Malcolm Towers Case Study | Senior Housing Renovation | AAWDINC

Malcolm Towers is a 16-story senior and disabled housing community in Fort Lee, NJ, consisting of 226 units. The community is managed by SHP Management Corp and is subsidized by a HUD-insured mortgage and Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance. The project was completed wholly while residents remained in their residences, with AAWD Inc. being selected to replace all 1,186 windows and doors throughout the building. This project is a direct illustration of AAWD’s occupied space renovation process operating at scale in a building where residents are particularly susceptible to disruption, which is particularly relevant to property managers who supervise HUD-assisted senior housing.

The Obstacle: Renovating a Senior Housing Community That Is Fully Occupied

Malcolm Towers is home to elderly and disabled residents, many of whom are dependent on consistent access to their units and building systems due to their limited mobility and fixed incomes. The typical vacant-building schedule could not be followed for a renovation of this magnitude, which encompassed nearly 1,200 windows and doors across 16 floors. Additionally, HUD-assisted housing is subject to compliance and reporting requirements that exceed those of a typical multifamily project. Any disruption to heat, security, or accessibility during construction has a direct impact on a population that is unable to relocate readily.

This property manager has been a leader in the affordable housing industry since its inception, overseeing properties in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states. Currently, they oversee approximately 50 properties, which include 11,000 or more units of Section 8 Elderly, Section 8 Family, mixed-use 236, LIHTC, and a restricted number of commercial spaces. They have selected AAWD as their preferred contractor for numerous replacement window projects, and they employ more than 200 employees who are committed to the development of resilient, sustainable communities for both residents and owners.

The Challenge: Renovating a Fully Occupied Senior Housing Community

This property management company contracted AAWD to undertake a high-rise window and door replacement project that was particularly challenging in 2022. Malcolm Towers, the project, is situated on Main Street in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The building’s design resulted in a variety of variations in the placement of windows on each floor of the exterior façade during its construction in 1979. Capital improvement upgrades, such as kitchen and bathroom renovations in all units, the installation of new patio doors and in-unit windows, and the installation of new boilers, hot water tanks, and roof-top exhaust fans for the building, were included in the financing package when the new owners acquired the property in 2020.

Architects were engaged to assist in the development of a comprehensive design and engineering plan for the renovation, which involved the remediation of the previous design and the installation of extant windows. In order to account for the variations in the current window placement, the new replacement window installation necessitated 3D modeling to provide precise location and installation details. A sample window was subsequently manufactured, installed, and evaluated to verify the design and installation intent with the assistance and support of the Crystal Window & Doors Engineering and AAWD installation teams. The window successfully passed inspection and testing under the vigilant eye of the owner’s representatives.

The AAWD Approach

Consequently, the undertaking went ahead. AAWD supplied and installed 1,041 Double Hung, Sliding, and Casement windows, as well as 151 Sliding Patio & Terrace Doors, following the removal of the existing windows and doors. Additionally, numerous apartments necessitated that the windows and patio doors satisfy the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards.

Why This Project Matters

The property owner also demanded that air and water infiltration tests be conducted intermittently as the project progressed to guarantee that the custom installation design was air and impermeable and maintained throughout the installation cycle. To establish an airtight and impermeable chamber from the window to the wall, a plastic tarp must be erected inside the apartment over the window for this test. A vacuum is subsequently drawn into this seal chamber. Water is sprinkled on the exterior of the window to replicate a soaking rainfall once the vacuum inside the chamber reaches a sufficient pressure to draw water and moisture in from outside the structure. This determines whether the window is equipped with a watertight seal. In the interim, the testing agency is conducting an inspection of all window seals and caulking to detect any leaks that may occur during the test. The setup and execution of each test require approximately two to three hours. The immediate failure of the window and its installation is a result of any air or water intrusion. An external testing agency conducted five experiments on 20 windows located on various floors of this 16-story high rise.

In all honesty, this is the type of assessment that demonstrates the quality of work of any window and door installation company. The installation design and the craftsmanship of our seasoned team of professional installers were able to withstand each test that was administered during this project. Not only did we satisfy the performance grade design criteria for the specified product, but our product and installation design exceeded the testing lab’s expectations.