OWNER & DEVELOPER: Acquest - New Jersey LLC, Bloomfield Hills, MI
ARCHITECT: JVA (Ford Farewell Mills & Gatsch Architects, Princeton), NJ
DESIGN ARCHITECT: JVA (Johnson Jones), Princeton, NJ
INTERIOR DESIGNER: CUH2A Inc., Princeton, NJ
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER (HOTEL & CONFERENCE CENTER): Harman, Cagley & Associates Inc. of King of Prussia, Pa.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER (PARKING STRUCTURE): Carl Walker Inc., Haddon Heights, NJ
MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING ENGINEER: Giovanetti Shulman Associates, Drexel Hill, Pa.
ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR: Kleinknecht Electric Co., Fairfield, NJ
PLUMBING CONTRACTOR: B. Trematore Plumbing & Heating, Fairfield, NJ
EARTHWORK CONTACTOR: Interstate Industrial Corp., Clifton, NJ
AUGER CAST PILE CONTRACTOR: Berkel & Co. Contractors Inc., Pasadena, Md.
MASONRY CONTRACTOR: Davis Giovinazzo Construction Co., Spring House, Pa.
DRYWALL, CEILING AND CARPENTRY CONTRACTOR: Interstate Drywall Corp., Clifton, NJ.
CONSULTANT: Zeiger Enterprises, Trenton, NJ
HOTEL OPERATOR: Marriott Corp., Washington, DC
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Turner Construction Co. of Somerset, NJ

"Location, Location, Location" is a well-known credo in real estate. The location of a project, however, can present high hurdles for the construction team before a project is ever completed.

The development team for the $38.5 million Marriott Conference Hotel at Lafayette Yard in Trenton, N.J., was presented with such challenges - challenges that included being next to a war memorial, an historic district and a creek. And the design also had to go through a landmark approval process.

Outreach also became an important part of this project because the project was the creation of a public-private not-for-profit organization, Lafayette Yard. As a result, the community was involved in the utilization of manpower, vendors and subcontractors.

In addition, the site turned out to be a brownfield as well as an archeologically rich historic property with important 18th Century and 19th Century mills on it. In one case, the 18th Century mill could not be disturbed, while foundations from a number of 19th Century mills forced the construction team to do "workarounds." In other cases, soil had to be removed and recompacted so piles could be driven because the land is a flood plane. As a result, a decision was made to use slab on grade foundations. It also resulted in the state setting a higher standard for the flood plane - 500 years instead of 100 years - because of its size.

The solution to the flood plane was a two-part foundation. One part includes a liner installed on grade, while the second part, the foundation for the garage, serves as a cap, protecting an area considered part of the brownfield. The cap also prevents groundwater from leaching and getting into the groundwater system.

In addition, the Assunpink Creek is located on the south side of the site, adjacent to it. The challenge was to address the nonurban side of the site. The solution was to create a courtyard where the hotel lobby could spill out on to it and the restaurant from the conference center.
The facility was designed to be very urban on Lafayette Street, but the south side of the site is contiguous to the creek and the river and as a result, there is a more picturesque landscape. Thus, there are two environments in the same building, respecting both sides of the site.

The project features two framing systems. The hotel features prestressed, precast, hollow-core concrete plank, which is supported on reinforced masonry load bearing walls. The load-bearing walls go down to a foundation system of pile caps and grade beams on auger cast piles. To provide for atrium space at the ground floor, structural transfer beams had to be introduced to provide clear spans. This system features unusually high 75-ft. masonry walls.

The conference center has a separate framing system made of structural steel with composite beams and slab on metal deck. The foundations for the conference center are also auger cast piles with grade beams. The reason for this type of foundation system was the result of poor soil conditions in some areas of the site.

Perhaps the project team's most difficult task was how to ensure the design and construction of the project without exhausting the owner's financial resources given the fact that the property was contaminated. The subsurface conditions required extensive analysis for the foundation systems used because of unsuitable soil conditions for bearing capacity. The solution was to use a combination of caissons and piles for a cost-effective foundation.

The jury called this a difficult project whose team embraced the community, its vendors, small business enterprise, women business enterprise and minority business enterprise contractors and the concept of adaptive reuse of a brownfield site in the heart of a major metropolitan municipality.