Project
Jefferson Court is a 316,000 square foot, Class A property built in 1983. It consists of two eight story towers separated by large twin courtyards. When it was built, it was the largest Class A property in Georgetown. Retail tenants include a salon, delicatessen, a FedEx office and a travel agency.

Challenges
We assumed management of the property in February 1996. The property was 40% vacant and had just suffered a major flood as a result of the Potomac River overflowing its banks and filling three  levels of the garage with water. All of the HVAC, electrical systems and parking systems were under water. Our challenge was to manage the insurance loss, get the building leased and assume the responsibility of managing several major building improvement projects that had been started by the prior management firm.

Solutions/Results
We developed a Management Plan and presented it to the owner for approval. We initiated the plan by putting a very active tenant relations program in place to assist tenants throughout the reconstruction of the property. We provided portable heating for all tenants and met with them daily to give progress reports and assist with their losses. We convinced our insurance company to extend the time lost by the tenants to 10 days, double what their leases provided. The property was brought back to normal operation in less than three weeks, including the replacement of critical HVAC and electrical systems. Because of the efficiencies of the team, when the claim was finalized, the ownership was not subject to any expenditures. It should be noted that in September 1996 the Potomac River once again overflowed to the same degree as before. We devised a method of building a sandbag wall around the perimeter of Jefferson Court and absolutely no damage resulted from that flood.

As a result of the improvement projects, the building was 98% leased by year end. Fifteen years later we still manage and lease the building.