Marina Tower

Morgantown, WV

 

Owner: Platinum Properties, LLC

Completed: 2008

Cost: $10 Million

Size: 90,000 Square Feet

Contractor: The March Westin Company

This project is an eight-story office building with retail / dining elements on the first level located along the rail trail in Morgantown’s Wharf District.  Situated between the Jackson Kelly Building and the Waterfront Parking Garage, Marina Tower is the sixth addition to the Waterfront Master Plan.

 

The desire was to create a new Class A office building that fit into the context of the historic Waterfront District.  The solution was to create a façade which responded to the district with portrait, punched windows, and brick walls.  These materials, proportions, and forms reflect the character of area.  Visual interest was added by introducing contrasting brick colors and accentuating the corners of the building.  This type of treatment did not add much cost or increase the project schedule.

 

There are multiple tenants in this building.  Some occupy the whole floors such as the West Virginia University Administration which occupies two floors, while others, such as Federal Government tenant Representative Mollohan’s Office, only occupy 933 SF of space.  Some Federal Government tenants have sensitive documents like the 6,362 SF United States Census Bureau Office Suite.  Because of these differing requirements, the core and shell of the building had to be flexible enough to handle different size suites, but also the circulation path had to be able to be easily secured.  Additionally, because of its urban setting the construction staging area was quite limited and extra care had to be taken to work on the tight site.