National Labor College – Master Plan

The National Labor College is located along the Capital Beltway at the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue. The 47-acre site in Silver Spring also boasts a new 72,000-sf state-of-the-art academic and conference center, hotel-quality residence halls, classrooms, meeting space and dining services. Also on the site is the George Meany Memorial Archives, the official and acting archives of the AFL-CIO, established in 1987 and also housing the AFL-CIO Library 1993.

In 2011, the NLC made the decision to sell their campus to a commercial developer to help raise capital for the institution. MWAP was selected by a national developer to prepare a feasibility plan illustrating the potential of redeveloping the 47 acres around the National Labor College in a reconfigured organization.

The final master plan envisioned the new NLC at the center of the campus and a new 150-room hotel would be added adjacent to the conference center. Additional site locations were identified for expansion of the College in the future.

The mixed use development surrounding the NLC would include predominantly multi-family structures and have approximately 3,500 units on the site. Other programs located in the plan include 800,000 sf of office, 150,000 sf of retail – both street retail and one big box site.