Design for Impact: Livingston Place at Southern Avenue

Through a highly collaborative effort with Dantes Partners, Gilbane Development Company, Carding Group, and HSCDC, Livingston Place at Southern Avenue is set to be completed in March 2021.

Construction of Livingston Place at Southern Avenue continues through Summer 2020

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Interior rendering of a residential room  at Livingston Place​

The "V" columns at the building entry have been completed

All four stories are complete using panelized wood frame construction.

Ward 8’s first affordable assisted living community will house seniors aged 60 and over. As an affordable residential facility, the 152 unit building will be home to residents whose incomes do not exceed 60 percent of local median earnings. As an under-represented building type in Washington DC, the design and construction of Livingston Place will provide Ward 8’s aging population with new opportunities for an enhanced quality of life. 

There is currently an extreme deficit of affordable assisted living beds within Washington DC. Seniors are typically more likely to relocate to neighboring counties such as Prince George's, Montgomery, or Arlington. This displacement of seniors from their original communities intensifies issues associated with aging such as isolation from one’s community and/or relatives. Fernando Bonilla-Verdesoto, Principal and Founder of Soto Architecture and Urban Design, explains that “ the construction of Livingston Place will provide residents with the opportunity to stay in the city without the need to go far from their support networks.”

Amenities at Livingston Place provide an added level of support for seniors: arts and crafts spaces, fitness and therapy rooms, game room, theater area, and a sizable landscaped courtyard allow residents to come together and remain active. Combined with its central location, this development offers “an alternative approach to placing seniors in an isolated, suburban environment. They are given more opportunity to engage with fellow residents, the neighborhood and the city itself,” explains Ken Filler, Project Coordinator at Soto.

Not only is there the opportunity for residents to join a fulfilling community, but the team is ensuring that the greater population of Ward 8 benefits from this new development as well. Corey Powell, Chief Operating Officer at Dantes Partners, recognizes the opportunity for enhanced economic growth once the doors of the facility officially open. “Livingston Place will create approximately 20 times more jobs than the typical independent living building. Particularly in an area within the city where the unemployment rate is so high, being able to provide permanent jobs and long-term careers in Ward 8 is quite exciting.” Especially as market uncertainty sweeps the nation due to the onset of COVID-19, reliable economic growth is welcome news in the area. 

The development, design, and construction teams for Livingston Place have held numerous sessions to establish innovative solutions directly related to COVID-19 and its effects on at-risk seniors. Fernando notes that some preventive measures have already been incorporated into the project design before the pandemic began. “The team has done an analysis of current design strategies and has realized that several CDC recommendations have already been implemented; this includes systems such as HVAC, no-touch valves, and automatic opening doors. We are currently working with the operator to take advantage of the existing design and ensure the safety of all future residents, staff, and visitors.”

As construction continues, COVID-19 implementations will be further implemented. In the meantime, the project’s construction team works diligently to ensure the efficiency of the construction timeline. 

Panelized wood framing has been used, allowing walls to be assembled offsite and then ready for installation once on site. This saves the team time and decreases waste. In less than a month, all four stories of wood frame construction were built. Construction has continued throughout the summer of 2020, despite a down-turn in the construction industry. Currently, the building massing is completely realized, with the exterior skin and windows not far behind.  

The Construction of Livingston Place is approximately 45% complete and will continue until the design is realized. The immense cooperation across all levels of the team, speaks to the novelty projects’ success thus far. Such collaborative efforts leave the team hopeful for the completion of Livingston Place in 2021.

Written by Schola Eburuoh, NOMAS, Student Intern