Affordable housing is crucial to society because it ensures that families with limited economic means have a place to live.
Either new structures can be built or older buildings can be renovated to increase the affordable housing stock.
"Preserving and restoring historic buildings has the potential to breathe life into local communities and their economies," said Larry Curtis, president and managing partner of WinnDevelopment, which is one of the nation's largest developers of large-scale, mixed-use and mixed-income projects, including the Oliver Lofts on Mission Hill and the The Apartments at Boott Mill in Lowell.
Historic tax credits, from both the state and federal governments, can be an integral part of the financing for real estate redevelopment and re-use projects. These subsidies have helped developers revitalize older downtown areas and urban neighborhoods. These projects have provided construction jobs and affordable rental housing for low-income families and seniors since 1976.
"The revitalization of historic buildings into housing typically has significant construction cost premiums and the historic tax credits directly address that and make it possible to create reasonably priced affordable housing," said Bart Mitchell, president and CEO of The Community Builders, the country's largest nonprofit developer of mixed-income housing. Its local projects include the Franklin School Apartments in Lexington and the Central Grammar School in Gloucester.
Making older buildings wheelchair-accessible can be particularly costly, he said.
"Especially buildings such as schools were built as a monumental structure on top of a huge staircase and are not accessible. (It's necessary to) add elevators and such," Mitchell added.
There may also be costly environmental cleanup issues, because renovating older buildings may require asbestos or lead paint removal.
Additionally, when laying out a building for a completely different use, the developer may want to preserve some of the historic features, but may face the costly challenge of coming up with spaces for bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms.
"Preserving the high ceilings and large windows is important and creates interesting interiors within the housing units," Curtis said.
Of course, there are benefits to rehabbing existing buildings.
"When re-using an old building, no one is wondering what the building is going to look like. Sometimes the approval process can be easier," Mitchell said.
The historic credits also can help contribute to a cleaner environment, according to developers.
"The 'greenest' thing you can do is re-use an existing building," Mitchell said. "If you don't re-use an existing building, think about all of the diesel exhaust and landfill that's used in the demolition of the old building, then all of the transportation, manufacturing and assembly for the new building."
Older buildings that were built with thick masonry walls can be extremely efficient to heat, especially once a modern roof and windows are added.
Oliver Lofts, located on Mission Hill, is the only midrise, multifamily building in the city to earn Platinum LEED certification for its environmental friendliness, and one of only two historic renovations in the nation to win that distinction after being converted to mixed-income housing. The 19th century building, recently renovated after being vacant for 30 years, is now a mixed-income housing community consisting of 62 apartments.
Jennifer Athas is a licensed real estate broker and can be reached by email at heraldhotproperty@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter, @JenAthas.
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