June Construction Update

Now that we’ve put shovels in the ground, what’s happening? Well, the first piece of work that we needed to tackle before any demolition or new construction could begin was asbestos abatement. This took a bit longer than expected (the existing structure is both beautiful and often uncooperative), and a week-long waiting period followed to ensure that the interior environment was no longer hazardous after the abatement. This has been accomplished and we’re moving on with strategic interior demolition now to make way for the new plans. The next few weeks are going to include a lot of interior and horizontal work so it may not look like things are happening from the outside. The first few months of construction are going to include –

• Asbestos Abatement
• Interior Demolition
• Site Excavation
• Stormwater Retention and Site Utilities
• Retaining walls on the West and South sides
• Interior plumbing work on the existing structure
• New interior concrete slabs in certain areas
• Foundations for two new stories above

The new foundations include those for the elevator riser, as well as helical piers – deep foundations which will be inserted up to 30 feet underground to ensure that the weight of the new building bears on deeper soil. This prevents the building from settling.

All of this will set us up to lay the slab above the existing structure, on which the housing will sit.