Part of the Willets Point Development Plan, One Fulton Square is in the first phase of the revitalization of Flushing in the Borough of Queens, New York.  One Fulton Square is a mixed-use hotel, retail, office and condominium project on what was a originally an at grade parking lot. It includes a 168-key Hyatt Place on top of 76,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor retail podiums, medical and community office space, as well as 43 residential condominiums and underground parking facilities.  Geotechnical challenges included deep excavation, groundwater control, underpinning of adjacent buildings to depths of 20 ft. below grade and partially below groundwater, and the presence of an MTA subway tunnel and underground vault. Final construction included dewatering, underpinning of adjacent buildings, soldier pile and lagging support of excavation with multiple levels of tiebacks, and micropile supported footings. 

Oweis Engineering Inc.’s scope of design services included conducting a subsurface investigation, providing foundation recommendations, preparation of structural drawings for underpinning and support of excavation, and a pre-construction condition survey of the existing adjacent buildings and the MTA vault.  Oweis Engineering provided construction services that included review of contractor submittals, controlled field Inspection services for the observation of the installation of the underpinning, support of excavation, tiebacks, micropiles, inspection of sub-grades for foundations and the floor slab, and survey monitoring of the existing buildings for settlement and vibration and weekly evaluation of results.