ILM Corporation is a small Fredericksburg business that specializes in taking paper documents and converting them into digital format. Much of their work is performed for Government contractors. ILM made the decision to move from their existing facility in the Spotsylvania Industrial Park to an existing building in Downtown Fredericksburg. This move was prompted in part by their desire to position their business in a HUB (Historically Underutilized Business) certified location. The move of their company along with the need to obtain their HUB zone certification meant that ILM needed to move quickly.
ILM Corporation chose to relocate into an existing building that was being used as a vehicle maintenance garage with the intent of converting the building into office and a document production facility. The property is located along Lafayette Boulevard adjacent to the Downtown Historic district and by almost all accounts was considered an eyesore. ILM retained Welford Engineering to assist them with obtaining City approvals for the project.
Initial reviews of City Ordinances indicated that the project would either have to go through a Special Use permit process or a rezoning. The time required to complete either of these processes made completion of the project on ILM’s schedule essentially not feasible. Welford Engineering, working cooperatively with City staff, developed a permitting approach that allowed the building to be converted without having to go through either of the Special Use Permit or Rezoning process. Using a team approach we were able to permit conversion of the building, construct 11 new parking spaces on site to support the new uses within the building, address storm water considerations from the site, and create an additional 5 on-street parking spaces that the City did not previously have use of. All of these improvements were completed on an accelerated schedule and ILM was able to move from a concept plan to approved construction drawings in just over 120 days with construction completion a short 4 months later. They successfully achieved their schedule goals.
As can be seen in the photos provided, this project also was a considerable enhancement on the appearance of the Lafayette Boulevard corridor.
