128 south pa ave

As a firm becoming the local expert in adaptive reuse, we were given another task of rehabilitating a historic building in downtown Greensburg dating back to the early 20th century. The building had been neglected and required extensive repairs to meet current building codes. While the first and third floors had tall ceilings and offered exciting development opportunities, the second floor posed a challenge due to its low ceiling height, which was not in line with modern expectations. Our primary objective was to redesign the storefront and create a modern office space for the building owners while retaining the existing upper building façade. Plans for the remaining floors influenced our overall design path.

After several iterations, we uncovered a way to integrate the needed interior accessible ramp as an egalitarian but suppressed means to the new first-floor elevator lobby. This gave us an opportunity to offer a peek into the intended first-floor restaurant. We also developed the program for the owner’s law office on the second floor and worked diligently to carefully integrate mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems while making an eye-catching legal office. The first and third floors would remain open for prospective tenants, with the third floor illuminated by a unique new set of clerestory windows.

Unexpected costs due to the severe nature of the required renovations (and the outfall of COVID) caused the owners to put the project on hold. Rental rates were insufficient to cover the high construction cost, raising the question of how to revive small towns such as ours. As a result, the building remains for sale.

Tenant/Client: Moore Becker Real Estate Partnership
Project Size: First Floor 3,453 SF, Second Floor 3,204 SF, Third Floor 3,391 SF (adaptive reuse)
Completed: 03/2021 (construction documents issued for bid)
MEP Engineering Consultant: AJC Professional Services
Structural Engineering Consultant: Anderson Structural Inc.