Children’s National Hospital unites teams in new administrative space

Ranked among the nation’s best pediatric hospitals, Children’s National Hospital has earned its reputation for creating healthier futures for kids. To ensure continued vitality of its internal operations, Children’s National leaders had sought for years to unite business teams that had been spread across various offices throughout the Washington DC metropolitan area. 

Hospital leadership aimed to provide a more collaborative work environment in an amenity-rich location that would help attract and retain talent. In their effort to unite the hospital’s administrative departments, Children’s National leaders engaged JLL to find a space that would allow for growth.

Finding the holy grail of corporate real estate

The baseline challenge was to find a high-quality, dynamic and inviting workspace where employees would be empowered to do their best work. The clincher was that the location also had to be within close proximity to Children’s National’s campuses and clinical locations—in a notoriously tight market.

With a keen understanding of the hospital’s priorities as well as DC metro-area market dynamics, JLL conducted a commute analysis, financial modelling and an exhaustive real estate search. The team narrowed down the possibilities to one location that could check all the right boxes: Inventa Tower in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The right space, in the right place, at the right time

The centrally located, amenity-rich Inventa Tower gave Children’s Hospital leaders everything they’d been looking for in a new, centralized location. Administrative teams have important proximity to its main campus, which sits just five miles away, and its research and innovation campus at the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center that’s only two miles away. Equally important, the building offered hospital administrative staff the amenities and convenience they craved.

Children’s National initially signed a lease for 140,000-square feet across four floors. Since then, the prospect of giving employees a more collaborative, united work environment inspired hospital leaders to expand the lease to cover 189,000 square feet across five floors. They also decided to allot 13,000 square feet on the first floor for the Fight for Children Sports Medicine Center, which serves student-athletes.

Administrative staff now enjoy quality design and trophy amenities in a newly renovated space, including a 4,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art fitness center and a 5,000-square-foot, tech-enabled, conference center. Employees also have opportunities to enjoy fresh air during their workday with multiple outdoor spaces, from the rooftop terrace and tree-lined courtyard to a newly redesigned plaza with outdoor seating.

When employees want a break from the workplace action, they can visit one of about a dozen food and drink locations just a block or two away, along with shops and entertainment. And when it’s time to head home after the workday, a bevvy of convenient options await, including 12 Metro lines accessible in the transit hub across the street.

With once far-flung colleagues now operating under one roof, Children’s National is inspiring collaboration across its workforce, positioning it to continue is mission of creating healthier futures for the children of the DC metro area and beyond.