FEATURE ARTICLE, MAY 2007

A FROZEN ASSET
The design/build team at Miller-Stauch Construction Co. has turned a larger-than-life freezer into a collection of unique apartments in Kansas City.
Kevin Jeselnik

Miller-Stauch Construction Co. consulted and provided construction management to developer Gary Hassenflu for the development of the Cold Storage Lofts.

The redevelopment and adaptive reuse of existing facilities is a widespread trend that has been undeniably successful as a way to breathe new life into obsolete buildings and tired real estate markets. Adaptive reuse has reinvigorated many urban properties by converting them from one use to another that is more commercially viable. Developers and builders love the challenge in taking an older property and finding a way to create something wholly new within the existing framework. When Gary Hassenflu and his company, Garrison Development, took on the intimidating exercise of converting a 450,000-square-foot cold storage facility located just outside of downtown Kansas City into a residential development, it took a lot of creativity, flexibility and patience to finish the task.

The project, Cold Storage Lofts, is located at Third and Locust streets in the River North submarket in the northeast corner of Kansas City’s downtown loop. Hassenflu consulted with Lenexa, Kansas-based Miller-Stauch Construction Co. for help managing the project’s budget as well as the construction process. According to Jim Andrews, business development manager with Miller-Stauch, the firm was brought in to identify the most cost-effective way to complete the redevelopment at the right budget without sacrificing the quality of the residences and amenities. The development team was awarded a number of tax credits — with $9 million coming from federal and state historic tax credits — which made the creation of the $20 million project more viable, but also came with a few guidelines that helped shaped the construction process.

Exterior work on the project involved maintaining the integrity of the building’s south elevation, which meant that the existing windows could not be replaced. To meet the requirements dictated by the historic tax credit, each existing window had to be restored, while the rest of the façade — featuring detailed terra cotta and gargoyle finishes — was revealed and cleaned as close as possible to original condition. On the other three sides of the building, Miller-Stauch installed 142 new windows in order to make the project work as a residential offering. The work to preserve the exterior of the building was painstaking and carefully executed, but proved far less rigorous than the challenges involved in converting the interior space.

“This building was literally frozen for approximately 80 years as a food storage and distribution facility,” Anderson explains. Before any work could be done inside, the entire building had to be thawed out, a process that took approximately 4 months and was started in the third quarter of 2005.  “We couldn’t just go in the building with blast guns and start melting ice; it pretty much had to melt by itself,” Andrews says.

The inclusion of the eight-story atrium served to cut costs, maintain structural integrity and provide a greater sense of community among the lofts’ residents.

After the thawing process was complete, the group explored the building for any structural problems and sought out ways to more efficiently convert the building to residential use. Miller-Stauch suggested opening up the center of the facility with an eight-story atrium. “That was a decision that was made that helped maintain the original structural integrity without having to go to any expense of adding significant structural additions,” Andrews says. “It was a value process that helped reduce the cost of the project significantly, and also ended up enhancing the sense of community on each floor of the building.”

To get started with the conversion, the team had to first remove the 7 inches of cork that lined all the walls and ceilings of the cold storage building, as well as approximately 77 miles of saltwater piping and 2,200 tons of concrete flooring. “For quite some time, [the building] was just a mess,” Andrews recalls. “We had to make sure we were heading towards the final timeline and design a master plan that kept us moving forward through all the mess.”

The construction team began work at one corner of the top floor of the building and worked its way down in a circular fashion through each floor. That way, Anderson says, Miller-Stauch had an idea of where each team of contractors and subcontractors should be throughout the process. All the while, the team had to face new challenges as they were encountered during the redevelopment. “We had a master plan before any work was done, but there were some things that had to be refined once we got the building opened up and thawed,” he explains. “These were items that were done, not exactly on the fly, but that could only be designed and engineered once the building was open and evaluated.”

Some examples include the inclusion of the defining atrium and the plan for the HVAC condensing units, which, due to the layout of the building, had to be placed on the roof. It took careful planning and engineering to route all of the pipes vertically through the building while maintaining the proper levels of cooling.

All the hard work paid off, as the project came in on budget and on time. The Cold Storage Lofts, which once housed 38 million cubic feet of cold food storage space, now boasts 224 apartment lofts, many designated as affordable housing units (90 percent affordable living/10 percent market rate). The lofts range from 700 to 1,300 square feet, with rents running from $575 to $1,300 per month.

The project, through its use of tax credits and efficient budgeting, offers amenities that belie the preconceived notions of affordable housing. The ground floor includes a small store offering some food items and other goods, as well as a recreation area with a fitness room and an indoor running track. There is also room for a restaurant within the first-floor commercial space. The building offers 130 indoor parking spaces and 150 surface parking spots. And on the roof, there is much more than just the HVAC condensing units — it features a swimming pool and recreation area.

The project was completed within its 14-month schedule and occupancy began at the start of the year. The residents run the gamut from young professionals to entire families to empty nesters moving back into the city. The work of the development, design and construction teams on the Cold Storage Lofts shows that, with dedication and creativity, almost any type of building can be brought back to life in a new form. Moving forward, as the conversion of existing structures into new uses becomes more common in crowded cities, it will take similar vision and teamwork to complete unique projects such as this.


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