Knox Street Historic District

ClientWinnDevelopment Companies
LocationAlbany, NY (Park South)
Date/Scope2006-2008 – Property research, documentation, and preparation of a National Register nomination for historic district and preparation of State and Federal Tax Credit applications for the rehabilitation of 18 properties ($7.5 million project)
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Knox Street Historic District

Landmark Consulting was commissioned to work with Boston-based housing developer, WinnDevelopment, to research and nominate the Knox Street Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places in preparation for pursuing the Federal and State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit process. The resulting historic district included 18 individual c.1870-1880 three-story rowhouses that were rehabilitated into affordable housing units in Albany’s Park South neighborhood. The Knox Street Historic District is significant as a small and intact group of 24 brick rowhouses built in Albany in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The character of the district comprised of attached brick rowhouses set along two blocks of Knox Street south of Washington Park are in contrast with the frame houses which characterize the perpendicular streets. The buildings on Knox Street were constructed in the Italianate and Queen Anne styles, in the years between 1875 and 1892, when Washington Park (National Register, 1972) was under construction on the north side of Madison Avenue. They were once part of a longer street that spanned nearly 10 blocks, but the section of Knox Street between Madison Avenue and State Street to the north was closed and buildings along it demolished as part of park construction at nearly the same time of development in this historic district. While many areas of Albany were being constructed at this time, the architectural details appear to be unique to this small and cohesive historic district. The earliest building in the district was constructed around 1838 by one of the first settlers of this part of Albany. The period of significance for this district is 1838 to the 1890s, when the last buildings were constructed.

With the historic district listed, the rehabilitation project involved the preparation of individual tax credit applications for each of 18 properties on a block and a half of Knox Street. This application process involved lengthy and in-depth descriptions of the existing conditions and the anticipated scope of work with its impact on the historic character and fabric of the buildings. The preparation of these Part 2 applications required coordination with the project architects as they developed existing conditions drawings, a scope of work that would have minimal adverse impact on the existing intact historic fabric and final construction documents. Working with the architects, Landmark Consulting was able to ensure that treatment of historic fabric met the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and thus helped to ensure for the property owner that the work was approved by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and National Park Service (NPS). The Part 2 applications required full photo documentation of the “before” conditions and identification of alterations to the original structures and design challenges for the rehabilitation. The final part of the tax credit application process involved the preparation of required completion documents and overall, this project spanned the length of fifteen months. Landmark Consulting worked as part of an extensive team to plan, document and oversee the rehabilitation of this historic section of Albany which in the end resulted in the acclaimed revitalization of this neighborhood. The project was honored with a Historic Preservation Award from the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 2009 for outstanding rehabilitation project and commitment to community revitalization. The project also received a Preservation Merit Award for Historic Rehabilitation from Historic Albany Foundation in 2009.