The two buildings that once housed Madison’s Department Store date back to the early 20th century. The third building, the White-Haines Building, stands out with its distinctive features, including a rich terra cotta facade and steel construction, making it the most architecturally significant of the trio. This project, spanning 101,000 square feet and comprising 44 residential units, utilizes federally-funded historic tax credits to preserve exterior facades while enhancing interior spaces. The project also includes connections to the new building at 100 N High, north of the project, a back-of-house kitchen, support spaces, and utility connections for the restaurant in the building to the south, with an easement between the properties in perpetuity.

The success of this project was not without its challenges. It required navigating a complex web of competing priorities: securing both state and federal historic tax credits and the associated approvals; designing a code-compliant plan that integrated the historic buildings with three different floor heights and numerous different floorplates, additions, and complications; completely reconstructing a building that had no functional systems, in a tight urban setting, during a global pandemic; and creating an economically viable product that is also the cornerstone of the Gay & High District.