Hill International to Manage Javits Federal Building Renovation

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

The U.S. General Service Administration believes the timing is right to renovate the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in downtown Manhattan, and that Hill International is the right construction firm to oversee the job. The GSA, the government agency that oversees owned and leased federal properties, has tapped Hill to provide construction management services for the first phase of the $73 million to $95 million revamp.

The Javits Building, consisting of interconnected towers, is certainly due for a makeover. Sited at 26 Federal Plaza, the property consists of a 45-story office structure built in 1967 and a 45-story annex constructed in 1977. For the renovation endeavor, time is of the essence–but not just because of the property’s age.

The clock is ticking loudly and Hill will have to move fast, as the GSA is scheduled to vacate much of the Javits Building when it relocates to 272,995 square feet square feet at One World Trade Center in spring of 2016. The move will provide a window for construction activity before the tenant agencies–including the FBI–consolidate area offices into a newly renovated Javits Building.

Hill’s contract, valued at approximately $3 million, is for a three-and-a-half year period. The firm will oversee such tasks as asbestos removal, mechanical and electrical system upgrades and fire/life safety improvements. But this isn’t Hill’s first federal rodeo. Most recently, the firm secured a GSA contract to supply construction management and commissioning services for the renovation of the William J. Green, Jr. Federal Building in Philadelphia.