The balancing act
Renovations to a series of historic buildings at Cincinnati’s iconic Findlay Market required sensitivity to design, historic preservation, and green requirements.
Problem
This project included renovations to a series of approximately 150-year old buildings near Findlay Market in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine historic district. The challenge was to identify how to retrofit these buildings in a way that simultaneously supported the architect’s design goals, achieved performance targets, and met development requirements.
The project’s financing relied upon a combination of historic tax credits, Cincinnati’s LEED Property Tax abatement, and New Market Tax credits. A central challenge was to balance these requirements: namely identifying an appropriate path toward LEED certification that could adhere to historic guidelines.
We also helped the construction team troubleshoot the challenges that inevitably arise with historic retrofits, whether achieving air tightness and duct leakage targets, or diagnosing humidity issues.
