Nassif Building
Encyclopedia
Constitution Center is an office building located at 400 7th Street
SW in Washington, D.C.
It is 140 feet (42.7 m) high and has 10 floors. Covering an entire city block, it is the largest privately owned office building in the District of Columbia. Current tenants include the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
.
project, the first in the capital district and one of the earliest such programs in the nation. In 1946, Congress passed the District of Columbia Redevelopment Act, which established the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA) and provided legal authority to clear land and funds to spur redevelopment in the capital. Congress also gave the National Capital Planning Commission
(NCPC) the authority to designate which land would be redeveloped, and how. The RLA was not funded, however, until passage of the Housing Act of 1949
. A 1950 study by the NCPC found that the small Southwest quarter of the city suffered from high concentrations of old and poorly maintained buildings, overcrowding, and threats to public health (such as lack of running indoor water, sewage systems, electricity, central heating, and indoor toilets). Competing visions for the redevelopment ranged from renovation to wholesale leveling of neighborhoods, but the latter view prevailed as more likely to qualify for federal funding. Original plans called for the demolition of almost all structures in Southwest Washington beginning in 1950, but legal challenges led to piecemeal razing of the area until the mid-1950s.
Issues surrounding the planning and construction of L'Enfant Plaza
(immediately to the west of the site) delayed construction of any buildings on the block until the late 1960s. In 1963, the RLA purchased the land from the Westminster Memorial Church, Fifth Baptist Church, and homeowners. The United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare wished to purchase the site for its new headquarters, but the RLA declined to sell the property. (The federal government does not pay taxes on land and structures it owns, and the RLA wanted a private owner who would add to the tax base.) The RLA attempted to sell the land on January 29, 1965, but there were no buyers.
The building was constructed pursuant to an agreement between the General Services Administration
(GSA) and Boston developer David Nassif, Sr. In July 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson
began planning to unite various disparate transportation agencies into a new United States Department of Transportation
. GSA (the property owner and manager for the U.S. federal government) began seeking to lease or build a structure to house the new agency in late 1965. Donald T. Kirwan, chief of GSA's leasing division, knew Nassif from a previous lease negotiation, and discussed with him the siting of a building and its size. Nassif approached the RLA on April 21, 1966, and asked to buy the newly razed block of land bounded by 6th, 7th, D, and E Streets SW. In May 1967, GSA sent a letter to Nassif advising him that it was likely to lease the entire structure he intended to build. The $5.9 million land purchase was finalized on October 30, 1967. The cost of the structure is unclear. On November 15, 1967, Nassif had secured a $39 million construction loan. But The Washington Post
pegged the cost of the building at $27 million in July 1968. The newspaper said in August 1970 that the cost of the structure was $26.5 million. The building was designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone, who also designed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
. On April 11, 1968, GSA leased the entire building from Nassif for 20 years for $98 million. John A. Volpe
Construction was the chief contractor.
Construction began in July 1968 (although it was delayed for a very short time when unionized ironworkers at the site went on strike
) and was completed in 1969. The main entrance faced 7th Street SW. It included a central courtyard (open to the sky) which featured a fountain, footpaths, benches, and landscaping. Four 15 feet (4.6 m) high arcades pierced the building in the center of the block on each side, creating access to the courtyard. The facade's vertical marble ribs were obtained from the same quarry near Carrara
, Italy
, that provided the marble for the Kennedy Center. The finished building had 10 floors, three basement floors, overhanging eaves, and 2500000 square feet (232,257.6 m²) of space (1019000 square feet (94,668.2 m²) of usable space). It was the largest privately owned office building in the city at the time.
Kirwan's contacts with Nassif later became the subject of a legal investigation. Kirwan not only shared inside information with Nassif about leasing plans of the GSA, he later invested in Nassif's D.C. business and became an officer in it. This relationship (Kirwan left GSA in December 1966, before the letter indicating intention to lease was set to Nassif), and GSA's irregular leasing of the building, became public knowledge in August 1970. An internal GSA audit was critical of the leasing process and the costs of the lease.
That same month, refinancing of the building was called into question. In the U.S., it is common business practice for the initial lender to provide an interim loan (the "construction loan") to build a building. The interim loan is then paid off by a second lender, who becomes the mortgage lender and receives payments from the building's owner. Riggs Bank
, a local D.C. bank, had provided the interim construction loan to Nassif. The New York City Employees Retirement System was to have paid off this construction loan. That payment was halted when the loan officer Nassif had dealt with was indicted for taking bribes
to approve loans. When the pension fund refused to provide the loan, Riggs Bank sued for payment and threatened to foreclose on the Nassif Building.
From 1969 until 2007, the Nassif Building served as the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The building was designed to have removable interior walls to permit easy reconfiguration of the interior space. In November 1970, the federal government exercised its powers of eminent domain
and seized control of the three-story basement parking garage from Nasif in order to provide inexpensive parking for DOT workers. Over the years, so many government workers complained of ailments while working in the structure that some believed it suffered from sick building syndrome
. David Nassif Associates, owner of the building, disputed these claims. However, when the Department of Transportation announced it would leave the building in 2000, the owners promised a $100 million renovation that included a new air ventilation and cleaning system as an inducement for the agency to stay. The owners also unsuccessfully sued the General Services Administration
in 1999 to force it to renew the federal lease on the building. The Department of Transportation completed their move out of the Nassif Building and into their new headquarters in June 2007.
The L'Enfant Plaza Metro station opened an escalator
entrance in the structure's north arcade on July 1, 1977. The entrance was one of two which opened that day (Metro Blue Line's opening day). The third entrance (inside the L'Enfant Promenade
underground shopping center at L'Enfant Plaza) opened in October 1977. In June 1992, Virginia Railway Express
opened the $1.1 million VRE L'Enfant Station
on Virginia Avenue SE (about a half block north of Constitution Center).
The renovation included some of the highest security features of any building in the D.C. area. They included a central and perimeter security system, closing of the central plaza of the building, which, along with other changes, increased its interior footage by 80000 square feet (7,432.2 m²), steel-jacketed underground parking garage columns capable of withstanding a powerful explosion, and six fully staffed security screening points. A 10000 square feet (929 m²) auditorium was added to the courtyard/plaza level. The security enhancements made the office building suitable for all federal agencies with the exception of the United States Department of Defense
. The 700000 square feet (65,032.1 m²) underground parking garage contains 1,500 spaces.
The exterior of the building was also radically changed. The celebrated key visual feature of the building, its exterior vertical white marble ribbing, was completely removed after it was found to be bowed from age and weather. Although this fundamentally changed the nature of Durrell's building, there was almost no public outcry. It was replaced by an energy-efficient, all-glass facade. Perhaps the most significant renovation feature was the structure's use of a chilled beam
HVAC
system, which uses chilled or heated water circulated in strategically placed columns in the interior space to cool and warm the building. To test the efficiency of the chilled beam technology, the system was installed in the penthouse of the building and tested for a full year. The architect agreed to use the system after the test outperformed specifications. The installation represented the first large-scale use of the chilled beam technology in the United States. Other energy-saving enhancements included motion and daylight detectors to turn lights off when not needed, and special exterior windows which automatically dim to prevent daytime heating. The building's ventilation system was also upgraded. The renovation left the structure with 1400000 square feet (130,064.3 m²) of interior space. The final cost of the renovation was pegged at $250 million.
Some aesthetic improvements were made as well. The building now features a 1 acre (0.404686 ha) park in its open-to-the-sky central courtyard. Most of the courtyard's concrete was removed and trees, shrubs, and flowers planted to absorb rainwater. The park, which is now no longer accessible by the public, also includes a very large granite abstract art
sculpture ("Legacy") by Richard Deutsch
. The sculpture is meant to reflect the original facade of the building by Edward Durrell Stone as well as the memory of David Nassif, Sr. and his son, David Nassif, Jr.. The L'Enfant Plaza Metro station still has an entrance under the building on D Street SW (although this entrance closed between October 2007 and July 2008 for the building's reconstruction). The renovation installed artwork by internationally-known artist Stephen Knapp
near this entrance, in which strong beams of light are passed through dyed glass to splay brightly colored patterns on the ceiling. The light sculpture, titled "Transformation", symbolizes the building's renovation and rebirth.
The Constitution Center is registered with the Green Building Council for Gold LEED Certification.
The renovated Constitution Center won two awards. The Mid-Atlantic Construction construction news Web site gave the building its "Project of the Year - Renovation/Restoration" accolade in December 2010. On March 25, 2011, the Washington Building Congress bestowed its 2011 WBC Craftsmanship Award on J.E. Richards, Inc. for excellence in workmanship in installing the power generation, distribution, and switchgear at Constitution Center.
and NASA
explored leasing all or part of it in 2009 and 2010, but chose not to do so. In August 2010, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) signed a lease for 900000 square feet (83,612.7 m²) of space at Constitution Center. The SEC planned to take occupancy in September 2011. In January 2011, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency agreed to lease the remaining space in the building.
7th Street (Washington, D.C.)
There are four north-south arteries in Washington, D.C. named Seventh Street that are differentiated by the quadrants of the city in which they are located. Historically, 7th Street has been a main north-south road in Washington, being the main route for travelers and farmers coming into the city...
SW in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
It is 140 feet (42.7 m) high and has 10 floors. Covering an entire city block, it is the largest privately owned office building in the District of Columbia. Current tenants include the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States...
and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a US federal agency established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all national banks and the federal branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States...
.
Original structure
In the 1950s, the U.S. Congress, then the governing institution of the District of Columbia, undertook the Southwest D.C. urban renewalUrban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
project, the first in the capital district and one of the earliest such programs in the nation. In 1946, Congress passed the District of Columbia Redevelopment Act, which established the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA) and provided legal authority to clear land and funds to spur redevelopment in the capital. Congress also gave the National Capital Planning Commission
National Capital Planning Commission
The National Capital Planning Commission is a U.S. government agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C. and the surrounding National Capital Region...
(NCPC) the authority to designate which land would be redeveloped, and how. The RLA was not funded, however, until passage of the Housing Act of 1949
Housing Act of 1949
The American Housing Act of 1949 was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing...
. A 1950 study by the NCPC found that the small Southwest quarter of the city suffered from high concentrations of old and poorly maintained buildings, overcrowding, and threats to public health (such as lack of running indoor water, sewage systems, electricity, central heating, and indoor toilets). Competing visions for the redevelopment ranged from renovation to wholesale leveling of neighborhoods, but the latter view prevailed as more likely to qualify for federal funding. Original plans called for the demolition of almost all structures in Southwest Washington beginning in 1950, but legal challenges led to piecemeal razing of the area until the mid-1950s.
Issues surrounding the planning and construction of L'Enfant Plaza
L'Enfant Plaza
L'Enfant Plaza is a complex of one governmental and three commercial buildings, as well as the "La Promenade" shopping mall, in the Southwest section of Washington, D.C. The plaza is located south of Independence Avenue SW between 12th and 9th Streets SW...
(immediately to the west of the site) delayed construction of any buildings on the block until the late 1960s. In 1963, the RLA purchased the land from the Westminster Memorial Church, Fifth Baptist Church, and homeowners. The United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare wished to purchase the site for its new headquarters, but the RLA declined to sell the property. (The federal government does not pay taxes on land and structures it owns, and the RLA wanted a private owner who would add to the tax base.) The RLA attempted to sell the land on January 29, 1965, but there were no buyers.
The building was constructed pursuant to an agreement between the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
(GSA) and Boston developer David Nassif, Sr. In July 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
began planning to unite various disparate transportation agencies into a new United States Department of Transportation
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
. GSA (the property owner and manager for the U.S. federal government) began seeking to lease or build a structure to house the new agency in late 1965. Donald T. Kirwan, chief of GSA's leasing division, knew Nassif from a previous lease negotiation, and discussed with him the siting of a building and its size. Nassif approached the RLA on April 21, 1966, and asked to buy the newly razed block of land bounded by 6th, 7th, D, and E Streets SW. In May 1967, GSA sent a letter to Nassif advising him that it was likely to lease the entire structure he intended to build. The $5.9 million land purchase was finalized on October 30, 1967. The cost of the structure is unclear. On November 15, 1967, Nassif had secured a $39 million construction loan. But The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
pegged the cost of the building at $27 million in July 1968. The newspaper said in August 1970 that the cost of the structure was $26.5 million. The building was designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone, who also designed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
. On April 11, 1968, GSA leased the entire building from Nassif for 20 years for $98 million. John A. Volpe
John A. Volpe
John Anthony Volpe was the 61st and 63rd Governor of Massachusetts and a U.S. Secretary of Transportation.-Early life and education:Volpe was born in 1908 in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He was the son of Italian immigrants Vito and Filomena , who had come from Abruzzo to Boston's North End in 1905;...
Construction was the chief contractor.
Construction began in July 1968 (although it was delayed for a very short time when unionized ironworkers at the site went on strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
) and was completed in 1969. The main entrance faced 7th Street SW. It included a central courtyard (open to the sky) which featured a fountain, footpaths, benches, and landscaping. Four 15 feet (4.6 m) high arcades pierced the building in the center of the block on each side, creating access to the courtyard. The facade's vertical marble ribs were obtained from the same quarry near Carrara
Carrara
Carrara is a city and comune in the province of Massa-Carrara , notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, that provided the marble for the Kennedy Center. The finished building had 10 floors, three basement floors, overhanging eaves, and 2500000 square feet (232,257.6 m²) of space (1019000 square feet (94,668.2 m²) of usable space). It was the largest privately owned office building in the city at the time.
Kirwan's contacts with Nassif later became the subject of a legal investigation. Kirwan not only shared inside information with Nassif about leasing plans of the GSA, he later invested in Nassif's D.C. business and became an officer in it. This relationship (Kirwan left GSA in December 1966, before the letter indicating intention to lease was set to Nassif), and GSA's irregular leasing of the building, became public knowledge in August 1970. An internal GSA audit was critical of the leasing process and the costs of the lease.
That same month, refinancing of the building was called into question. In the U.S., it is common business practice for the initial lender to provide an interim loan (the "construction loan") to build a building. The interim loan is then paid off by a second lender, who becomes the mortgage lender and receives payments from the building's owner. Riggs Bank
Riggs Bank
Riggs Bank was a Washington, D.C.-based commercial bank with branches located in the surrounding metropolitan area and offices around the world. For most of its history, it was the largest bank in the nation's capital. Riggs had been controlled by the Albritton family since the 1980s, but they lost...
, a local D.C. bank, had provided the interim construction loan to Nassif. The New York City Employees Retirement System was to have paid off this construction loan. That payment was halted when the loan officer Nassif had dealt with was indicted for taking bribes
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
to approve loans. When the pension fund refused to provide the loan, Riggs Bank sued for payment and threatened to foreclose on the Nassif Building.
From 1969 until 2007, the Nassif Building served as the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The building was designed to have removable interior walls to permit easy reconfiguration of the interior space. In November 1970, the federal government exercised its powers of eminent domain
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
and seized control of the three-story basement parking garage from Nasif in order to provide inexpensive parking for DOT workers. Over the years, so many government workers complained of ailments while working in the structure that some believed it suffered from sick building syndrome
Sick building syndrome
Sick building syndrome is a combination of ailments associated with an individual's place of work or residence. A 1984 World Health Organization report into the syndrome suggested up to 30% of new and remodeled buildings worldwide may be linked to symptoms of SBS...
. David Nassif Associates, owner of the building, disputed these claims. However, when the Department of Transportation announced it would leave the building in 2000, the owners promised a $100 million renovation that included a new air ventilation and cleaning system as an inducement for the agency to stay. The owners also unsuccessfully sued the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
in 1999 to force it to renew the federal lease on the building. The Department of Transportation completed their move out of the Nassif Building and into their new headquarters in June 2007.
The L'Enfant Plaza Metro station opened an escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
entrance in the structure's north arcade on July 1, 1977. The entrance was one of two which opened that day (Metro Blue Line's opening day). The third entrance (inside the L'Enfant Promenade
L'Enfant Plaza
L'Enfant Plaza is a complex of one governmental and three commercial buildings, as well as the "La Promenade" shopping mall, in the Southwest section of Washington, D.C. The plaza is located south of Independence Avenue SW between 12th and 9th Streets SW...
underground shopping center at L'Enfant Plaza) opened in October 1977. In June 1992, Virginia Railway Express
Virginia Railway Express
The Virginia Railway Express is a regional/ commuter rail service that connects the Northern Virginia suburbs to Union Station in Washington, D.C., via two lines: the Fredericksburg Line from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run/Airport station in Bristow,...
opened the $1.1 million VRE L'Enfant Station
L'Enfant (VRE station)
L'Enfant is a commuter rail station located between 6th and 7th streets in downtown Washington, D.C.. It is served by the Fredericksburg Line and Manassas Line on the Virginia Railway Express. Numerous Amtrak trains pass through this station on the express tracks without stopping...
on Virginia Avenue SE (about a half block north of Constitution Center).
Renovation
In 2006, Nassif Associates announced a $220 million renovation of the building and renamed it "Constitution Center". SmithGroup was the architectural firm overseeing the redesign, and Davis Construction oversaw the construction.The renovation included some of the highest security features of any building in the D.C. area. They included a central and perimeter security system, closing of the central plaza of the building, which, along with other changes, increased its interior footage by 80000 square feet (7,432.2 m²), steel-jacketed underground parking garage columns capable of withstanding a powerful explosion, and six fully staffed security screening points. A 10000 square feet (929 m²) auditorium was added to the courtyard/plaza level. The security enhancements made the office building suitable for all federal agencies with the exception of the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
. The 700000 square feet (65,032.1 m²) underground parking garage contains 1,500 spaces.
The exterior of the building was also radically changed. The celebrated key visual feature of the building, its exterior vertical white marble ribbing, was completely removed after it was found to be bowed from age and weather. Although this fundamentally changed the nature of Durrell's building, there was almost no public outcry. It was replaced by an energy-efficient, all-glass facade. Perhaps the most significant renovation feature was the structure's use of a chilled beam
Chilled beam
A chilled beam is a type of convection HVAC system designed to heat or cool large buildings. Pipes of water are passed through a "beam" suspended a short distance from the ceiling of a room. As the beam chills the air around it, the air becomes denser and falls to the floor...
HVAC
HVAC
HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...
system, which uses chilled or heated water circulated in strategically placed columns in the interior space to cool and warm the building. To test the efficiency of the chilled beam technology, the system was installed in the penthouse of the building and tested for a full year. The architect agreed to use the system after the test outperformed specifications. The installation represented the first large-scale use of the chilled beam technology in the United States. Other energy-saving enhancements included motion and daylight detectors to turn lights off when not needed, and special exterior windows which automatically dim to prevent daytime heating. The building's ventilation system was also upgraded. The renovation left the structure with 1400000 square feet (130,064.3 m²) of interior space. The final cost of the renovation was pegged at $250 million.
Some aesthetic improvements were made as well. The building now features a 1 acre (0.404686 ha) park in its open-to-the-sky central courtyard. Most of the courtyard's concrete was removed and trees, shrubs, and flowers planted to absorb rainwater. The park, which is now no longer accessible by the public, also includes a very large granite abstract art
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
sculpture ("Legacy") by Richard Deutsch
Richard Deutsch
Richard Deutsch is an American sculptor who works primarily in the Minimalist and Expressionist genres. Although his work ranges from small table-top pieces to multi-story sculptures, Deutsch "is well-known for his large-scale architectural and environmental projects."-Life and career:Deutsch was...
. The sculpture is meant to reflect the original facade of the building by Edward Durrell Stone as well as the memory of David Nassif, Sr. and his son, David Nassif, Jr.. The L'Enfant Plaza Metro station still has an entrance under the building on D Street SW (although this entrance closed between October 2007 and July 2008 for the building's reconstruction). The renovation installed artwork by internationally-known artist Stephen Knapp
Stephen Knapp
Stephen Knapp is an American artist best known for his use of the medium of lightpainting He has gained an international reputation for large-scale works of art held in museums, public, corporate, and private collections, which are executed in media as diverse as light, kiln-formed glass, metal,...
near this entrance, in which strong beams of light are passed through dyed glass to splay brightly colored patterns on the ceiling. The light sculpture, titled "Transformation", symbolizes the building's renovation and rebirth.
The Constitution Center is registered with the Green Building Council for Gold LEED Certification.
The renovated Constitution Center won two awards. The Mid-Atlantic Construction construction news Web site gave the building its "Project of the Year - Renovation/Restoration" accolade in December 2010. On March 25, 2011, the Washington Building Congress bestowed its 2011 WBC Craftsmanship Award on J.E. Richards, Inc. for excellence in workmanship in installing the power generation, distribution, and switchgear at Constitution Center.
Tenants
The late-2000s recession left the renovated building struggling to find tenants. It was empty for nearly two years after it was opened for occupancy in April 2009. Both the United States Department of Homeland SecurityUnited States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
and NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
explored leasing all or part of it in 2009 and 2010, but chose not to do so. In August 2010, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) signed a lease for 900000 square feet (83,612.7 m²) of space at Constitution Center. The SEC planned to take occupancy in September 2011. In January 2011, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency agreed to lease the remaining space in the building.