Worcester Eisenbrandt’s project at 655 New York Avenue was a major undertaking that involved the restoration and relocation of seventeen late 19th – early 20th century storefront properties in Washington D.C.’s Mount Vernon Square neighborhood. The historic buildings were moved and/or restored at New York Ave., 7th Street, and L Street in preparation for the construction of a new 11-story glass office building slated to fill the remainder of an entire city block.

WEI was contracted to restore or rebuild the masonry on the historic storefront buildings included in the project.

Two buildings were completely disassembled by WEI and rebuilt after the site was prepared.  Our staff cataloged and documented all of the buildings geometry and features through drawings and photographs.  Our masons then carefully dismantled each building, labeling and crating the components as they worked.  The crated materials were stored off site at WEI facilities for two years before being returned and entirely rebuilt on new foundations by our masonry crews.

Two other buildings – each four stories high – were scheduled to be transported within the construction site.  WEI repointed and stabilized the masonry before they were lifted and relocated, including temporary CMU walls in all openings.  After the move, WEI removed this temporary bracing and further restored the bases of the buildings to marry them onto their new foundations and appear as though they had always been in their new locations.

The brick and stone features of all seventeen buildings were cleaned, 100% repointed, and restored by WEI.  Some structures had to be modified to connect them to the new office building, provide ADA accessibility, and comply with current building code.

Some of the most challenging aspects of the masonry restoration were not only supplying and performing a large volume of work but also tracking the drastic differences in architectural styles and masonry materials, as well as mortar colors and textures.  No two buildings used the same type of brick.  Some replacements had to be custom made, cut to shape, stained, or even textured to match the existing masonry.  Each individual building was a project in itself, and WEI was committed to preserving each structure’s individual style and presence.