There have been a lot of changes at the intersection of Shop Tysons Boulevard and the Westpark Bridge. Other than sporadic and unmarked closings of the road, which has annoyed me on a few mornings, construction crews have been busy placing the glass facade on the office tower as well as preparing the second floor plaza which will deck over what used to be a surface parking lot. The glass facade of the office tower is nothing spectacular, though the selection of the elongated and thinner panes does provide a unique look to the building.
The two colors of window panes might look like a mistake but it is actually how the building is meant to look. Ultimately one set of windows will appear projected in front of the other, making it appear as if someone placed a shell over the original building.
I’m a lot more interested in when the new hotel and residential tower, which will rise another 10 stories above the office building, will begin construction. Currently the construction activities have been focused on getting the office building complete (due to tenant lease agreements for 2014) as well as completing the plaza that connects the metro bridge to the new buildings and mall above street level. Structurally, any of the building foundation elements for the residential building must be in place at this time, as it would not be possible to construct the piles once the plaza is in place.
It might however be possible to construct the hotel, formerly the surface parking lot in front of Neisha Thai, after completion of the plaza because of the configuration of the decking and the location of the future building. As of right now, it appears that Macerich and Harvey Cleary (contractor) are attempting to build the whole community all at once to simplify phasing and reduce the ultimate cost. I suspect the office and plaza will be complete by mid-2014 with the hotel and residential lagging behind for final occupancy into late 2015.