The first year of construction on the $80-million Legg Mason World Headquarters/Four Seasons hotel project in Baltimore was spent below grade, excavating and then building the upscale development's 1,200-space underground parking garage. That work would result in the supporting foundation for a 662,000-sq-ft, 25-floor glass and stone office structure combined with a 455,566-sq-ft, 22-story, 256-room, luxury hotel, with eight upper-floor condominiums and 52,000 sq ft of lower-level retail.
Tim Hodges, project executive with Armada Hoffler Construction Co., considers the 26-month schedule and the five-level parking deck adjacent to Baltimore's Inner Harbor as the project team's two biggest challenges of the construction project. Construction of the underground structure began in March 2007.