Intriguing Twists in Adaptive Reuse

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SAN DIEGO—The boom in multifamily and commercial real estate has spurred developers to adaptively reuse aging facilities and convert them into striking residential and mixed-use communities, Lorne Polger, senior managing director and co-founder of Pathfinder Partners, tells GlobeSt.com. Pathfinder has transformed a century-old church in Seattle into contemporary townhomes and is in the process of converting portions of a former Butterball turkey-processing plant in Longmont, CO, into a mixed-use project with multifamily, creative office, brewery, restaurant and other commercial space. Also, in October, Pathfinder acquired the former Gold Star Sausage Factory in Downtown Denver’s RiNo (River North) district and has already begun work to adapt the 65-year-old, 47,000-square-foot structure for use as creative office and retail. We spoke exclusively with Polger about the factors his firm looks for when investing in older properties for reuse, and how a community’s history can ultimately contribute to its revitalization and success.