Dillaway School, Boston MA
Dillaway School
Boston, Massachusetts

 

Jackson Brewing Company, New Orleans LA

Jackson Brewing Company Brewhouse
New Orleans, Louisiana



Bradford Durfee Textile School, Fall River, MA

Bradford Durfee Textile School
Fall River, Massachusetts



Argyle Street District - Chicago, IL

West Argyle Street Historic District
Chicago, Illinois

Summer 2009 Update: MacRostie Historic Advisors

 

 

"Re-Rehabbing" Affordable Housing with Historic Tax Credits


The recently-completed School House Project in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood demonstrates how historic tax credits can be used multiple times to provide equity for the redevelopment of historic buildings.  The project, which involved the acquisition and rehabilitation of three previously-rehabbed historic buildings for continued use as housing, combined state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits with a variety of federal, state, and municipal incentive programs to pool the $33 million needed to successfully complete the work.

 

In 2007, a joint venture formed by E.A. Fish Associates (EAF) and Madison Park Development Corporation (MPDC) purchased a portfolio of four scattered site buildings that included two historic schools, a turn-of-the-century factory building, and a non-historic building.  The three historic buildings-the Dillaway School, the William Lloyd Garrison School, and the Berger Building-were individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and had been converted to affordable senior and family housing in 1980 by a former owner utilizing federal historic tax credits.  At the time of the EAF/MPDC acquisition, the buildings were in bankruptcy and had received little maintenance during the twenty years since the initial rehabilitation.  Even though the buildings had used historic credits before, the new project work exceeded EAF/MPDC's adjusted basis in the buildings, thus qualifying for a new round of credits. 

 

The scope of work for the project was not significantly altered by the owner's decision to utilize historic tax credits.  Because the buildings had been previously adapted for a residential program, the new rehabilitation work was primarily limited to installing new systems, updating kitchens and baths, and painting and carpeting the units.  Exterior work included minor masonry repairs and the installation of new energy-efficient windows that are more historically-accurate than the 1980 replacement units.  MacRostie Historic Advisors worked closely with the architect, contractor, and window supplier to ensure that the scope of work complied with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.  Our staff also prepared and coordinated the federal and state historic tax credit applications and the project received final certification for the state and federal historic tax credits in June 2009.

 

Overall, the state and federal historic tax credits provided over $5 million in equity for this $33 million project. Other equity included state and federal low income housing tax credits as well as permanent loans from the state housing agency and the city. The completed project revitalized historic buildings that had deteriorated after twenty years of neglect and provides 88 new units of subsidized rental housing for the Roxbury community.  


 

What We’re Working On:


From our Washington, DC office, we are servicing:


  • The green rehabilitation of the 1912 Wardman Row, a five-building complex in Washington, D.C., for 124 units of affordable housing;
  • Interior rehabilitation of the former Jackson Brewing Company Brewhouse and Millhouse in New Orleans (pictured, left) for continued mixed-use; and
  • Reuse of the Mayfair Mansions Apartments, one the earliest garden apartment complexes constructed in Washington D.C., for 400 units of affordable housing.


Our Boston office is providing historic tax credit and National Register consulting services for:


  • Conversion of the Bradford Durfee Textile School, a five-building campus developed during the early 20th-century in Fall River, Massachusetts, to a mixed-use community with artists' housing;
  • Redevelopment of Trinity House in East Boston, originally built in 1847 as a private home and operated by the Trinity Church as the Trinity Neighborhood House and Day Nursery during the early- to mid-20th century, into 13 single-room-occupancy units and studio space; and
  • Assisting the owners of the Yale and Towne Industrial Complex in Stamford, Connecticut in successfully securing over $10 million in competitive state historic tax credits as well as federal historic tax credits for the substantial rehabilitation of the complex into market-rate apartments.


In Chicago we are consulting on:


  • Nomination of the West Argyle Street Historic District in the Uptown neighborhood in Chicago for listing in the National Register of Historic Places;
  • Conversion of the former Kissel Motorcar Company showroom in Chicago's historic Motor Row for new use as housing; and
  • Rehabilitation of the Hotel Morlond, an apartment hotel built in 1915 in the Uptown neighborhood in Chicago, for continued use as 70 units of affordable housing by Mercy Housing Lakefront.  

 

 

Recent and Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

 

On July 16-17, Albert Rex will be speaking at CDFA's Fundamentals of Economic Development Finance Course in Washington, D.C.  Albert will be providing an overview of federal and state historic tax credits.

 

This course is a nationally acclaimed educational offering from CDFA's Development Finance Training Institute. The Fundamentals Course is the foundation for all of CDFA's educational offerings and will help you understand the variety of development finance tools available, from bonds, tax credits and TIF, to federal financing programs, RLFs, and access to capital lending resources. 

 

 

Fifth Annual J. Timothy Anderson Awards 

 

National Housing & Rehabilitation Association has issued a call for nominations for the Fifth 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.

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 West Baden Springs Hotel in West Baden Springs, IN, Harmony Mills in Cahoes, NY, the Clipper Mill in Baltimore, MD, and the Liberty Hotel in Boston, MA.

We encourage our friends and clients in the historic tax credit world to check out these great awards. Click Here To Learn More About the Timmy Awards.