ESL Federal Credit Union

ESL Federal Credit Union

For Immediate Release:
July 30, 2008

For more information, contact:
Andrew J. Ragone, ESL
585.336.1532 or cell 208.0366
aragone@esl.org
-or-
Adena Miller, Roberts Communications
585.246.0229 or cell 490.9437
amiller@robertscomm.com

About ESL Federal Credit Union New Corporate Headquarters Design and Construction

The ceremonial groundbreaking on July 30th for the ESL new corporate headquarters marks one of the most significant new construction projects in Rochester's center city in the past 10 years.

In February, ESL announced its plans for the six-story building and adjacent parking garage at 225 Chestnut Street following an 18 month site selection process. The company plans to move in with its approximately 300 headquarters employees in spring 2010 with room to expand up to 500 employees.

Here are some facts about the headquarters project and ESL:

Architect: LaBella Associates

Construction Manager: LeChase Construction

Size:

  • The headquarters building is six-stories, 180,000 square feet
    ·

    It has a 15,000 - 20,000 square foot basement
  • The parking structure has approximately 600 parking spaces
  • Office space for ESL's current 300-plus headquarters employees with estimated room to expand to 500 employees

Project Facts:

  • About 250 local construction jobs will be created
  • The project is expected to utilize over 50 different local suppliers/subcontractors for the site-work, foundation, concrete, steel, plumbing, HVAC and electrical portions of work
  • ESL was the first project to take advantage of COMIDA's Green JobsPlus program:
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    Utilize local labor
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    Increase employment at site by 10% within three years
    ·

    Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifiable
  • A "top-down" construction approach will minimize traffic disruption and use construction space efficiently
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    Instead of completing the structure floor-by-floor from the ground up, this method will create the building in vertical sections that can be used to support the construction cranes and other heavy equipment as they are moved around the site

Design Details:

  • A pedestrian bridge will link the new headquarters to the new employee parking garage
  • The new parking structure will be linked to the existing Washington Square garage through two vehicle/pedestrian connections (one entrance and one exit)
  • The gently curved façade facing Chestnut Street will be constructed of granite panels
  • The parking structure will be made of 6,000 cubic yards of cast-in-place concrete
  • The exterior will be covered by more than 200,000 bricks, which measure 2 1/4" tall x 3 5/8" wide x 7 5/8" long. Laid end to end, these bricks would extend 23 miles.
  • The super structure will be built with 1,000 tons of structural steel, the equivalent of two Boeing 747 jets
  • The design includes a two-story atrium

Designed to save energy:

  • In cold weather, excess heat from the ESL data center will be re-used to keep the building warm
  • Well insulated windows and building materials will help to maintain comfortable temperatures with minimal energy loss
  • Lighting and heating systems will be zoned to reduce waste when some parts of the building aren't being used
  • Artificial lighting will employ energy efficient bulbs and employ sensor technology to minimize energy demands for lighting
  • ESL projects energy savings of 30 percent per square foot

Facts about ESL:

  • Founded by George Eastman in 1920 to serve Kodak employees
  • Today ESL has over 285,000 members and over 600 employees
    ·

    All persons who live, work, worship or attend school located in the geographic boundaries of the City of Rochester are eligible to join
    ·

    Employees and retirees of Eastman Kodak and its subsidiary organizations are eligible to join
    ·

    Employees and retirees of select organizations are eligible for membership (visit www.esl.org and select Membership Eligibility to view company names)
  • ESL has 19 branches and over 40 ATM locations in Monroe and Ontario counties
  • ESL has grown to be a $3.4 billion institution

Project timeline:

  • August 2008 - September 2008: Site demolition, mass excavation and utility work
  • September 2008 - November 2008: Concrete foundation systems
  • December 2008 - March 2009: Structural steel erection
  • April 2009 - September 2009: Building envelope & garage super-structure
  • June 2009 - January 2010: Interior build-out
  • November 2009: Parking structure complete
  • First Quarter 2010: ESL moves in with its 300 plus headquarters employees

Click here for more ESL Headquarters information.