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Calcimator

Adaptive Reuse Calculator

Conversion cost for historic building repurposing.

Inputs

Results

Renovation cost ($)

$2,100,000.00

≈ 5 average U.S. homes

Total project cost ($)$2,600,000.00
Total cost/sq ft ($)$260.00
Federal HTC (20%) ($)$420,000.00
Net cost ($)$2,180,000.00
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter Building area (sq ft) and Acquisition cost ($) for the historic structure you are evaluating.
  2. Rate the building Condition (1=Excellent to 5=Critical) based on a recent structural inspection.
  3. Select the New use type (0=Office, 1=Residential, 2=Retail, 3=Mixed-use) to determine conversion multipliers.
  4. Review Renovation cost and Total project cost to compare against new construction alternatives.
  5. Check Federal HTC (20%) to understand the historic tax credit available for qualifying rehabilitation expenditures.
  6. Use Net cost after credits and Cost per sq ft as your per-square-foot basis for pro-forma financial modeling.

How the result changes with Building area (sq ft)

Building area (sq ft)Renovation cost ($)
100,450$21,094,500.00
350,325$73,568,250.00
650,175$136,536,750.00
900,050$189,010,500.00

What each input means

Building area (sq ft)
Total building square footage.
Acquisition cost ($)
Purchase price of the building.
Condition (1-5)
1=Excellent, 2=Good, 3=Fair, 4=Poor, 5=Critical.
New use (0-3)
0=Office, 1=Residential, 2=Retail, 3=Mixed-use.

What each result means

Renovation cost ($)
Estimated renovation/rehabilitation cost.
Total project cost ($)
Acquisition plus renovation.
Total cost/sq ft ($)
All-in cost per square foot.
Federal HTC (20%) ($)
Federal Historic Tax Credit (20% of QRE).
Net cost ($)
Project cost minus federal tax credits.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Building area (sq ft) = 10000, Acquisition cost ($) = 500000, Condition (1-5) = 3, New use (0-3) = 1 = 4 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Renovation cost
    Renovation cost = round(buildingSqFt * costPerSf * useFactor)
    2100000 = $2,100,000
  3. Calculate Total project cost
    Total project cost = acquisitionCost + renovationCost
    2600000 = $2,600,000
  4. Calculate Total cost/sq ft
    Total cost/sq ft = round((totalProjectCost / buildingSqFt) * 100) / 100
    260 = $260

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