26 E PARK DRIVE REACHES MILESTONE

BDT has been busy recently! As you know, BDT expanded earlier this month by opening a second office in Columbus’ Discovery District. Concurrently, they’re in the works of constructing another office to relocate their Athens operation. That project is well underway, and hit a pretty exciting landmark this week in the process.

The office development project known as 26 E Park Drive, behind the Athens City Community Center, achieved a critical milestone.  Late in the morning on August 29, the last drops of concrete were pumped onto the elevated deck. Construction workers from Sugarcreek Concrete busied themselves leveling the composite floor slab with hand held and powered trowels.

In the next couple weeks the building frame will take shape over the raised slab, but progress wasn’t always as smooth. Principal Architect Nicholas Bittner explained that the city floodplain as well as still on-going litigation with FEMA floodway re-mapping led the design team to consider elevating the structure on concrete piers. Bittner added that the “soils under the structure are mostly silt and other debris that can’t bear the weight of even the one story structure without excessive excavation.” Instead of replacing soils, SMBH and GCI designed the building atop a steel frame connected to concrete piers that then transfer the load to auger cast piles as deep as 45 feet below ground.

The developer has worked with the City of Athens for over two years to finalize plans for the project. Overlooking the Hocking River  and adjacent the under construction Athens City Pool, the location also offers easy access to the East State Street shopping thoroughfare. Muntean Healthcare is the primary building tenant. They’re currently operating in a leased space on Columbus Road.

This concrete pour milestone was a sight to behold and the culmination of much planning and collaboration. Take a look at some pictures of the process below. You can see a video of some of the process on BDT’s social media platforms. More milestones about the process will be shared here on the blog, so stay tuned for the latest.

BDT plans to relocate their Athens location to 26 E Park upon completion in early 2018.