Navy Federal Credit Union’s expansion reaches “topping out” stage

Gilbane Building Co. celebrated a major milestone Wednesday at the site of the Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) headquarters project in Vienna with a “topping out” ceremony.  With the final beam (or its equivalent) placed atop the 244,000-square-foot structure, the Arlington-based construction company will now gear up for the next stage of an $88 million expansion that’s expected to add 600 jobs to the 3,500 jobs already provided by the credit union’s current facility.

That includes a pedestrian walkway connecting the new facility and a six-level, above ground parking garage with the existing campus. The project, designed by J3 Design Collective, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2017.

The parking structure will provide an additional 1,184 parking spaces to the NFCU campus. The new office building will initially house about 600 employees, with full capacity at 1,100 people.
When the office building is complete, it will have an open office floor plan and raised access floor system with the capability to re-arrange the floor and furniture layouts. This approach, according to Gilbane, provides flexibility based on the credit union’s evolving needs.

Since the corporate headquarters borders a residential area, the project also includes a green screen that will be installed on the open area portion of the parking garage to minimize disruptions to residences and pedestrians along the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (W&OD) trail.

“Gilbane is honored to be a part of the NFCU headquarters expansion, which will allow NFCU to continue to bring economic development to the region, ” Drew Mucci, the company’s senior vice president said in a statement.

With the employee roster growing to nearly 4,600 employees who will be coming to the campus daily, he noted that the parking structure is a key part of the project. “We are working to deliver the parking garage before the completion of the expansion to help alleviate parking issues.”

The ceremony was held at 11:30 a.m. and included representatives from Navy Federal Credit Union, J3 Design Collective, Walter L. Phillips, Structural Concepts Inc., Williams Notaro Associates, Mark G. Anderson Co. and prime contractor representatives.