Former DC Army Garage Gets New Life

A Washington, D.C. adaptive reuse project is making creative use of a six-decade-old underground parking garage, reports Andy Peters for CoStar.

The Parks at Walter Reed development is a 67-acre redevelopment project transforming the former Walter Reed Army Hospital property now being developed by Hines, Urban Atlantic, Triden Development Group and Bridge Investment Group. According to Peters, “The Parks at Walter Reed developers decided to convert the existing Army-built garage as a way to limit the project's carbon emissions. One way to limit carbon is to renovate existing structures rather than build new, a process that often requires pouring thousands of cubic yards of new concrete.”

However, the garage was built differently than most, likely designed and reinforced to withstand a military air attack. “The designers later discovered that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers left behind only threadbare information about the garage’s building specs. Blueprints that were located were missing pages and some pages were mangled and illegible.” The developers used 3D laser scanning to scan the entire structure for accurate measurements, and engineers discovered a slew of irregularities.

To date, “About 70% of the residential segment of the project is complete and includes condos, apartments, townhouses, senior housing, assisted living and coliving units, according to a Hines spokeswoman.” The garage is now operational and can accommodate 840 vehicles.