Holly Wiedemann, CEO of AU Associates, grew up in a family that practiced sustainability before it became a catch word. "We would select what was for dinner based upon what happened to be ripest in the garden that day, and my mother believed that you shouldn't even pick the corn until the water was boiling." It was this attitude that fueled Wiedemann's passion for adaptive use in urban design and the revitalization of historic properties. Based on this philosophy, AU Associates, since its inception in 1991, has been instrumental in preserving more than 20,000 units of housing and securing over $70 million in financing.
"I always knew what I wanted to do, from my earliest days. When I was eight, I went with my father on a buying trip to New York, and while he was busy, I got to look at buildings and architecture and was fascinated at the prospect of what an urban setting could be like."
In time, she enrolled at the University of Georgia to complete a bachelor's degree in environmental design and land use planning and then talked her way into graduate school at Duke University to complete an MBA. "I had no math background but convinced the dean I could do it!" Since then, she has been responsible for a wide range of projects, serving as a financial analyst, project manager and developer. Since 1986, she has committed her time to the renovation, creation, adaptive reuse and development of affordable housing.
Wiedemann had worked for Winn Development, one of the largest affordable housing companies in the United States. "Their projects required historic tax credits, housing tax credits, CDBG funds - all sorts of different financing sources," Wiedemann explained. "That was a terrific learning ground for me. Upon deciding to move back to Kentucky, she found that several of the companies involved in her Boston projects began calling her for help.
Apartment complexes all over the United States that had been originally financed under The War on Poverty in the '60s with 40-year mortgages were reaching the 20-year point in the 1980s, where developers could refinance. "These properties had been refinanced under HUD mortgage programs to allow the developer to take some of their equity out but to also bring these properties into conformance with current codes," Wiedemann explained. "I had the great advantage of going all over the country and putting together financial packages with diverse funding for similar properties. That consulting helped create my war chest to do my first projects on my own."
"We have never gone to a community that we have not been invited to," Wiedemann noted. "The Midway School Apartments, our first development project in Kentucky, was an historic elementary school that sat empty and exposed to vandalism. The community was searching for a way to save it." Today it houses 24 modern apartments, 10 of which are available at market rate and 14 of which are for designated for seniors on fixed incomes. Wiedemann admits to feeling tremendous pride when The Midway School Apartments was awarded the Blue Grass Trust Award for Historic Preservation. "It's like breathing new life into an abandoned building."
"At AU Associates," she added, "we look at the community and the statistics to determine the feasibility of a project. We do our own internal market studies and create our financial performance so that we can understand what amount of funding and what sources we have to put together. We research the building to determine eligibility for listing on the national register. And, if necessary, we go through a process to secure that listing because securing historic tax credits is vital to the project."
Wiedemann loves to be on the construction site as the building begins to take shape. "It's exciting when the hammers are going, and you watch the site evolve, and then it's occupied and has made an incredible impact, not only on the people that live in it but on the community in which it's located."
She was on the construction site in Midway when Nell Williams, wife of the mayor of Irvine, Ky., drove up. "Nell said, 'We need one of these in our town, so you need to come to Irvine and we'd like to see you next week. Will that work?' I said yes, ma'am, and that's how Irvine School Apartments - 17 units of mixed income housing for seniors - came into being."
AU Associates is presently involved in the creation of more than 130 units of mixed-income housing and office/retail space in urban in-fill and adaptive re-use settings, with projects valued at more than $20.5 million.
AU Associates projects:
The St. Francis, Louisville
A 1913 Beaux Arts building in downtown Louisville was originally constructed to house the YMCA. It was a grand building with tall Palladian windows, ornate scrolled plaster ceilings and carved limestone detailing. St. Francis High School had purchased the building but needed only a third of the space. Wiedemann met the Headmaster, Tom Pike, through mutual friends, and became excited about the project. Today, The St. Francis is an urban center of an innovative and exciting mixed-use development, with 58 apartments, 18,000 square feet of retail and office space on the ground and first floor levels, and it is the home to St. Francis High School.
Safe Harbor, Ashland
Safe Harbor is an emergency shelter and advocacy center for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Boyd, Greenup, Carter, Lawrence and Elliott counties. AU Associates is currently converting a 1948 TB hospital into 34 apartments for victims of domestic abuse. "Another thing I love about my work is learning about these wonderful people, like Ann Perkins, executive director of Safe Harbor, who care about their communities."
Former Graded School on Liberty Street Campus, Glasgow
This project is an adaptive re-use of the former Graded School on the Liberty Street Campus, which includes the newly renovated Liberty School Apartments dedicated in June 2005. This building was transformed, much like its companion, into 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments.
Artek Lofts, Lexington
A group of neighborhood visionaries contacted Wiedemann to translate their ideas into reality in the western section of Lexington. They wanted to see a development occur in their neighborhood that didn't look like colonial Williamsburg but was something different for Lexington and, at the same time, was sensitive to the surrounding historic overlay. AU did extensive studies, according to Wiedemann: "We looked at how the sun would be in that site and did computer studies to determine what sort of shapes, what sort of building sizes, would maximize the light. We utilized all the historic references from the area including the Sandbourne Maps. We looked at window patterns, architectural elements like the fishscale siding, and utilized each of those components but re-interpreted them in a very fresh way."
The result is an historic building with an art gallery and 38 condominiums connected by a concourse overlooking a central courtyard. AU Associates is also hosting a competition for a sculptural bike rack for the residents, another attention to sustainability, technology and art, and will celebrate the completion of Artek with an open house on August 1.
Liberty Green/EDGE, Louisville
This is a major 10-year development project over 13 city blocks on Louisville's east side, with 245 townhouses and five mixed-use office and retail buildings. Project begins in the fall of 2008.
Beattyville School Apartments
Under construction are 18 units of affordable housing for seniors and the re-use of the historic school.
Oliver School Apartments, Winchester
AU is adapting an African-American historic school into 11 units of affordable family housing. Construction begins in the fall of 2008.
First Presbyterian Apartments, Lexington
With a rehab of the oldest apartment building in Lexington, there will be 10 units of affordable housing completed in fall of 2009.
"One of the things that we have been successful in creating is a hallmark of integrity and quality. In each of these communities, I think we can go back 10-15 years later and see the benefits of what we did. At the end of the day, it's wonderful to know your work is valued and that it will benefit the generations to come."