Renovating Old Buildings for New Uses

Every construction project entails unique considerations, but a renovation project such as transforming The Buggyworks into a 6.73-acre urban village, commands its own brand of planning and forethought.

This unique project, like many historic and older buildings being renovated for new uses, demands a set of sensitivities that can be different from ground-up construction. An existing building shell of this era can show enormous potential as well as its share of challenges.

These sensitivities include:

• a complete understanding of the zoning issues affecting
  the project
• environmental audits availability and sizes of utilities
• engineering capacities of existing structural systems
• the ability to work with the characteristics of the existing shell

Having gathered the background information on zoning, environmental, structural and utilities will enable the project’s decision makers to have a good foundation for evaluating the potential success of the project—both from a time and budget perspective.

One additional consideration on a historic renovation project is the impact historical tax credits can make. However, the costs involved in matching materials and restoring antiquated fixtures can sometimes offset the benefits of the credit.

Once the renovation has been determined to be feasible, a schematic is drawn up, and in ConTrak’s case, clients are presented with a conceptual budget, which serves as a reference and guide as the project evolves.

Even though studies and evaluations have already been conducted prior to demolition, once the construction process is underway there may still be potential problems hiding under the surface that can add to the project cost. Structural framing and underground utilities are two examples of issues that cannot be evaluated until you break ground or cut holes in the walls.

In the end, a well-executed renovation yields a product unique to the market, appealing to a large number of buyers or lessees, and preserves the architectural heritage of a community.

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