3 Questions Adaptive Reuse Developers Need to Ask

Chuck Taylor

While it’s always thrilling to create a new building, I have to say that some of the most rewarding construction projects to work on involve the adaptive reuse of an existing property. I love the process of taking a building that has outlived its original usefulness, and giving it new life for a new purpose.

Englewood Construction is in the midst of two adaptive reuse jobs right now – one a former meat packing facility in Chicago that we’re updating for office, retail or restaurant use, and the other a former convent we’ll be converting into a senior living community. These are only the latest in a number of adaptive reuse projects we’ve handled over the years – including our own corporate headquarters in Lemont, Ill., which was a third-generation grocery store before we converted it into our offices. In all these cases, and with any adaptive reuse job, there are special considerations to think about beyond what comes into play for ground-up new-construction or even a renovation of an existing space for a similar purpose (like retail to retail). Here are a few important questions to keep in mind:

What will it take to make the space work for its new purpose?

One of the first questions in any adaptive reuse project is what modifications need to be made to the existing floor plan and structure so the space works for its new purpose. There’s often a lot of creativity in this process, not only from the client envisioning the potential of the space and the architect coming up with the design, but also from the general contractor in figuring out how to make that design a reality and anticipating what challenges and costs are involved – some of which could potentially make or break the project.