Baltimore Life Building, Baltimore MD

Baltimore Life Building

Baltimore, Maryland



Mattapan Apartments, Boston MA

Mattapan Apartments
Boston, Massachusetts



Creamery Package Manufacturing Company Building, Chicago IL

Creamery Package Manufacturing Company Building
Chicago, Illinois







 

 


Spring 2011 UPDATE: MACROSTIE HISTORIC ADVISORS

 

 

Tax Reform on the Horizon: A Call to Action

 

The historic tax credit community has been very successful at working with state legislatures in creating and promoting state historic tax credit programs, but has been less engaged in recent years at the federal level. As the debate about our national debt and budgetary issues intensifies, the specter of major federal tax reform is on the horizon, including potential changes to the Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit program.

 

MacRostie Historic Advisors is a proud member of two organizations that are spearheading the effort to increase our community's visibility at the federal level: The Historic Tax Credit Coalition (HTCC) and the Historic Preservation Development Council (HPDC) of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association.  HTCC, formed in 2009, retained a lobbying firm to represent our industry on Capitol Hill and has commissioned the first ever economic impact study of the federal historic tax credit program.  HPDC has been extremely active in promoting how the historic tax credit program aligns with the Obama Administration's smart growth and sustainability policy objectives and has promoted legislation at the federal level that positively impacts the program.

 

We urge everyone in the industry-developers, attorneys, tax advisors, consultants and municipal officials-to let policy-makers and, especially, members of Congress know how important historic rehabilitation projects are to their states and Congressional districts.  Every groundbreaking and ribbon-cutting should include an invitation to your congressional delegation and government officials.  If you want more information about these efforts or have opportunities to reach out to your Congressional delegation, please coordinate with HPDC, Thom Amdur, Executive Director, of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association (202) 939-1753; tamdur@dworbell.com; www.housingonline.com or the Historic Tax Credit Coalition, Michael Hanson, The C2 Group, (202) 567-2905, hanson@thec2group.com.





Does Your Project Deserve a "Timmy?"


The National Housing & Rehabilitation Association has issued a call for nominations for the Seventh Annual J. Timothy Anderson Awards for Excellence in Historic Rehabilitation. The "Timmy" Awards honor outstanding rehabilitation and preservation projects in eight categories, covering a wide range of projects. The deadline for nominations is July 15, 2011.

MacRostie Historic Advisors LLC is proud to have been the historic tax credit consultant for several Timmy Award-winning projects in past years, including the Charles H. Shaw Technology and Learning Center in Chicago, Illinois and the Bourne Mill in Tiverton, Rhode Island.   

We encourage of friends and clients in the historic tax credit world to check out these great awards. Click here for more about the Timmy awards.    




What We're Working On

 

From our Washington, DC office, we are servicing:


  • Adaptive reuse of the 1930 Baltimore Life Building in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The eleven-story, steel-frame building was designed in the Art Deco style by the local architecture firm of Mottu and White for the Baltimore Life Insurance Company;
  • Historic building survey of over 4,400 properties within the Mid-City National Register Historic District in New Orleans, Louisiana focusing on post-1943 Modern architecture; and 
  • Historic rehabilitation of the five remaining buildings in the Mayfair Mansions Apartment complex in Washington D.C. by MM Property, LLC. The project will update these mid-century garden apartment buildings for continued use as affordable housing.  

 


Our Boston office is providing historic consulting services for:

 

  • Conversion of the Mystic River Pumping Station in Somerville, Massachusetts into twenty affordable housing units for senior citizens. The owner will use state and federal tax incentives for the rehabilitation of the National Register property;
  • Rehabilitation of Building #7 at the Yale & Towne Industrial Complex in Stamford, Connecticut. The building, built in 1928, originally housed the employment offices, payroll distribution window, and auditorium space for workers at the historic manufacturing complex. The owner plans to covert the building to new commercial use utilizing the state and federal historic tax credits; and 
  • Rehabilitation of two historic apartment buildings in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Abrams Management will utilize state and federal historic tax credits to perform upgrades to approximately thirty affordable housing units within these two buildings. MHA is preparing the National Register nominations and the state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credit application for the buildings.     

 


In Chicago we are consulting on:

 

  • Conversion of the Jackson Building, an 1897 brick loft building located in the Minneapolis Warehouse Historic District in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for mixed use with ground floor commercial and apartments above.  MHA is preparing the state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credit applications for the project;

  • National Register listing and adaptive reuse of three early twentieth century industrial buildings in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. The buildings are being redeveloped by CORTEX as part of a biopharmaceutical campus that is intended to attract biotech manufacturing companies to midtown St. Louis.  MHA is working with the client to list the three buildings on the National Register and secure state and federal historic tax credits for the project; and 
  • Rehabilitation of the Creamery Package Manufacturing Company Building in Chicago, Illinois for new use as the headquarters for O'Neil Construction Company. The three-story masonry loft building was constructed in 1926 and served as the headquarters for a national dealer of dairy packaging and processing equipment. MHA is preparing the National Register nomination and the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit application for the project.   

 

 

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

 

  • Bill MacRostie will be addressing the AIA Annual Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 11 on the Historic Tax Credit Program and the Rehabilitation of the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans.
  • Allen Johnson is a speaker at the Illinois Statewide Preservation Conference, being held on June 2-4 in Godfrey, Illinois. Allen will be presenting on the issues of combining historic preservation and sustainability using as a case study the rehabilitation of the Sears, Roebuck and Company Power House in Chicago, IL.   

  • On Tuesday April 28th, Albert Rex and Richard Sidebottom led a half-day training session at the New England Regional Office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Boston. The program introduced forty HUD staff members to the historic rehabilitation tax credit program including a discussion of structuring these projects with HUD financing. Attendees included asset managers, appraisers, construction analysts, mortgage creditors, and cost analysts from the New England Regional Office and three of HUDs New England Program Centers.