GSSEF New Headquarters Update

We have exciting news to share! It's official -- we have purchased a new GSSEF administrative headquarters. Located in Lake Worth, the building meets all of our requirements in terms of size, age, geographic location and accessibility to a major highway, as it's less than one mile from the Turnpike.

Although there is a lot that we really like about the building, there is still work to be done to customize and design the space to best serve our Girl Scout staff team and membership. The second floor of the building is currently occupied by a medical practice that will move out in August. We will make some modifications to the second floor to make it more suitable for us.

The first floor currently looks like this:

Some people might look at this and think, "Yikes!" However, we saw this and thought, "Opportunity!" It's our chance to create a new foundation and make this exactly what we need and want. That means there is a lot of work that needs to be accomplished over the next six to seven months by a very capable team made up of GSSEF staff and professionals.

This will be the first of many communications you'll receive providing you with updates as we prepare to celebrate 10 YEARS as GSSEF in 2018.

What's been done thus far?

We have hired a project management and design firm to coordinate the buildout of our new office.

The space plan for the building has been developed. This is a diagram of space requirements for staff which includes wall/door locations, room sizes, and furniture layouts.

We have hired an architect - actually the same architect that originally designed the building!

As we prepare plans to create our new administrative headquarters, we are committed to creating a healthy work environment for our staff. We hope to use natural light wherever possible, are considering design materials and fabrics that are eco-friendly, and we are exploring the feasibility of janitorial, pest control and landscape options and services that are "green" (non-toxic).

Timeline and what's next.

For any of you that have done renovations or moved to a new home, you know that timelines are very fluid, and flexibility and adaptability are key components to keep in mind throughout the process. The timeline is based on the best estimate of our team and is subject to change.

Over the summer months, the following things will happen:

The architect will complete the drawings for submission to the county.
The building department will review and approve the plans.
Once approved, GSSEF will get this project out for bid by general contractors.
The medical practice will move out of the second floor.
GSSEF will select and hire the general contractor.
GSSEF staff will begin preparing to move out of the Jupiter Service Center.

During the fall months, the following things will happen:

The general contractor will secure the building permit from Palm Beach County.
Construction will begin; we'll be sharing lots of visuals as progress is made.
GSSEF staff will make the final preparations to move out of the Jupiter Service Center and the Broward Administrative offices.
The target completion date for renovations is November 30^th.

During December 2017 and January 2018, the following things will happen:

GSSEF staff will move out of the Jupiter Service Center and the Broward Administrative offices and into the new GSSEF Administrative Headquarters.
A grand opening event will be held to kick off a year-long celebration of our 10^th year as GSSEF

Please note that a separate timeline and plan is being prepared for the moving of the two Retail Stores. We will send you a separate communication when we have more information available to share.

We are thrilled that we finally have a home that can truly represent GSSEF and provide one office for our team. With our staff and volunteers working hand in hand, we have the opportunity to make history together-serving more girls, engaging more adults, raising more money, and making the world a better place. We're excited to bring this information to you and look forward to sharing more updates along the way. The next several months will be busy ones, but this was a very important first step. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Cindy McHeran at cmcheran@gssef.org who is overseeing this entire project.