Boston Healt Care for the Homeless Project, Boston, MA

The Mallory Building, home of the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Project
Boston, Massachusetts



CIGNA Wilde Building, Bloomfield, CT

The CIGNA Wilde Building after rehabilitation
Bloomfield, Connecticut



Grosvenor Mill No. 2, Thompson, CT

North Grosvenor-Dale Mill No. 2
Thompson, Connecticut



Schulze Bakery Company Plant, Chicago, IL

Schulze Baking Company Plant
Chicago, Illinois

 

 

SPRING 2010 UPDATE: MACROSTIE HISTORIC ADVISORS

 

 

Historic Tax Credits Are Untapped Source of Financing for Community Health Centers

 

Historic tax credits are an often-untapped source of equity for the development of community health centers.  Typically located in core urban areas rich in historic building stock and within census tracts that allow use of the New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), these facilities can utilize a diverse array of specialized funding sources which can be combined for maximum benefit. In one such area of federal assistance, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has several programs  that can help health centers undertake capital projects, including assistance for acquisition and redevelopment of existing buildings. 

 

Historic tax credits have been an important source of equity for rehabilitation projects for over thirty years.  In recent years, rehabilitation tax credits have also been used in tandem with NMTC to create financially feasible projects.  Combining historic credits and NMTC with HRSA capital funds or loan guarantees can add significant sources of project funding, thereby reducing debt service and enhancing overall project feasibility.  In the current market cycle, lower acquisition and construction costs are also contributing to project feasibility.

 

In Boston's South End, the transformation of the historic Mallory Building into a permanent home for the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Project (BHCHP) is a successful example of combining historic rehabilitation tax credits with other financial incentives specifically targeted towards community health centers.  BHCHP provides access to quality health care for Boston's homeless men, women, and children.  In partnership with Carlisle Tax Credit Advisors, our firm assisted the BHCHP to access $5.9 million in Massachusetts Historic Rehabilitation Tax credits.  The Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) worked with BHCHP to create a unique structure to combine the 10% rehabilitation tax credit with NMTC, while the HRSA provided loan guarantees.  The $50.3 million project was completed in 2008.



Historic Tax Credit Coalition Releases Economic Impact Report

 

MacRostie Historic Advisors is a member of the Historic Tax Credit Coalition, formed to advance legislation to improve the existing federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit program. 

 

The coalition commissioned a study late last year—the first of its kind in the 30-year history of the historic tax credit program—to quantify the economic impact of the program.  The First Annual Report on the Economic Impact of the Federal Historic Tax Credit was undertaken by the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University.  This compelling and persuasive report illustrates a broad range of positive economic impacts the program has had over its history.  A full copy of the report can be downloaded here.


 

What We're Working On


From our Washington, DC office, we are servicing:


  • Rehabilitation of 22 garden apartment buildings in the Colonial Village Historic District, Arlington, Virginia, for continued affordable housing use; and
  • National Register listing and rehabilitation of the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company headquarters in Bloomfield, Connecticut.  Completed in 1957 and known today as CIGNA Corporation's Wilde Building, the building underwent a three-year rehabilitation. Historic finishes, such as teak paneling, travertine walls, and terrazzo flooring in the North Wing were preserved, and in select areas, the ceiling was restored to reflect the historic condition. At the exterior, the North Wing circular drive and associated entry were refurbished to serve once again as the main entrance to the building. Listed in the National Register in January 2010, the Wilde Building was designed by renowned Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill architect Gordon Bunshaft and is significant as a pioneering example of a suburban office campus.


Our Boston office is providing historic consulting services for:


  • Winn Development's $20 million conversion of Mill No. 2 and Buildings No. 5 and No. 6 at the North Grosvenor-Dale Co. in Thompson, Connecticut into 68 rental apartments, of which 54 will be affordable. The project is utilizing state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits; and
  • The Morgans Hotel Group's rehabilitation of two adjacent historic Art Deco hotels, the Gale and the Regent, in Miami Beach, Florida.  Both buildings were completed in 1942 and designed by architect L. Murray Dixon, who is credited with developing the unique "Tropical Art Deco" style of architecture that would become the signature of South Miami Beach during the 1930s and 1940s.  The project is being serviced by MHA's Northeast and Midwest offices.   


In Chicago we are consulting on:


  • Adaptive reuse of the Schulze Baking Company Plant in Chicago, Illinois' Washington Park community for market-rate rental  housing with ground-floor commercial uses.  Designed by industrial architects John Ahlschlager  & Sons and constructed in 1913-14, the building is architecturally the finest major bakery building constructed in early-twentieth-century  Chicago.  The massive building, which occupies an entire city block, served as the main  baking plant of the Schulze Baking Company, one of the largest wholesale baking companies in the Midwest;
  • Mercy Housing Lakefront's conversion of the former Storkline Furniture Corporation Factory on the west side of Chicago, Illinois into a mixed-use complex with 100 rental apartments. From its construction in 1925 through the 1960s, the building served as the primary manufacturing facility for the Storkline firm, the largest manufacturer of infant and juvenile furniture in the world; and
  • Rehabilitation of the Sears, Roebuck and Company's Merchandise Development and Laboratory Building in Chicago, Illinois for 193 units of affordable housing.  The building was designed by architect George C. Nimmons and constructed between 1905 and 1916 as part of the massive Sears complex in the North Lawndale neighborhood. The building originally served as the printing house for Sears catalogs, and from 1923 through the mid-1970s housed the company's merchandise testing and development programs.

 

 

Recent and Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

 

  • On March 25, Allen Johnson and architect Jonathan Boyer from Farr Associates discussed the award-winning conversion of the former Sears, Roebuck and Company power house into a LEED-Gold-rated charter school. The presentation was part of a monthly lecture series, Preservation Snapshots, held at the Chicago Cultural Center and sponsored by Landmarks Illinois.
  • Allen Johnson will give a lecture on historic preservation to graduate students at the Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management on April 27.
  • Albert Rex will be recognized as a Paul E. Tsongas Profiles in Preservation Award-winner at Preservation Massachusetts' 25th Anniversary Dinner on May 5, 2010.  Click here to view event details.