Historical Preservation
Sustainable design and construction is a major aspect of the future built environment, and Sand Companies, Inc. is committed to the environmentally friendly practices that can make any building more “green”. Perhaps no process is friendlier to the environment than reuse of an existing building that may have reached functional obsolescence. If the right care is taken, the demolition of a major structure is averted along with all of the disposal and transportation issues that entails, plus major portions of the original construction can serve another complete life span.
Sand Companies, Inc. recently served as Architect and General Contractor for the Lowertown Lofts in downtown St. Paul. This was a conversion of a pair of historic buildings from empty office structures into 107 upscale loft style apartments. With the assistance from a historic preservation advisor, the building was successfully renovated following the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for Historic Renovation, allowing the owner to receive the 20% federal historic tax credit on eligible work to aid in project financing.
The building was renovated in 1987 to serve as major downtown office space, but by 2005 the market had changed and the building became obsolete. The conversion to apartments fit well with the goals of the City and the apartments were well supported with an adjacent parking structure and Mears Park across the street. The exterior of the building was left mostly unchanged with just a few added windows to accommodate apartment layouts.
On the interior, the existing elevators and stair systems were retained along with the entire heavy duty floor system. The underside of the heavy timber floor system was exposed in the apartments with the previously hidden cast iron column capitals highlighted in most areas. All new mechanical and electrical systems were introduced along with new interior walls and flooring finishes. Because of the building’s shape, large amounts of interior space not valuable for apartment units was devoted to amenities such as expansive lobbies, generous storage spaces, massage and fitness rooms, yoga studio and game and music practice rooms.
In 1928, construction began on the 13-story Minnesota Building at the corner of 4th and Cedar in downtown St. Paul. Designed by Charles Hausler in the Art Moderne or Art Deco style, the building was heralded as the most modern and prestigious office building in St. Paul upon its opening. However, even with numerous interior updates over the ensuing decades, the building was not meeting the needs for modern office space by the 1990’s and shortly after 2000 began to fall into disuse. SCI completed the work to get the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places which qualified the renovations for 20% federal historic tax credits.
SCI was the Architect and General Contractor for the project which will renovate the building into 137 rental apartments along with a modest amount of retail and office space on the lower levels. The two street facades are preserved and restored along with entrances, main lobby and the elevator lobbies on each floor. New elevators along with new mechanical and electrical systems are incorporated into the Minnesota Building. The existing terrazzo flooring that is a feature throughout the building is retained in nearly all spaces and the original historic office doors are now the entries into the apartments. The result is a thoroughly modern apartment building within the Art Moderne shell.