Va. Company Gets $730,000 Historic Tax Credit for Newport Condo Project

An Arlington, Va., company that is redeveloping the former Trinity Church parish house into Kay Hall Lofts — seven condo units at 27 High St. — has secured a $730,000 historic preservation tax credit from the state.

The Rhode Island Division of Taxation approved the application by Parish House LLC for the tax credit on Monday. According to the agreement, the project qualifies as long as certain conditions are met, mainly about the historical integrity of the building’s facade, rooftop railings, architectural trim and other details.

Parish House LLC is spending about $4.2 million in total for the project, according figures reported in the agreement.

The Trinity Church Parish House was built in 1898 and was expanded in 1924.

A large, three-story brick Colonial Revival, it has served as a school and gymnasium for the attached Trinity Chapel, which was built in 1868.

The chapel and parish building are now separate properties with different owners.

The rehabilitation project of the now-vacant parish house will make dramatic changes to the inside with seven residential units and a parking garage, but from the outside, the changes are described in a project summary in the agreement as being minimal or reasonable.

The rehab is “challenging both because there is no property associated with the building to provide surface parking, and the pair of two-story spaces on the interior make the building difficult to reuse,” the summary states.

The plan shows the auditorium space being split into two floors and the basement floor being raised two-and-a-half feet so cars can get in for off-street parking under the condo units.

“The building will no longer have the two-story spaces, however it is important to note that the architectural character of the gymnasium and auditorium was nondescript and not distinctive,” the summary states. “The architecturally character-defining spaces include the entrance lobby, the main staircase, and a small room off the entrance lobby. All of these spaces will be preserved in the proposed rehabilitation of this building.”

The new floor levels will align with windows everywhere except for a spot along the west wall. Three large arch-topped auditorium windows do not line up with the new floors so “the new floor will step up at the spring-line and will intersect with the horizontal mullion, so as not to significantly alter the window’s appearance from the exterior.”

On the exterior, the slate roof will be replaced with an imitation material manufactured by DaVinci and the wood trim will be repaired and fixed.

The “most problematic work item” for the project is the proposed garage door opening on High Street.

“As this is the front of the building, and is highly visible from the street and adjacent parking lot, the location, color, style and size of this door is critical to this project meeting the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.”

The Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission asked the door be as narrow as possible and slide to allow for an extra window bay to remain intact. The door should have no windows and should be painted brick-red to match the existing brick wall.

Other conditions include the rooftop railing, which needs to replicate the existing railing; no privacy screening is allowed on the flat roof along High Street, except for mechanical equipment like HVAC units; windows and wood trim must be white, and the main stair railing must both meet modern safety code but remain a balustered railing. An earlier proposal showed perforated metal panels, which “changes the character of this feature from the lobby where it will be highly visible,” the summary stated.

The project should be completed by November.

The project is being marketed by Hogan Associates Real Estate of Newport. The amenities are described as a combination of “hip urban style with a lovely historic building just off of Bellevue Avenue.”

Photo courtesy: Hogan and Associates