03-05-2014
Fowles of a Feather Party on McPherson Square (The Long and Hoot of It)
Beer and champagne were flowing on the evening of February 27th as we celebrated the opening of our new office on McPherson Square in Washington, DC. Nearly 200 clients, colleagues and friends of the firm dropped by our new third floor roost to toast our future, nibble hors d'oeuvres, and wish us well.
As my partner Dan Kaplan noted, "What a great event! Great vibe in the room; lots of friends of the firm; space looked great; and our colleagues from CO Architects were there to help us celebrate. All in all, there was strong sense of momentum for us, reflecting a dynamic firm going places in DC. We all have a lot to feel good about."
By mid-evening, as the space filled, Dan led us in a toast. He talked about the history of FXFOWLE in DC, which began at the "Big & Green" exhibition at the National Building Museum in 2003. He reminisced about how we were invited to exhibit 4 Times Square, which was considered the nation's first green skyscraper, and mentioned that a number of developers who attended the opening expressed a desire for more information about our firm. This resulted in our first study—an office building at Courthouse Plaza for the JBG Companies.
Dan thanked DC clients who had faith in us from the start, including the JBG Companies, JM Zell Partners, Vornado/Charles E. Smith, LCOR, Lincoln Property Company, SAIC, Meridian Group, St. James Group, Ballston BID, Studley, and Walton Development. He also thanked all the FXFOWLE partners—Bruce Fowle, Sylvia Smith, Tim Milam and myself—who were in DC to celebrate the opening. Managing Partner Guy Geier was unable to attend but got a special shout out from Dan, as did Sudhir Jambhekar and Heidi Blau who were in India on business, and John Schuyler who was also out of town. Finally, Dan recognized those who helped organize this great event—Brien McDaniel, Emily Alli, Kaz Adachi, Carol Hsiung, Lindsay Wright, Jeff Chan, Amanda Abel, Joe Pikiewicz, and our DC Office Manager Miriam Hood.
Dan then handed the program over to me. I noted that, "It's been said that L'Enfant was prophetic when he laid out Washington, DC in a radial pattern, as this is a city that seems to go around in circles." In keeping with this metaphor, I further stated, "Since FXFOWLE starting working here, ten years ago, we have been encircling the DC Metro area. In addition to projects in the District, we are now working around the beltway and expect to expand our reach beyond commercial and residential work and build our institutional and cultural efforts in the area. In fact, we are now participating on a team for a major regional transportation project; and we were recently shortlisted for a large lab project with our joint venture partner, CO Architects, at the University of Maryland."
Beyond our work, I also acknowledged the people who have helped open this office—my colleagues Ken Brown, Joe Pikiewicz, Stephen Kim, Lauren Gluck, Erik Maso, John Loughran, Stefan Dallendorfer, and Miriam Hood. I then thanked our clients, colleagues and guests for joining us to help celebrate our new space.
Lastly, I reminded our friends that, "When we moved onto the square in November, we were joined by another fowl, a snowy owl, who also decided to make McPherson Square his home." Sadly, I reported that, "Two weeks ago, our owl was hit by a bus, but he was taken to the National Zoo, where he is expected to make a full recovery." I noted that, "Personally, I would have liked to see him return to our square, but I understand that snowy owls need to head to the Arctic, in the spring. Hopefully, our owl will come back to the square, next winter, because, Fowles of a feather should flock together."
In conclusion, I invited all of our friends and colleagues to join our flock, (or in the case of owls, "our parliament") and like the snowy owl, consider FXFOWLE's office as, "Your home on McPherson Square." I then thanked everyone for helping to make our presence in DC so welcoming.
As we finished our remarks, Director of Communications, Brien McDaniel handed Dan Kaplan a mug and two cans of beer: a Brooklyn Lager and a DC Brau. As Dan poured the two brews into the mug, he announced that, "Our DC and NYC offices are linked with official pouring of the Brooklyn and DC beers into a single unity glass!"
As my partner Dan Kaplan noted, "What a great event! Great vibe in the room; lots of friends of the firm; space looked great; and our colleagues from CO Architects were there to help us celebrate. All in all, there was strong sense of momentum for us, reflecting a dynamic firm going places in DC. We all have a lot to feel good about."
By mid-evening, as the space filled, Dan led us in a toast. He talked about the history of FXFOWLE in DC, which began at the "Big & Green" exhibition at the National Building Museum in 2003. He reminisced about how we were invited to exhibit 4 Times Square, which was considered the nation's first green skyscraper, and mentioned that a number of developers who attended the opening expressed a desire for more information about our firm. This resulted in our first study—an office building at Courthouse Plaza for the JBG Companies.
Dan thanked DC clients who had faith in us from the start, including the JBG Companies, JM Zell Partners, Vornado/Charles E. Smith, LCOR, Lincoln Property Company, SAIC, Meridian Group, St. James Group, Ballston BID, Studley, and Walton Development. He also thanked all the FXFOWLE partners—Bruce Fowle, Sylvia Smith, Tim Milam and myself—who were in DC to celebrate the opening. Managing Partner Guy Geier was unable to attend but got a special shout out from Dan, as did Sudhir Jambhekar and Heidi Blau who were in India on business, and John Schuyler who was also out of town. Finally, Dan recognized those who helped organize this great event—Brien McDaniel, Emily Alli, Kaz Adachi, Carol Hsiung, Lindsay Wright, Jeff Chan, Amanda Abel, Joe Pikiewicz, and our DC Office Manager Miriam Hood.
Dan then handed the program over to me. I noted that, "It's been said that L'Enfant was prophetic when he laid out Washington, DC in a radial pattern, as this is a city that seems to go around in circles." In keeping with this metaphor, I further stated, "Since FXFOWLE starting working here, ten years ago, we have been encircling the DC Metro area. In addition to projects in the District, we are now working around the beltway and expect to expand our reach beyond commercial and residential work and build our institutional and cultural efforts in the area. In fact, we are now participating on a team for a major regional transportation project; and we were recently shortlisted for a large lab project with our joint venture partner, CO Architects, at the University of Maryland."
Beyond our work, I also acknowledged the people who have helped open this office—my colleagues Ken Brown, Joe Pikiewicz, Stephen Kim, Lauren Gluck, Erik Maso, John Loughran, Stefan Dallendorfer, and Miriam Hood. I then thanked our clients, colleagues and guests for joining us to help celebrate our new space.
Lastly, I reminded our friends that, "When we moved onto the square in November, we were joined by another fowl, a snowy owl, who also decided to make McPherson Square his home." Sadly, I reported that, "Two weeks ago, our owl was hit by a bus, but he was taken to the National Zoo, where he is expected to make a full recovery." I noted that, "Personally, I would have liked to see him return to our square, but I understand that snowy owls need to head to the Arctic, in the spring. Hopefully, our owl will come back to the square, next winter, because, Fowles of a feather should flock together."
In conclusion, I invited all of our friends and colleagues to join our flock, (or in the case of owls, "our parliament") and like the snowy owl, consider FXFOWLE's office as, "Your home on McPherson Square." I then thanked everyone for helping to make our presence in DC so welcoming.
As we finished our remarks, Director of Communications, Brien McDaniel handed Dan Kaplan a mug and two cans of beer: a Brooklyn Lager and a DC Brau. As Dan poured the two brews into the mug, he announced that, "Our DC and NYC offices are linked with official pouring of the Brooklyn and DC beers into a single unity glass!"