News

Last evening, NAIOP presented Grunley with the Award of Merit for the Drake Luxury Apartment Building Project in the Best Multi-Family Urban Residential category.

NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, is the leading organization for developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial, retail and mixed-use real estate. NAIOP DC/MD is the leading organization for those involved in all areas of commercial real estate in Washington, DC, Montgomery, Prince George's and Frederick Counties in Maryland. Founded in 1990 NAIOP DC/MD’s rapidly growing membership represents the region's leading firms involved in all aspects of the commercial real estate industry.

The Drake is a $27.4 million, 164,000-square-foot new luxury apartment building that introduced the “micro-units” housing concept to D.C.’s Dupont Circle. Micro-units are even more condensed than efficiency apartments and must provide optimum functionality, while allowing the tenant to live as comfortably as possible in a prime urban location. This new housing solution is redefining the housing structure and multi-family housing options.

However, the micro-units presented challenges for the project team, who worked under extreme limitations because of the condensed size. In order to ensure the design achieved its potential and addressed space challenges, a full-scale, complete mock-up of a Drake micro-unit was constructed inside a warehouse space off-site, and later on-site. The comprehensive model included everything from dishes in the cabinets to light fixtures, appliances, sofa, and paintings on the walls. Adjustments were made after extensive assessment of the model, which allowed the team to find the best solutions to the challenges of the limited space.

The success of this project was due to the ongoing communication between the project team and stakeholders, effective project management, excellent workmanship, as well as a unified commitment to safety, efficiency and owner satisfaction.