Living History

Jonathan Holtzman is the Co-founder and Chairman of Michigan-based City Club Apartments.

In cities and towns across the country, magnificent historic buildings of all sizes are finding new life as residential, retail, office, hospitality and mixed-use developments. Renovating and repositioning these unused or underutilized pieces of history creates a unique and appealing residential resource while simultaneously preserving the art, artistry and architecture that contributes so much to the distinctive character of a city. There is nothing greener than preservation.

Converting a historic structure into a premier residential mixed-use community isn’t easy. The economic calculus is far more complex than with a ground-up build. Not only do these developments require significant front-end investment, the financing process–specifically, negotiating the tax credits and regulatory issues–is complex. Additionally, aging buildings present a range of structural, technical, logistical, environmental, building and fire code and operational challenges that complicate the design and development.