Cracking the code
Burlington council to discuss possibility of historic building code.
By MICHAEL ANDERSON Burlington council to discuss possibility of historic building code.
manderson@thehawkeye.com
Sunlight poured through windows on the ground floor of the McConnell Lofts, gleaming off the hardwood maple floors and setting the exposed interior brick wall aglow.
"It's obvious the quality of craftsmanship of the materials used in here," owner Mike Darnall said. "It's unmatched today. You couldn't do it."
Built in 1905, the building at 206 N. Fourth St. originally was used by the McConnell Co. to manufacture saddles. It traded hands over the years, and much of the building's original design steadily was covered with drywall and polystyrene ceiling tiles until Darnall came along.
He's been working to bring the historic building back to life since 1996 and plans to use its five floors for high-end condos. When the building is fully redeveloped, it will have a cafe on the ground floor, a pub in the basement and a deck on the roof, all incorporating historic design elements.
Darnall is using as much of the original building as possible, painstakingly revarnishing all the woodwork and reconstructing details all the way down to the ornate doorknobs and twisting brass locks on the heavy maple doors.
"We live in America's throwaway society," he said. "I see a degradation of quality, and we've got to change. We can't go on like we are. It's not sustainable."
Apart from its historic aspects, it was the sustainable construction of the McConnell building that attracted Darnall in the first place. Historic buildings were built to last, he said, and with a downtown full of them, Burlington's foundations are built from sturdy stuff.
But many of those buildings sit vacant, every day slouching deeper into disrepair. Renovating them becomes more expensive and less of a possibility as their conditions continue to worsen.
Darnall thinks the city needs to do more to attract developers who want to renovate those historic buildings. To do that, he thinks the city must make it easier for developers to navigate the state's building codes, which he said can discourage development.
Dubuque appears to have overcome those barriers in a way Darnall thinks Burlington should emulate. Having undergone a massive renovation of its historic downtown, Dubuque is experiencing a renaissance of sorts.
Darnall credits Dubuque's success to its adoption of a historic building code that makes it easier for developers to renovate old buildings.
"Dubuque has been the most successful city in Iowa in terms of redeveloping their downtown," Darnall said. "We want to make our downtown grow. And this is the tool."
The Dubuque code
Burlington adheres to the International Existing Building Code as well as the International Building Code, which are the standard codes across the state.
Dubuque followed the same codes until switching 10 years ago to the Wisconsin Commercial Code, which helped spur historic renovations in LaCrosse, Prairie du Chien and several other communities.
Rich Russel, Dubuque's building services manager, took notice and began working on a similar code for Dubuque.
Russel characterized adoption of the Wisconsin-derived historic building code as "dramatically transformative" for Dubuque. Since adopting the code, Russel said Dubuque has seen more historic renovations, and developers have enjoyed a greater amount of flexibility in the execution of their projects.
"This code has helped transform many downtown buildings. Dozens of renovated housing units have been brought back on the market," he said. "These projects also greatly reduce the blighting effect of empty and underutilized buildings in our downtown."
Dubuque's historic building code is similar to standard Iowa codes in that it evaluates the same 17 building and safety parameters, including exits, sprinklers and fire alarms. Unlike the standard codes, however, the Dubuque code applies solely to historic buildings and allows for compromises between historicism and safety requirements.
Both Dubuque's code and Iowa's standard codes provide points assigned for every safety feature included or excluded in a project. A project's code compliance score determines whether it will be approved for development.
Though Dubuque's code evaluates the same features, it arranges them in three columns, and as long as the sum of the columns is zero or greater, the project is deemed acceptable.
That means a project can be green-lighted even if it has a negative score in one of the three columns, as long as the point deficiency is offset in the other columns. Such an allowance would be unacceptable in Burlington.
A passing score on Iowa's standard code depends on the structure's intended occupancy. The higher the occupants, the higher the code compliance score must be to pass.
"An example would be a nightclub of 300-plus people would require a fire safety score of plus-20. This is a substantial difference in code compliance requirements, as Dubuque would require zero or above," Burlington city inspector Mark Hirsbrunner said in an email.
In other words, Dubuque's code allows developers some elbow room, making it easier to redevelop properties that are highly regulated for both historic and modern-day safety features. Rather than requiring historic woodwork be covered with drywall to meet safety parameters, the Dubuque code allows developers to explore alternatives that leave historic features intact without sacrificing safety.
"What the Dubuque code does is it takes a look at the reasoning behind a 100-year-old building and how you can take the codes and adapt it to make that building fit today's laws and rules," said Bob Gabby the construction manager at the McConnell Lofts. "By following this code, you realize it's a 100-year-old building, and you've got some leeway. You have to do what's safe for the public, but you can do it this way. It gives options."
IBM and Dubuque
After an extensive nationwide search, IBM announced in 2009 it was moving a new customer service call center into the upper five floors of the Roshek Building, a former department store and the centerpiece of Dubuque's historic downtown. Since laying down roots in Dubuque, IBM has brought a $60 million payroll to bear and has met its target of creating 1,300 jobs in the community. The presence of the international tech corporation has attracted a young workforce to the city's renovated historic center, boosting commerce across the board.
"IBM is such a tremendous brand. Within the first two weeks, our community job website drew over 10,000 applications for those 1,300 positions. And they were from literally around the world," said Rick Dickinson, the executive director of Greater Dubuque Development Corp.
Dickinson's organization works closely with IBM and other economic development in Dubuque. He said Dubuque never would have shown up on IBM's radar were it not for the Roshek Building's inclusion on the city's historic building inventory.
Dickinson said Dubuque catalogs all its historic buildings in a locational information system IBM accessed during its search for the call center. Many of Burlington's downtown buildings similarly are cataloged in the National Register of Historic Places, which is maintained by the National Park Service.
According to Dickinson, IBM went into its search with a list of criteria numerous buildings across the country satisfied. IBM's main requirement, he said, was its building be sustainable and have 150,000 square feet of existing office space. Historicism did not enter into the equation, Dickinson said, at least not until later in the search.
Dubuque eventually was selected from a handful of finalists, including Cheyene, Wyo.; Columbia, Mo.; Bloomington, Ind.; and Greenville, S.C. It was in that final stage of the search, Dickinson said, the historic nature of the Roshek Building gave Dubuque the edge.
"I think it's fair to say that since it was a historic building, that the city had a focus on sustainability, which fit well with IBM's Smarter Planet initiative, that it may have given us a competitive advantage against other communities," Dickinson said.
Dickinson and IBM appear to be in agreement with Darnall: Renovated historic buildings are the most sustainable.
"The most sustainable construction is the renovation of an existing facility versus new construction," Dickinson said.
The Roshek Building since has been recognized for its environmentally sound design and upkeep. It is the only platinum-rated LEED certified historic building in Iowa and one of the few in the country.
The economic impact of a company like IBM on a community is difficult to ignore. Apart from leading to increased commerce and the extensive renovation of up to 300 historic apartments downtown since 2008, IBM also has worked with the city on several sustainability projects as part of its Smarter Planet initiative.
David Lyons is the project manager of Smarter Sustainable Dubuque, which is the collaborative effort between Dubuque and IBM. The goal of the effort, Lyons said, is to couple technology with community engagement to encourage resource conservation and reduce environmental impact in the city.
A water remediation project has reduced the city's water consumption by 6.6 percent, Lyons said. The city, with IBM, also is working on a state-of-the-art public transit monitoring system.
Dubuque's unemployment rate last month was 4.4 percent, about 1.5 percent lower than the state's already low average. The city's success comes at least in part from playing to its strong suits, Dickinson said: historicism and sustainability.
"We've had a lot of growth downtown, and I think it's partly due to the restoration of downtown Dubuque and the renaissance that's taken place on the riverfront," Dickinson said.
The Burlington renaissance
Councilwoman Becky Anderson said several potential buyers of Burlington's downtown historic properties have emerged in the last month or so.
Attorney Steve Hoth is making progress selling the Dehner building, 608 Jefferson St., and Steve Frevert, executive director of Downtown Partners Inc., has found a potential buyer for the east tower and middle section of the Bookend Building, 512 and 514 Jefferson St.
"It's a local person, and it's a fairly young person," Anderson said of the Bookend Building's suitor, deferring further comment to Frevert.
Frevert declined to elaborate, other than to note it would be a commercial development.
Part of the West Jefferson historic district, a $175,000 I-Jobs grant paid for a new roof on the middle section of the Bookend Building and renovation of the first-floor interior, which is where the potential tenant likely will be situated. Frevert said the building needs to be re-surveyed before any action can be taken.
Anderson sees movement with the Dehner and the Bookend buildings as indications interest in Burlington's historic downtown is growing. The recent addition of the manufacturing wholesale district to Burlington's five existing historic districts opens even more of downtown for eligibility on the National Register of Historic Places. The resultant state and federal historic tax credits may attract more developers downtown.
Meanwhile, Frevert's office fields calls daily from people inquiring about local historic property.
"I get calls on a pretty regular basis from people both in town and out of town looking for commercial space or interested in buying buildings. It's pretty much a constant," Frevert said.
Anderson said there is at least one other historic building downtown in the final stage of being purchased, though she would not offer any other details.
"There are other parties looking at other buildings, too," she said.
Frevert, meanwhile, said his office keeps busy with what's already on the table.
"We have a number of projects in the works," he said.
The Bookend Building being one of those projects, Frevert hopes to be able to announce whether his office seals the deal on the purchase agreement by the end of this month.
"When we're ready we'll make an announcement," Frevert said. "It'll be pretty big news."
Cracking the code
As a developer, Anderson is familiar with Iowa's building codes. Apart from the renovation of the Capitol Theater, Anderson has redeveloped the historic Hedge Building, 401 Jefferson St., where she keeps her office. She also is in the process of renovating the property at 515-517 Jefferson St., where she rents space to the Happy Mutant bike shop on the first floor.
While Anderson said she hasn't had problems with the state's building codes, she knows other developers in town who have had a harder time navigating the process.
"I've heard that it's more difficult to develop here, and I don't want that," Anderson said. "I want to hear that Burlington is cooperative with rehab development. I don't want to hear that we make it more difficult."
With that in mind, Anderson said she's still interested in exploring a historic building code tailored to Burlington, a code similar, if not identical, to Dubuque's.
"More than anything, I want our city to have the same attitude as Dubuque has about rehabbing old buildings," Anderson said. "We have all these architectural gems that are becoming a diminishing asset. We need to do something about it."
The city council discussed adopting Dubuque's historic building code in April. At the time, council members said they were interested in learning more about the Dubuque code, though further discussion appears to be stymied.
"I don't know where we are on that," Anderson said. "It kind of just fell along the wayside."
Planning and Development Director Eric Tysland said the city's finances have taken priority since April, though he hopes to discuss the Dubuque code in the next few months.
Anderson said taking another look at redesigning Burlington's building code would be a win-win for developers and the city.
"Because who benefits if we save these buildings?" Anderson said. "The city does. It increases property taxes, there's less demolition costs, we get business startups and pride in our heritage."
The sooner action is taken the better, Darnall said. The longer the buildings downtown sit unoccupied and unattended, the quicker they will deteriorate until, in some cases, they will be beyond restoration.
"We have some extraordinary buildings downtown, but any time you let water come in through the roof, it just doesn't take long till it's not feasible to bring it back," Darnall said. "That's my concern. We've got to really pay attention to getting something going."
Darnall acknowledged there always will be difficulties renovating historic buildings. He knows the Dubuque code is not a magic bullet, but he thinks it's a step in the right direction.
"I'd like to see the city embrace it. Just so that this beautiful downtown, all these historic buildings, can be brought back to life," Darnall said.
"It's obvious the quality of craftsmanship of the materials used in here," owner Mike Darnall said. "It's unmatched today. You couldn't do it."
Built in 1905, the building at 206 N. Fourth St. originally was used by the McConnell Co. to manufacture saddles. It traded hands over the years, and much of the building's original design steadily was covered with drywall and polystyrene ceiling tiles until Darnall came along.
He's been working to bring the historic building back to life since 1996 and plans to use its five floors for high-end condos. When the building is fully redeveloped, it will have a cafe on the ground floor, a pub in the basement and a deck on the roof, all incorporating historic design elements.
Darnall is using as much of the original building as possible, painstakingly revarnishing all the woodwork and reconstructing details all the way down to the ornate doorknobs and twisting brass locks on the heavy maple doors.
"We live in America's throwaway society," he said. "I see a degradation of quality, and we've got to change. We can't go on like we are. It's not sustainable."
Apart from its historic aspects, it was the sustainable construction of the McConnell building that attracted Darnall in the first place. Historic buildings were built to last, he said, and with a downtown full of them, Burlington's foundations are built from sturdy stuff.
But many of those buildings sit vacant, every day slouching deeper into disrepair. Renovating them becomes more expensive and less of a possibility as their conditions continue to worsen.
Darnall thinks the city needs to do more to attract developers who want to renovate those historic buildings. To do that, he thinks the city must make it easier for developers to navigate the state's building codes, which he said can discourage development.
Dubuque appears to have overcome those barriers in a way Darnall thinks Burlington should emulate. Having undergone a massive renovation of its historic downtown, Dubuque is experiencing a renaissance of sorts.
Darnall credits Dubuque's success to its adoption of a historic building code that makes it easier for developers to renovate old buildings.
"Dubuque has been the most successful city in Iowa in terms of redeveloping their downtown," Darnall said. "We want to make our downtown grow. And this is the tool."
The Dubuque code
Burlington adheres to the International Existing Building Code as well as the International Building Code, which are the standard codes across the state.
Dubuque followed the same codes until switching 10 years ago to the Wisconsin Commercial Code, which helped spur historic renovations in LaCrosse, Prairie du Chien and several other communities.
Rich Russel, Dubuque's building services manager, took notice and began working on a similar code for Dubuque.
Russel characterized adoption of the Wisconsin-derived historic building code as "dramatically transformative" for Dubuque. Since adopting the code, Russel said Dubuque has seen more historic renovations, and developers have enjoyed a greater amount of flexibility in the execution of their projects.
"This code has helped transform many downtown buildings. Dozens of renovated housing units have been brought back on the market," he said. "These projects also greatly reduce the blighting effect of empty and underutilized buildings in our downtown."
Dubuque's historic building code is similar to standard Iowa codes in that it evaluates the same 17 building and safety parameters, including exits, sprinklers and fire alarms. Unlike the standard codes, however, the Dubuque code applies solely to historic buildings and allows for compromises between historicism and safety requirements.
Both Dubuque's code and Iowa's standard codes provide points assigned for every safety feature included or excluded in a project. A project's code compliance score determines whether it will be approved for development.
Though Dubuque's code evaluates the same features, it arranges them in three columns, and as long as the sum of the columns is zero or greater, the project is deemed acceptable.
That means a project can be green-lighted even if it has a negative score in one of the three columns, as long as the point deficiency is offset in the other columns. Such an allowance would be unacceptable in Burlington.
A passing score on Iowa's standard code depends on the structure's intended occupancy. The higher the occupants, the higher the code compliance score must be to pass.
"An example would be a nightclub of 300-plus people would require a fire safety score of plus-20. This is a substantial difference in code compliance requirements, as Dubuque would require zero or above," Burlington city inspector Mark Hirsbrunner said in an email.
In other words, Dubuque's code allows developers some elbow room, making it easier to redevelop properties that are highly regulated for both historic and modern-day safety features. Rather than requiring historic woodwork be covered with drywall to meet safety parameters, the Dubuque code allows developers to explore alternatives that leave historic features intact without sacrificing safety.
"What the Dubuque code does is it takes a look at the reasoning behind a 100-year-old building and how you can take the codes and adapt it to make that building fit today's laws and rules," said Bob Gabby the construction manager at the McConnell Lofts. "By following this code, you realize it's a 100-year-old building, and you've got some leeway. You have to do what's safe for the public, but you can do it this way. It gives options."
IBM and Dubuque
After an extensive nationwide search, IBM announced in 2009 it was moving a new customer service call center into the upper five floors of the Roshek Building, a former department store and the centerpiece of Dubuque's historic downtown. Since laying down roots in Dubuque, IBM has brought a $60 million payroll to bear and has met its target of creating 1,300 jobs in the community. The presence of the international tech corporation has attracted a young workforce to the city's renovated historic center, boosting commerce across the board.
"IBM is such a tremendous brand. Within the first two weeks, our community job website drew over 10,000 applications for those 1,300 positions. And they were from literally around the world," said Rick Dickinson, the executive director of Greater Dubuque Development Corp.
Dickinson's organization works closely with IBM and other economic development in Dubuque. He said Dubuque never would have shown up on IBM's radar were it not for the Roshek Building's inclusion on the city's historic building inventory.
Dickinson said Dubuque catalogs all its historic buildings in a locational information system IBM accessed during its search for the call center. Many of Burlington's downtown buildings similarly are cataloged in the National Register of Historic Places, which is maintained by the National Park Service.
According to Dickinson, IBM went into its search with a list of criteria numerous buildings across the country satisfied. IBM's main requirement, he said, was its building be sustainable and have 150,000 square feet of existing office space. Historicism did not enter into the equation, Dickinson said, at least not until later in the search.
Dubuque eventually was selected from a handful of finalists, including Cheyene, Wyo.; Columbia, Mo.; Bloomington, Ind.; and Greenville, S.C. It was in that final stage of the search, Dickinson said, the historic nature of the Roshek Building gave Dubuque the edge.
"I think it's fair to say that since it was a historic building, that the city had a focus on sustainability, which fit well with IBM's Smarter Planet initiative, that it may have given us a competitive advantage against other communities," Dickinson said.
Dickinson and IBM appear to be in agreement with Darnall: Renovated historic buildings are the most sustainable.
"The most sustainable construction is the renovation of an existing facility versus new construction," Dickinson said.
The Roshek Building since has been recognized for its environmentally sound design and upkeep. It is the only platinum-rated LEED certified historic building in Iowa and one of the few in the country.
The economic impact of a company like IBM on a community is difficult to ignore. Apart from leading to increased commerce and the extensive renovation of up to 300 historic apartments downtown since 2008, IBM also has worked with the city on several sustainability projects as part of its Smarter Planet initiative.
David Lyons is the project manager of Smarter Sustainable Dubuque, which is the collaborative effort between Dubuque and IBM. The goal of the effort, Lyons said, is to couple technology with community engagement to encourage resource conservation and reduce environmental impact in the city.
A water remediation project has reduced the city's water consumption by 6.6 percent, Lyons said. The city, with IBM, also is working on a state-of-the-art public transit monitoring system.
Dubuque's unemployment rate last month was 4.4 percent, about 1.5 percent lower than the state's already low average. The city's success comes at least in part from playing to its strong suits, Dickinson said: historicism and sustainability.
"We've had a lot of growth downtown, and I think it's partly due to the restoration of downtown Dubuque and the renaissance that's taken place on the riverfront," Dickinson said.
The Burlington renaissance
Councilwoman Becky Anderson said several potential buyers of Burlington's downtown historic properties have emerged in the last month or so.
Attorney Steve Hoth is making progress selling the Dehner building, 608 Jefferson St., and Steve Frevert, executive director of Downtown Partners Inc., has found a potential buyer for the east tower and middle section of the Bookend Building, 512 and 514 Jefferson St.
"It's a local person, and it's a fairly young person," Anderson said of the Bookend Building's suitor, deferring further comment to Frevert.
Frevert declined to elaborate, other than to note it would be a commercial development.
Part of the West Jefferson historic district, a $175,000 I-Jobs grant paid for a new roof on the middle section of the Bookend Building and renovation of the first-floor interior, which is where the potential tenant likely will be situated. Frevert said the building needs to be re-surveyed before any action can be taken.
Anderson sees movement with the Dehner and the Bookend buildings as indications interest in Burlington's historic downtown is growing. The recent addition of the manufacturing wholesale district to Burlington's five existing historic districts opens even more of downtown for eligibility on the National Register of Historic Places. The resultant state and federal historic tax credits may attract more developers downtown.
Meanwhile, Frevert's office fields calls daily from people inquiring about local historic property.
"I get calls on a pretty regular basis from people both in town and out of town looking for commercial space or interested in buying buildings. It's pretty much a constant," Frevert said.
Anderson said there is at least one other historic building downtown in the final stage of being purchased, though she would not offer any other details.
"There are other parties looking at other buildings, too," she said.
Frevert, meanwhile, said his office keeps busy with what's already on the table.
"We have a number of projects in the works," he said.
The Bookend Building being one of those projects, Frevert hopes to be able to announce whether his office seals the deal on the purchase agreement by the end of this month.
"When we're ready we'll make an announcement," Frevert said. "It'll be pretty big news."
Cracking the code
As a developer, Anderson is familiar with Iowa's building codes. Apart from the renovation of the Capitol Theater, Anderson has redeveloped the historic Hedge Building, 401 Jefferson St., where she keeps her office. She also is in the process of renovating the property at 515-517 Jefferson St., where she rents space to the Happy Mutant bike shop on the first floor.
While Anderson said she hasn't had problems with the state's building codes, she knows other developers in town who have had a harder time navigating the process.
"I've heard that it's more difficult to develop here, and I don't want that," Anderson said. "I want to hear that Burlington is cooperative with rehab development. I don't want to hear that we make it more difficult."
With that in mind, Anderson said she's still interested in exploring a historic building code tailored to Burlington, a code similar, if not identical, to Dubuque's.
"More than anything, I want our city to have the same attitude as Dubuque has about rehabbing old buildings," Anderson said. "We have all these architectural gems that are becoming a diminishing asset. We need to do something about it."
The city council discussed adopting Dubuque's historic building code in April. At the time, council members said they were interested in learning more about the Dubuque code, though further discussion appears to be stymied.
"I don't know where we are on that," Anderson said. "It kind of just fell along the wayside."
Planning and Development Director Eric Tysland said the city's finances have taken priority since April, though he hopes to discuss the Dubuque code in the next few months.
Anderson said taking another look at redesigning Burlington's building code would be a win-win for developers and the city.
"Because who benefits if we save these buildings?" Anderson said. "The city does. It increases property taxes, there's less demolition costs, we get business startups and pride in our heritage."
The sooner action is taken the better, Darnall said. The longer the buildings downtown sit unoccupied and unattended, the quicker they will deteriorate until, in some cases, they will be beyond restoration.
"We have some extraordinary buildings downtown, but any time you let water come in through the roof, it just doesn't take long till it's not feasible to bring it back," Darnall said. "That's my concern. We've got to really pay attention to getting something going."
Darnall acknowledged there always will be difficulties renovating historic buildings. He knows the Dubuque code is not a magic bullet, but he thinks it's a step in the right direction.
"I'd like to see the city embrace it. Just so that this beautiful downtown, all these historic buildings, can be brought back to life," Darnall said.
Brenna Norman/The Hawk Eye
Mike Darnall, owner of McConnell Lofts, speaks about the renovations and vision for his building Monday June 25, 2012 in downtown Burlington. On June 21st, the manufacturing district in Burlington received approval for the use of state historic tax credits.
Mike Darnall, owner of McConnell Lofts, speaks about the renovations and vision for his building Monday June 25, 2012 in downtown Burlington. On June 21st, the manufacturing district in Burlington received approval for the use of state historic tax credits.
