a membership to the International Society of Typographic Designers.

By Feoshia H. Davis
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ZipPitt plans to run zip line from Mount Washington to North Shore

Pop City - Pittsburgh Friday, February 08, 2013

Adam Young is one step closer to flying from Mount Washington to the North Shore. The Carnegie resident is proposing a zip line that would sail from near the Duquesne Incline to the Carnegie Science Center.

ZipPitt, as the project is called, was awarded a $1,000 Awesome Pittsburgh grant. The organization has also helped Young with strategizing and advising on how to make this dream of flight a reality.

"We think it will be pretty amazing taking in the view from that perspective," Young says. "I think it would be great for the residents and people visiting Pittsburgh to immerse themselves into the essence of the cityscape."

The half-mile proposed zip line would cross the Ohio River at 50 mph and with a 400 foot vertical drop. Young will use the grant funds to bring a national zip line company to Pittsburgh to conduct a feasability study.

Young says the project has verbal arrangements with property owners at the proposed take-off and landing sites. A landing platform would be constructed at the North Shore location with enough height to prevent interference with river traffic.

ZipPitt still needs approvals and permits from the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Young says currently the only urban zip line in the United States is in Las Vegas, where for five blocks riders sail between buildings in that city’s downtown skyline.

ZipPitt would cost customers approximately $30 to ride. Young believes it would of interest to city visitors, particularly those riding bikes or renting kayaks near other North Shore attractions, as well as city residents.

Awesome Pittsburgh, which awarded its most recent grant to ZipPitt, is a local chapter of the Awesome Foundation, whose goal it is to forward the "interest of Awesomeness" with $1,000 micro grants.

By Andrew Moore. This story originally appeared in Pop City on Feb. 6, 2013.

Embassy of France embarks on green roof project

Elevation DC - Washington, D.C. Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Embassy of France has taken the first steps toward installing a green roof on the largest of its three buildings in Georgetown, deputy press counselor Dana Purcarescu says.

The Embassy had the plugs for the 10,000-square-foot roof installed in December. In March, when the weather is warmer, the plant cuttings will be added. It will be at least a year before the plants have grown to their full sizes.

Ultimately, "we are expecting a 'prairie' look," Purcarescu says in an email.

The Embassy decided to install its green roof after contemplating a number of sustainability measures. A green roof turned out to be one of the most feasible.

Green roofs cool the interior of a building by using living, growing plants to absorb heat; the plants' roots also reduce stormwater runoff.

The project's expected impact is difficult to quantify, Purcarescu says, as the Embassy is undertaking a number of other energy-saving projects simultaneously, such as improving the four-decades-old building's insulation. Therefore, it won't be easy to identify which of the energy-saving measures contributed to exactly what -- however, Purcarescu said in a phone interview, at minimum the roof should lower interior temperatures by a few degrees Celsius, which in itself is enough to break even on the cost of the roof. (The Embassy spent $128,000 on installation, but a portion was covered by the Anacostia Watershed Society.)

The plants will also cut the maintenance needed on the roof in half. "Currently refurbishments take place every 20 years, and cost $240,000," Purcarescu says.

By Rachel Kaufman. This story originally appeared in Elevation DC on Jan. 17, 2013.

Innovative public art comes to the Delaware River waterfront

Flying Kite - Philadelphia Monday, December 10, 2012

As part of the ongoing effort to re-imagine the Delaware River waterfront as a regional destination, the City of Philadelphia's Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy is bringing a large-scale, interactive art installation to the Race Street Pier. Thanks to a grant from the national creative placemaking accelerator ArtPlace, the installation—tentatively dubbed NET—is set to open to the public next summer.

"The idea is a series of interconnected nets that people can literally climb into and experience the waterfront from a suspended location," explains Margot Berg, Public Art Director for the City of Philadelphia. "It’s kind of like a public hammock space."

The city is working with Numen/For Use, a Croatian-Austrian design collective, to create the art piece at the Pier. "Our office was familiar with their work and thought it would be appealing to work with them,” explains Berg. "They’ve never done an installation piece outside or in the United States and were looking for such an opportunity. So they were on board with the idea."

A big part of the project's appeal was its location on the Race Street Pier and the waterfront in general. "The waterfront is a place where a lot of planning attention is being funneled—where the City is trying to connect people to the place,” says Berg. "NET will serve as a way for people to experience the waterfront in a new way and make them want to come back over and over."

Berg is hopeful that NET, in conjunction with the new headquarters of the Live Arts/Philly Fringe across the street and the nearby “Race Street Connector” public art piece, will create a ripple effect of investment along the waterfront. "The idea is to capitalize on the momentum in the area and show how art and culture can do that," she adds.

Berg and the artists, in conjunction with the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, are still finalizing details and ironing out the assembly logistics for the massive installation (a 30-square-foot cube). The team plans for a June 2013 unveiling and a three month-long exhibition.

Source: Margot Berg, Public Art Director for the City of Philadelphia

Writer: Greg Meckstroth

This story originally appeared in Flying Kite on Nov. 27, 2012.

Google Canada moves into some new and extraordinary digs

Yonge Street - Toronto Monday, December 10, 2012

Google Canada's got some new digs.

As of last month, Google Canada's Toronto office moved from its rather inauspicious space in the Dundas Square Cineplex building to 89,000 square feet on five floors of a stately Peter Dickinson tower on Richmond Street West, just behind the opera house.

There have for years been stories out of Mountain View, California of Google's wonderful HQ with its over-the-top amenities, and now, it seems, Google Canada's decided it worth following suit.

I took a tour of the place last week with Aaron Brindle, Google Canada's communications manager. It's not quite finished yet— there are still some cartographically themed graphics to go into some stairwells, and one floor is still entirely unoccupied, though it's fully furnished.

But they do have a DJ room. And a jam room, where employees can use the full complement of instruments and gear to play and even record. Also, there's food—lots of it.

"I don't think any employee is ever more than 150 feet away from food," Brindle said. Walking down the hallways you run into jars of candy, freezers of ice cream, the occasional mini-kitchen, all in addition to the main dining room, where meals prepared by Google's chef are served five days a week.

It's almost as if Google wanted people to have something to write about when they opened.

There are also more obviously productive spaces, like the 42 conference, phone or "huddle" rooms sprinkled about the place.

Carpets are made from salvaged fishnets, and the walls are lined with reclaimed wood, all of which was designed and executed by Google in consultation with HOK.

Writer: Bert Archer

Source: Aaron Brindle

This story originally appeared in Yonge Street on Dec. 5, 2012.

Bradenton company ups employee educational support

83 Degrees - Tampa Monday, December 10, 2012

Many businesses value educational attainment and appreciate the impact on the local economy. Bradenton IT support and consulting firm United Systems Computer Group not only recognizes the external benefits, but takes it one step further to integrate it into the company culture.

Now in its eighth year of business, the company delivers IT support services to small- and medium-sized businesses in the Tampa Bay region. The company is growing and thriving in a down economy, something they attribute, in part, to the value placed on employee educational attainment.

"Education is paramount to our success,'' says David Spire, president and CEO of United Systems Computer Group.

In addition to the typical tuition reimbursement, the company takes it a step further by providing paid time off for employees to study. They also have an on-site lab where employees can take a study break during the work day. Education is also an integral part of each employee's individual strategic plan.

In a world where long work hours are encouraged, the company truly supports work/life balance by telling employees to go home if they're working too long. Spire has even been known to pay for an employee to go on a date with his wife. "I don’t care if you like me, as long as your wife likes me,'' jokes Spire.

Support from the business community is essential to increasing educational attainment in the region, a goal of the Graduate Tampa Bay initiative launched in March of this year in conjunction with the Talent Dividend. A 1 percent increase in the number of Tampa Bay residents with college degrees would result in an additional $3 billion for the region in the form of increased productivity, innovation and social benefits.

A perpetual learner himself, Spire is currently pursuing an MBA degree at Webster University's Sarasota campus.

"I'm the champion for my people,'' says Spire. "If I make their existence in the organization solid and enjoyable, they're going to take that out to our clients. Our clients are happy, and that's based on the happiness of our staff.''

Writer: Megan Hendricks

Source: David Spire, United Systems Computer Group

This story originally appeared in 83 Degrees on Dec. 4, 2012.

World Street Kitchen expands food truck into bricks-and-mortar location

The Line - Minneapolis Monday, December 10, 2012

After mulling over a street food restaurant concept, several years ago brothers Saed and Sameh Wadi, owners of the Saffron Restaurant & Lounge in Minneapolis, decided to start out with a World Street Kitchen food truck.

Local legislation had only just changed to allow for food trucks. “We jumped right on it,” Sameh says. “What better way to test the market for street food than on the street?”

World Street Kitchen, which features a seasonal menu of foods from street carts around the world--with a twist--was one of the city’s first food trucks, he adds.

It wasn’t long before the Wadis returned to the idea of a physical restaurant. They looked for a location that would complement the food truck, not compete with it.

Last week they opened a bricks-and-mortar version of the restaurant in Minneapolis’s Uptown area, in The Greenleaf, a building that includes apartments and first-floor retail.

Uptown seemed ideal because “It has a neighborhood feel, but it also has a little nightlife,” he says. “That fits really well with the concept.”

Beginning with an empty shell, they buillt the space out over the last year. “We wanted it to have the same vibe as the food truck, and translate it into here.”

One way they accomplished that is by having counter service. That way, “There’s no separation between you and a guest. You don’t wait for a waiter.”

An open kitchen also lets people see the food being prepped. “It’s an instant connection with the people making the food,” Sameh says.

The dining room has an industrial feel, with recycled materials, wood and concrete, and metal accents. Many items have been repurposed.

Besides the big, bold flavors of many street foods, “There’s something about being curbside,” eating, he says.

He fondly remembers eating street food as a young boy. “Some of the best food I’ve had is from a rinky-dink stand where the person does one thing, and does it really well,” he says.

This kind of food is also a creative challenge to the chef. “While Saffron is a reflection of me as a chef, this is more of a reflection of me as a person,” he says. “This isn’t what I’m trained in, but it’s what I like to eat.”

Source: Sameh Wadi, World Street Kitchen

Writer: Anna Pratt

This story originally appeared in The Line on Dec. 5, 2012.