The project had major design challenges. The most challenging was the fact that the entire first floor was over 4 feet into the flood plain. We routinely develop in flood plains using various engineering and mitigation efforts, but 4 feet was just too much to safely and economically develop. The entire first floor had to be cleaned up and have environmental remediation, but then closed off to the upper floors, all while maintaining an appearance from the outside as if the inside was finished. Because this was a historic school, the hallways were incredibly wide (which needed to be maintained) and we had a large gymnasium. Our in house design team did an amazing job working on the building, gaining density and efficiency anywhere possible, while also abiding by the historic preservation rules. We ended up building 54 very nice and unique apartments (in a 70,000 sq/ft building) while preserving the historic elements of the school, and bringing an iconic building back to life to the benefit of the nice residential community which surrounds the school.