BISHOP ARTS

Adaptive Reuse – Bishop Arts District- SITE VISIT

We had the chance to visit so interesting locations as site visits in my REAE 5316 Adaptive Reuse class.   The visit to Bishop Arts was a perfect example of reuse and revitalization efforts in Dallas as we got to learn more about the history of these old building that have been rehabed into to trendy restaurants and boutiques.  The Bishop Arts District s in the heart of Oak Cliff.  

This area had been abandoned after the Trolley's stop running and just sat vacant and abandoned.  Developer/investor Jim Lake Sr. and his partner Mike Morgan began buying the run-down properties in 1985 with the intent to reuse these old buildings  They remodeled and thus basically revitalize the entire area.  Today the Bishop Arts District is a vibrant, popular spot to go shopping or just hang out.  A variety or restaurants, bars and boutiques line the streets, drawing crowds from all over.

An old grocery store has been converted into a restaurant and even an abandoned Fire Station now is home to a Gloria's restaurant.

Ft. Worth South Inc. - Mike Brennan SITE VISIT

Ft. Worth South – Mike Brennan

http://www.fortworthsouth.org

We had another site visit in several different Ft Worth locations.  In this visit we  met with Mike Brennan the Director of  Ft. Worth South, Inc.  at his office located at 1606 Mistletoe Blvd, an old residence converted into office space.

We got a lot of insight from Mike regarding the redevelopment of Ft Worth and how they have been using TIF fund to restore the Near South Side area.

He explained how Tif funds were collected from Tax increases in the TIF areas and put aside to fund developments to further increase the property values and at the same time creating future tax value in the neighborhood.

He also discussed his ideals regarding  the important requirements for a sustainable city area.  These requirements included converting streets into complete streets to accommodate both pedestrian and vehicular traffic comfortably.   Easy access to a variety of public spaces, using multi floor building to maximize use of buildings without overcrowding and most importantly being near and accessible to residences.

By looking at all the development that is going on in this area it is easy to see that Mike is doing a great job in building the community and bringing vibrancy back to South side Ft Worth.

Live Oak Music Hall & Lounge SITE VISIT

We  had the chance to visit  the Live Oak Music Hall and Lounge  located at 1311 Lipscomb St. in the Near Southside neighborhood.   This old building that once was the Southside Lions Club has been renovated into a Music Hall.  

We got a personal tour from Bill Smith the developer.  Bill Smith explained how he used his years of construction experience and through a labor of love rebuilt this  old warped building into the beautiful Music House and lounge it is today.

His hand carved woodwork can be seen throughout the Music hall and it is testimony to all the care he put into this place.  

Today the Live Oak is a major part of the community and hosts a variety  of concerts from live bands to symphonies. It is a frequent spot for local fundraising concerts  or just a great place to hang out an I am sure we will be hearing about events at this place for years to come.  

Ft. Worth Texas & Pacific Bldg. SITE VISIT

 Adaptive Reuse – Downtown Ft. Worth T&P building

Posted on November 25, 2012 

One memorable place we had the chance to visit was the Ft. Worth Texas and Pacific Railroad  building.








 This historic building , designed in 1931 has been beautifully rehabed to maximize it use and bring life back into this building for many years to come.

Banquet room

This building's old railroad station lobby has been turned into a beautiful and unique party venue that will be the site of many parties and weddings for years to come.

The original architecture of this old building is now the highlight of this party venue with beautiful high ceilings with intricate designs from the art deco era, brass doors, unique chandeliers and gorgeous vintage windows.

Loft entrance

 The upper floors of this building have been converted into luxury condos called Texas and Pacific Lofts.

The condos have a gated private entrance to maintain privacy for tenants. 

Ray Boothe - Architect

 Southside Ft. Worth – Ray Boothe Architect - SITE VISIT

During out tour of Ft Worth we also met with Ray Boothe.  He is been a major player in growth and redevelopment of the near south side neighborhood in Ft. Worth.  

The first place we visited with him was at Brewed.  

Brewed is a great little coffee house that has opened up in one of his rehabbed building.  Looking at the simple clean lines of this old 50's building... from the outside you cannot imagine how modern it will be inside.  

With simple green landscaping, this building has maintained its original architecture and has been put to a fabulous reuse.




Inside this coffee house it was bustling with activity and you could tell that despite just recently opening up for business, it is already becoming the cool spot to stop for a drink or bite to eat. 

Ryan's Deli- coming soon

Along the same strip we also toured other projects that are still under construction like Ryan's Fine Grocer & Deli.

Ray is also an architect along with being an experienced developer so he has been able to follow his projects through all phases of completion and is an expepert at creative financing and use of TIF funds to get the most out of his projects.  

He was very knowledgeable in all phases of construction and explained how he has been utilizing the older buildings natural design and retro fitting them to accomodate the new uses.  He is fitting his projects with energy efficient materials, taking advantage of natural lighting  and using water conserving landscaping.   

He explained how he was able to creatively meet city codes for areas that serve alcohol with minimal cost by building up the grade and the use of retaining walls to get the most out of his space and adding character and design at the same time.  

Fire Pit in patio

He also added little finishing touches to the patio areas like fire pits that I really liked

Since he has been developing this area for years he has many other projects from an old drugstore, a bank and many  other mixed use building that contain lofts, restaurants etc.   

Ray Booth has done such a great job with his projects in Ft Worth that his work should be an example for other City's and he truly deserves  credit for the revitalization of the area.

Eddie Vanston Development- 209 S. Main St.

 Eddie Vanston- Developer – 209 S. Main Street - SITE  VISIT

http://prosites-oldbuilding.homestead.com/index.html

We met with Eddie Vanston at 209 S. Main St.  Eddie restored the Sawyer Grocery store into 14 loft apartments and four retail/office space on the street level.

Eddie is an expert at finding and utilizing available tax credits and partnering up with companies like Chevron  to get the most out his developments.

This current project is close to completion and Eddie already has most of his unit full because of his reasonable rates.

The building was interesting to say the least.  It was built in 1910 and was used as a fireproof warehouse.  The old sturdy construction of the old brick building made it surprising cool when we walked in on this hot day.



It had very unique yet creepy doors that reminded me of the old warehouse in the move The Saw.  Although weird this also at the same time a very cool feature that i would not remove because it was part of the unique character of this building.

Just outside of this building in the dock area, there are plan in the near future for a Beer Garden.  This is definately one building i want to come back and see after its completion.

Just further down the street we also stopped at a tiny little bakery that was the perfect spot for an at home baker that suddenly found herself needing a bigger kitchen due to her growing orders.

 She got this spot from Eddie at very reasonable rates since it was in this area.  With all the great development Eddie is doing to this part of Ft Worth, I can see demand for space going up very soon.

New Markets Tax Credit

New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) as granted by the IRS as a credit against federal income taxes for making Qualified Equity Investments (QEIs) in qualified community development entities (CDEs). These investments are encouraged by this tax break to create jobs and bring improvement to residents of low-income communities.  

The City of Dallas administers NMTCs through the Dallas Development Fund (DDF) created in 2009. By investing in low income areas, investors receive a tax credit against their Federal income tax return in exchange for making equity investments in specialized financial institutions called Community Development Entities.

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses//New-Markets-Tax-Credit–1

http://www.dallas-ecodev.org/incentives/new-markets-tax-credit/

http://www.cdfifund.gov/what_we_do/programs_id.asp?programID=5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Markets_Tax_Credit_Program

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/atgnmtc.pdf

http://nmtccoalition.org/

 

Historic Preservation Tax Credits

HISTORIC PRESERVATION TAX CREDITS  are offered by the Federal Government and most State jurisdictions as a tax incentive to promote the preservation of qualified Historic properties. 

In Texas, a property must be listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).  The NRHP maintains the register of Historic properties and if an Income producing property qualities for this title it can apply for Tax Credits to be used for its renovation and preservation.  The City of Dallas requirements are a little different, a property must be designated a City of Dallas Landmark or be a contributing property within a Landmark district to get these credits. 

The Tax credits  are to be used on income producing properties, single family homes are not covered.  The IRS audits projects to insure the credits are not used for acquisition or related costs. Qualified expenses are structural repairs, heating and air conditioning replacement, plumbing, roof work, painting, and electrical.

Several different government  regulations exist to govern the use of the HISTORIC PRESERVATION TAX CREDIT

Some states that tax income are also offering addition state tax credits tax to encourage the preservation and rehabilitation of older neighborhoods.  This map shows which states offer additional state tax credits along with the federal credit. Research has shown that in states that tax income producing properties, the additional state tax credit has doubled the use of the Historic preservation credit. Texas as you can see on this map does not have state income taxes.

http://www.thc.state.tx.us/historicprop/hpcredits.shtml http://dallascityhall.com/development_services/historic_preservation.html 

http://www.nps.gov/tps/

www.preservationnation.org

Community Development Entities(CDE)- Adapt and Reuse Topic

Community Development Entity (CDE)

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program was enacted in December 2000 as part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act. This was meant to encourage private investment in low-income urban and rural communities. The program wanted to provide an incentive to increase investment in business opportunities in low-income communities and is doing this by way of the NMTC.

Community Development Entity (CDE) must be certified be eligible for NMTCs.  To become certified the organization must demonstrate accountability to the community. CDEs successful in receiving an allocation must have a strong business plan, good management, proven track record of working with investors and proposed projects that will have a substantial impact in low-income communities. 

Table 1

	CDE	HQ STATE	ALLOCATION (x $1 million)	SERVICE AREA
1	Phoenix Community Development and Investment Corporation	AZ	$170.0	Phoenix and surrounding area
2	National New Markets Tax Credit Fund, Inc.	MN	$162.5	National, with focus on CA, CO, MN, NY, OH, PA, TX
3	Community Development New Markets I, LLC	OH	$150.0	National, with focus on CO, IN, ME, NY, OH, OR, WA
4	Wachovia Community Development Enterprises, LLC	NC	$150.0	National, with focus on CT, FL, GA, NC, NJ, VA, PA
5	KHC New Markets CDE, LLC Series A	CA	$134.0	National, with focus on CA, FL, NY, OR, TX, UT, WA
		TOTAL	$766.5

 Table showing the 5 CDEs with the Largest Allocations

Common community development entities use these funds to offer small business opportunities, low income housing and other community related activities. 

http://dallascityhall.com/housing/Development/CHDOCBDO/index.html

http://www.frbsf.org/publications/community/investments/0308/article1a.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_development_financial_institution

http://www.areadevelopment.com/taxesIncentives/dec09/new-markets-tax-credit-incentive1103.shtml