The Ames Hotel after rehabilitation
Boston, Massachusetts
Naval Training Center
San Diego, California
Plymouth Building
Chicago, Illinois
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WINTER 2010 UPDATE: MACROSTIE HISTORIC ADVISORS
Boston's Ames Building Reborn as a Boutique Hotel
The 14-story Ames Building in downtown Boston, completed in 1893 as one of the tallest masonry load-bearing structures in the world, reopened in November 2009 as a 114-room boutique hotel after standing vacant over 10 years of failed rehabilitation attempts. Designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge and constructed by the Norcross Brother, the Renaissance Revival-style building with a massive granite base and sandstone walls was commissioned by the Ames family, who made their fortune selling shovels that were used during America's Westward Expansion.
The building closed in 1999 and changed hands several times before Normandy Real Estate Partners and Morgans Hotel Group finally brought the project to fruition as the Ames Hotel. MacRostie Historic Advisors provided historic tax credit consulting services to the development team. In addition, through our affiliate, Commonwealth Equity Investments LLC, we were involved in the sale of the Massachusetts historic tax credits. Cambridge Seven Associates provided architectural services for the project and Building Conservation Associates provided technical expertise in the restoration of the exterior stone and the unique mosaic vaulted ceiling in the entrance lobby.
Without federal and state tax credit equity, this designated Boston Landmark would still be vacant. The recently-completed rehabilitation was profiled in AirTran Airlines' December 2009 Go magazine. Click here to read the article.
What We're Working On
From our Washington, DC office, we are servicing:
• Conversion of the Universal Furniture Company Building in New Orleans' Faubourg Marigny neighborhood into "The Healing
Center," a facility to promote wellbeing by providing yoga studios, massage therapy, as well as classrooms, galleries and performance space; and
• Rehabilitation of Gatehouse #3 at the Naval Training Center in San Diego, California for conversion into arts-related classroom/gallery or retail/restaurant space.
Our Boston office is providing historic consulting services for:
• Conversion of the historic YWCA complex in Worcester, Massachusetts. The project will create commercial/retail space on lower floors and 14 residential units (three affordable) on upper floors. MHA is also completing a National Register nomination for the complex; and
• National Register-listing and rehabilitation of the 1923 Printers Building in Worcester, Massachusetts for continued use as a commercial printing-related space with five new residential units on the top floor.
In Chicago we are consulting on:
• Landmark designation and rehabilitation of Chicago's Plymouth Building for 20 units of graduate-level student housing. Constructed in 1899 as a commercial loft building, it later served as the headquarters of the LaSalle Extension University, one of the largest and most successful distance learning institutions in the country. MHA also completed Class "L" documentation for the building; and
• Tax-advantaged rehabilitation of the 1926 Washington Hotel in Greenville, Texas for 36 units of affordable housing and the completion of a National Register nomination for the building.
Recent and Upcoming Speaking Engagements:
• Bill MacRostie will moderate a panel at the National Historic Tax Credit Conference, to be held in Washington D.C. on March 3-5. MHA is a conference sponsor; and
• Bill MacRostie will speak on "Unconventional Historic Tax Credit Opportunities" at the National Housing & Rehabilitation Associations' Affordable Housing Conference & Annual Meeting in Miami Beach on March 10-13. |
