The Economics of Adaptive Reuse of Old Buildings A Financial Feasibility Study & Analysis by Nart Stas A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master in Arts in Planning Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2007 ©Nart Stas, 2007 [...]... buildings (Jacobs, 1961) A study by the Australian Department of the Environment and Heritage describes the most successful adaptive reuse of a built heritage as those that best respect and retain the building’s heritage significance and add a contemporary layer that provides value for the future The study recommends that the adaptive reuse of a historic building should have minimal impact on the heritage... stands as a good example of this trend As most old industrial buildings are located in the old core of cities and towns, many of these buildings possess significant architectural and historical value Some of these buildings are designated or eligible for designation under the Ontario Heritage Act Jane Jacobs wrote about the importance of ordinary historic buildings in here book The Death and Life of. .. buildings back and farther away from each others Since this study aims to examine the economics of adaptive reuse which is considered an alternative for urban sprawl, we turned to the economic and planning literature for guidance in defining urban sprawl Economists usually associate the degree of sprawl in an urban area with the occurrence of excessive suburbanization They consider suburbanization excessive... significantly more attention to fostering sustainable urban development and smart growth to improve the quality of life in urban areas (De Sousa, 2003) Sprawl and its response, new urbanism, and the need to revive central cities, all are recent trends that have dominated the debate among planners and policymakers about urban revitalization These are fundamentally critical planning topics and analyzing them... factors: - new urbanism - reviving the central city These trends and responses have become hot topics across the United States and Canada They have dominated the debate among planners and policy makers, and this chapter is designed to examine the above noted trends and offer a review of previous ideas that define and examine their nature and impact on our communities 2.2 The Decline of Population and... investors and developers? Many of the studies in the literature that have focused on the economics of rehabilitation and cost benefit analysis have not entertained the full spectrum of issues and alternatives associated with those case studies They have generally not calculated and compared the economic alternatives to preservation measures (Mason, 2005) This study aims to fill this gap by introducing a research... a research 4 method derived from the fields of real-estate economics and architecture Using the case study approach, the return on investments of three typical ‘real-life’ adaptive reuse projects are calculated, analyzed and compared with two alternative hypothetical development scenarios of new construction designed for each case study The first scenario is based on the option of demolishing the existing... that contribute directly to reviving urban centers In many cases old buildings that are subject to adaptive reuse are not brownfield sites 19 Contamination becomes a factor in adaptive reuse projects especially when the previous use of the building is industrial The field of adaptive reuse of old buildings is very similar to brownfield redevelopment, mainly from the type of risks associated with the. .. unprecedented traffic loads have strained the road systems due to the full dependency on car for travel Any understanding of the potential for changing our urban landscape needs to be based on an analysis of the following two factors that affect directly the way communities grow and develop: - recent trends in the spatial distribution of population and employment - sprawl and its results And the planning responses... orphan sites; - the lack of information of the current environmental condition of the land; - the lack of public information and education on brownfield issues; - limited government funding, incentives, and initiatives to assist the private sector 3.4 Adaptive Reuse of Old Buildings A large number of brownfield sites contain buildings that are either abandoned or underutilized Most of the times those buildings . - 'Real-life' Adaptive Reuse Scenario 82 Drawing 7: Lawyer's Hall – Basement & 1 st Floor Plans - 'Real-life' Adaptive Reuse Scenario 83 Drawing 8: Lawyer's. The Economics of Adaptive Reuse of Old Buildings A Financial Feasibility Study & Analysis by Nart Stas A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in. by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. iii Abstract The debate about the financial feasibility of adaptive reuse is