Originally known as Clifton Mill No. 3, the building was constructed in 1896 on the bank of the Pacolet River as part of the Clifton Manufacturing Company, one of the largest textile mills in the United States. The mill complex was part of the major growth of Spartanburg County, South Carolina’s textile industry leading the area to become one of the nation’s largest textile centers. At its peak, the factory complex housed over 57,000 spindles and 2,200 looms by the year 1900, nearly twice the number of its nearby competitors.

On June 6, 1903, a devastating flash flood destroyed dozens of homes and businesses, including Mill No. 3. It was rebuilt within the year as a five-story mill complex with adjacent cotton warehouses by the famed Boston mill engineering and architectural firm Lockwood, Greene, and Company. It remained a working textile mill for over 50 years.

By mid-century, Spartanburg County’s hold on the textile industry began to loosen and in 1965, the Clifton Manufacturing Company was sold to Dan River Mills, a large textile firm based out of Virginia. It was the beginning of the end as the company shut down all three mills between 1968 and 1973. Converse Mill was used as a warehouse for many years until two of the three mills were demolished between 2002 and 2013. The only remaining vestige of the vast Clifton Manufacturing Company is Converse Mill.

In 2006, a local owner purchased the building to preserve its history and bring new opportunities to Spartanburg County.

The Mercantile Library Building and the Formica Building have rich histories that are deeply intertwined with Cincinnati’s architectural and cultural heritage. The Mercantile Library was originally established in 1835 by a group of young men who pooled their resources to collect books, art, and host prominent speakers and authors. Over the years, the library has welcomed renowned figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herman Melville, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. As the collection grew to nearly 2,000 books, the need for a dedicated space led to the construction of the Mercantile Library Building at 414 Walnut Street in 1904. The building was designed by Joseph G. Steinkamp & Brother and was developed by Thomas Emery Sons, who contributed to the development of several skyscrapers in Downtown Cincinnati during the early 20th century. The building featured commercial space on the first floor and office space on the floors above. The 11th and a portion of the 12th floor were custom designed to house the Mercantile Library.

The institution has a perpetually renewable 10,000-year lease issued by Cincinnati College, thanks to the support provided by the men of the Mercantile Library Association after the college’s structure burned in 1845. The Mercantile Library Building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

The Formica Building, located at 120 East Fourth Street, along with the connected Crystal Arcade and Contemporary Arts Center at 255 East Fifth Street, were developed by Towne Properties and designed by Harry Weese & Associates of Chicago, a firm renowned for designing the Metro stations in Washington, DC. Completed in 1970, the Formica Building was constructed with travertine, glass, and bronze, showcasing modern, Miesian, and post-modern elements. The design incorporated elements from the neighboring Mercantile Library Building, such as eliminating the band of travertine between the 11th and 12th floors to mimic the double-height library. The Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) was housed in the Formica Building from 1970 to 2003, before moving into the newly constructed Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in the spring of 2003.

Today, the Formica Building holds the distinction of being the most recently constructed building in Cincinnati to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As both the Mercantile Library Building and the Formica Building undergo an adaptive reuse transformation, their storied pasts will contribute to the revitalization of Cincinnati’s urban core and serve as a testament to the city’s architectural and cultural legacy.

The Illinois Building, located in the Washington Street-Monument Circle Historic District in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, is a historic office building situated at the heart of the Mile Square business district, which dates back to the city’s founding in 1821. InterContinental Hotel

The Illinois Building was commissioned by the president of what is now Levi Strauss & Company in 1924, who envisioned a “luxurious” office building to replace several smaller structures. Upon its completion in 1926, the building featured modern amenities, such as parking facilities, high-speed elevators, and ice water and toilets on each floor.

The building was designed by the esteemed architectural firm Rubush & Hunter, whose other notable landmarks within Indianapolis include the Masonic Temple, City Hall, Circle Theater, Indiana Theater, and the Stutz Motor Company complex.

Throughout its history, the Illinois Building maintained its purpose as an office building despite changes in ownership through the 1960s and 1970s. A ground lease established during an early transfer complicated future building transfers. In 1988, a local developer purchased the building and invested $16 million in renovations. Despite these efforts, the building became predominantly vacant by the mid-2000s. To encourage interest in its revitalization, Indiana Landmarks listed the Illinois Building on its 10 Most Endangered list in 2006.

The 10-story, 135,004 square foot Illinois Building was transformed into a 170-key full-service luxury InterContinental hotel, featuring two ground-floor restaurants currently occupying the spaces, as well as a 2nd-floor hotel restaurant/bar and a rooftop bar and venue. IHG, which currently manages 6,000 hotels globally, manages this hotel.

The project is sponsored by Keystone Group, a premier Indiana-based developer with decades of and a commitment to creating mixed-use properties that enhance the community in which they’re located. Their headquarters is located four blocks from the project in the historic Majestic Building, which they rehabbed, own, and operate.

Findlay Parkside is located in the Over-the-Rhine (OTR) neighborhood in Cincinnati, OH, one of the largest and most intact urban historic districts in the United States. OTR lies just north of the Central Business District in Downtown Cincinnati, boasting low-rise Greek Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne brick buildings, primarily constructed by German immigrants in the mid-1800s. Among the neighborhood’s most notable attractions is the Findlay Market, the oldest and only surviving municipal market house in Cincinnati, which operates year-round and houses over three dozen indoor merchants offering a wide array of goods.

Through the efforts of revitalization experts like The Model Group and 3CDC, OTR has become a thriving hub of activity, home to an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants, bars, and other businesses that cater to both residents and visitors alike.

Nestled within this vibrant and historically rich neighborhood, the Findlay Parkside project consists of nine distinct historic mixed-use buildings totaling 47,000 square feet. In their previous incarnations, these buildings served various functions and businesses, including an undertaker, office, chapel, livery, and garage. As the Findlay Parkside project revitalizes and repurposes these nine underutilized historic buildings, it will preserve their unique character, create new affordable residential opportunities, and support a growing community of businesses.

Wheeling, West Virginia, has a rich tapestry of history as the state’s first capital. Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains along the Ohio River, Wheeling was an industrial powerhouse known as the “nail city,” supplying cut nails to the entire nation. By 1910, the city’s population surged to over 41,000, and its thriving industry played a pivotal role in supporting World War I. However, at this time, Wheeling, like many American cities, was under the shadow of segregation, with Jim Crow laws deeply ingrained into the societal fabric and dictating accessibility to locations and services based on race. Amidst this complex socio-political landscape, the YWCA Wheeling was established in 1906, initially operating from a rented space on an adjacent block before construction on their permanent and current location at 1100 Chapline Street was completed in 1915.

Despite the segregation laws of the time, the YWCA Wheeling emerged as a beacon of progressive ideals. While not untouched by the era’s legal constraints, the organization made it a priority to champion equal access regardless of race. In their early years, they actively campaigned and fundraised to extend their protective services and advocacy to African American girls and women, serving as a testament to their commitment to social justice.

By 1921, the YWCA Wheeling successfully established the Blue Triangle Branch in a neighboring building to serve the African American members of the community. Both organizations worked together serving the women and children of Wheeling until 1956 when the YWCA integrated the Blue Triangle Branch into its Chapline Street headquarters.

For more than a century, the YWCA Wheeling has been operating from this historic location, growing its programs, and continuing to support the women and families of Wheeling. The building, steeped in history and resilience, now requires essential repairs and upgrades to ensure the YWCA can continue its mission into the future.

This project is facilitating the long-awaited reunion of the iconic Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati with its original home, the Emery Theater. Historic Emery Theater was constructed in 1911 in Cincinnati’s “Over-the-Rhine” neighborhood. Commissioned by Mary Emery and built by the famous architecture firm Samuel Hannaford & Sons, the large theater was designed to hold thousands of patrons while astonishing each of them with an unobstructed view and exceptional acoustics. It was built using the principle of the “isacoustic curve,” meaning the room sloped upward from front to back, an ideal configuration for sending sound effortlessly throughout. It also featured two large balconies, both of which seemed to float above the main floor, in a method of theater construction that was new in the early 19th century. Originally part of the Ohio Mechanics Institute trade school, the Emery Theater soon hosted world-renowned artists like George Gershwin and John Philip Sousa, as well as influential dignitaries like Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT), founded in 1919, is the oldest professional children’s theatre in the nation, spending more than a century entertaining youth and inspiring them in the art of theatre. Originally owned and operated by Cincinnati’s Junior League, TCT launched as an independent nonprofit in 1949 with a mission to educate, entertain, and engage audiences of all ages through professional theatrical productions and arts education programming. TCT called the historic Emery Theater home from their incorporation as an independent nonprofit until 1969, when they relocated to downtown Cincinnati’s Taft Theatre.

In the years after losing the patronage of The Children’s Theatre and The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Emery fell deeper into disrepair, lying dormant for many years while TCT was forced to limit their performance days to only 40 a year at their new location in the Taft Theatre. The decision was made by TCT to return home to the historic Emery Theater and they launched a campaign to undertake a major renovation in a way that pays homage to the past while reimagining it for the future.

The historic 54,000 square-foot Webster School opened in 1921 to support Pontiac’s population boom as tens of thousands flocked from the south to work in the rapidly growing automotive manufacturing industry that originally put the city on the map. The building was designed by Perkins, Fellows, and Hamilton, who were known for going over budget to create particularly ornate architectural designs and responsible for other local landmarks such as Lincoln Park Zoo. It originally featured 26 classrooms, a combination gym and auditorium, and an ornate foyer, all on five acres of land.

Originally an all-white school, Webster was desegregated in the 1970s and one of several schools made to participate in a bussing program after a historic lawsuit between the NAACP and the local school district. Already in a population decline as residents moved from the aging city center, the school was eventually closed in 2008 after nearly 90 years of operation.

It sat vacant for over 10 years until Micah 6 Community, the project sponsor, purchased the building in 2016 to serve as the new location for the mixed-use community-centered nonprofit hub.