Case Studies

montgomery triangle gateway development

Montgomery Triangle Gateway Development

Construction start: December 2005
Occupancy: March 2007


Awards: Design-Build Excellence Award for a Private Sector Building under $15 million was awarded by The Ohio Valley Chapter of the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA)


Customer Overview: The Montgomery Triangle Gateway project is the main focal point as you enter into the Heritage District of Montgomery, Ohio. This community was settled in 1795 and incorporated as a village in 1910. There are 32 buildings in Montgomery designated at historical landmarks.


Situation: The triangular shaped site of this new 42,000 square foot office/retail building with two stories of underground parking presented many difficult challenges.


  • The design of the building had to meet strict guidelines set forth by Montgomery’s Landmark Commission.
  • The site had been home to several fueling stations in the past which contaminated the site in multiple undetermined locations.
  • The project was surrounded by three busy intersecting streets with a constant flow of pedestrians and vehicle traffic.
  • The triangular shape and small size of the lot meant that an optimal design would need to be developed to achieve the goals set forth for the property.

Solution: Unit Building Services was able to exercise several key advantages of the Design-Build approach to overcome a diverse range of challenges with this important project.


  • Unit was able to work with a group of educated professionals called the Landmarks Commission, to meet their requirements for the Heritage District of Old Montgomery and accentuate the surrounding architecture.
  • The facade of the building was designed to resemble period construction, segmented into architectural facades to give the appearance of phased construction. The shell of the building, however, was designed as a single structure.
  • Unit used the design-build approach to coordinate the efforts of the earthwork contractor, retaining wall contractor, cast in place concrete contractor, and designers to provide an economical parking garage.
  • The slope of the site was used to provide a west access into the parking garage.
  • Since the layout and quantity of tenants was unknown during construction, Unit worked with the Building Owner and the Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) trades to develop flexible MEP systems.

Outcome: The result of the Montgomery Gateway project has been overwhelmingly positive with the building being an attractive addition to the Heritage District as well as an economic success with a mere 5% vacancy remaining.