Washington National Records Center
Washington National Records Center
Project location: Suitland, MD
Client: GSA/ National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Design/ Construction: 2008-2009
Projected Cost: $200-250 million
The Washington National Records Center (WNRC) is a two story building located at Suitland Federal Center (SFC) in Suitland, Maryland. The facility, constructed in 1967 on an approximately 23 acre site, is one of the largest records centers for documents maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and contains 798,139 rentable square feet. The building was in need of major repairs, estimated at +/- $75 million. NARA was also required to meet the revised Section 36 FAR Subpart K, “Facility Standards for Records Storage Facilities” on all existing and new facilities by October 2009.
In September 2008, GSA contracted with Nandinee Phookan Architects (NPA) and its team of consultants to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of relocating NARA within the defined area of consideration and analyze the financial implications of such an approach to GSA and NARA.
Nandinee Phookan Architects worked with Metropolitan Architects and Planners, Inc and their team of consultants:
- To understand NARA’s current and projected space needs and develop a Program of Requirements.
- Identify potential sites where NARA can relocate its WNRC facility.
- To develop construction costs for a new NARA facility using 15-high and 29-high storage shelving approaches and considering build-to-suit as well as existing warehouse facilities.
- To develop a financial analysis that provides comparative Net Present Values (NPV) for the options considered.
Illustrative sites were used to establish real estate cost factors for both existing warehouses and vacant sites meeting NARA's program requirements. Based on the cost estimates, financial analyses were conducted to evaluate the relative merits of each option.