Mayfair Mansions Apartments
Washington, D.C.
New York Quinine and Chemical Works
New York, New York
Channel Center
Boston, Massachusetts
Schlacks Building
Chicago, Illinois |
Spring 2008 Update: MacRostie Historic Advisors
Garden Apartment Rehabs Using Historic Tax Credits
Although often not the first building type targeted by developers as candidates for historic rehabilitation tax credits, garden apartment complexes are one of the latest nationwide trends in the program and an increasing part of our practice. Introduced as part of the Garden City Movement that had spread from Europe to the U.S. in the 1920s, development of garden apartments experienced a boom from the 1930s through the 1950s with the advent of the New Deal’s Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance programs.
Garden apartment complexes can be found in metropolitan areas throughout the United States. In Arlington County, Virginia alone, where a thematic National Register listing has been done, more than 100 survive. While not always architectural gems, they are now more than 50 years old and are significant for their historical association with the Garden City Movement and in most cases are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
From a redevelopment perspective, garden apartment complexes share the following positive attributes:
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Located in close-in, older suburbs with short commutes downtown;
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Situated on pleasant landscaped sites;
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Ample parking on site;
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Floor plans already consistent with residential use for purposes of conversion and for compliance with National Park Service Standards; and
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Kitchen and bathroom upgrades are routinely approved by the National Park Service.
As with other mid-20th century buildings now eligible for National Register listing and historic tax credits, these are an often-overlooked building type for rehabilitation, yet offer a great opportunity for the [savvy] developer.
If you have questions about how to qualify for and utilize the 20% federal historic rehabilitation tax credit for a project, please contact us in one of our three offices listed below.
What We’re Working On:
From our Washington, DC office, we are servicing:
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Rehabilitation of the 1919 New York Quinine and Chemical Works building in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York for residential use;
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Reuse of the Stephens Buick Garage in New Orleans for mixed use. Constructed in 1950, the auto sales and service facility exhibits Modernist design elements such as concrete panels and horizontal window bands.
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Conversion of the San Diego Naval Training Center, established in the 1920s and closed in 1997 as part of the federal Base Realignment and Closure Act, to a new urban village called Liberty Station which will include commercial, residential, cultural, and recreational components.
In Boston, we are consulting on:
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Conversion of the former American Woolen Company mill complex in Lawrence, Massachusetts to 252 units of market-rate apartments;
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Utilizing state and federal historic tax credits for rehabilitation of 250,000 square feet of former warehouse space for Channel Center, a mixed-use development in Boston’s Fort Point Channel district; and
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Reuse of the 1901 Chestnut Street School in Springfield, Massachusetts for 110 units of housing.
Our Chicago office is providing historic tax credit and National Register consulting services for the following industrial and commercial buildings being converted to housing:
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The 1922 Schlacks Building, built as a furniture sales and showroom and later the home of the Curtiss-Wright Aeronautical University, will provide 53 residences in the South Loop;
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A former Otis Elevator Company factory (the company’s oldest facility in the Midwest) is being rehabilitated for apartments by Lipe Property Company; and
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In Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood, the Art Moderne-style office and warehouse of mail-order giant Spiegel Inc. is being converted by Dubin Residential to 155 residential units with ground floor retail.
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