Original Construction
1906
Size
33,000 sqft
Size
2000
Awards
2001 Michigan Historic Preservation Network Building Award;
1999 Ann Arbor Historic District Commission Special Merit Award for Façade Restoration

Originally established as a hardware store by the Schlenker family, the historic Schlenker Building also housed an apartment on its second floor, where the family’s children grew up. Additions were made throughout the 1930s before Schlenker Hardware closed in 1995, leaving the building vacant. Purchased the following year for renovation and redevelopment, the property presented an opportunity to revitalize the downtown streetscape through the adaptive reuse of the historic building and complementary infill construction. The resulting 20,500-square-foot mixed-use development integrates office, retail, and residential spaces while strengthening the pedestrian character of downtown.

The design approach expanded upon the historic building’s loft character while introducing new infill construction that complements the surrounding historic architecture. Organized as three distinct volumes, the addition reinforces the downtown’s pedestrian scale, fills a gap in the streetscape previously used for parking, and extends the visual continuity of Liberty Street. The project also enhances the alley as a pedestrian and vehicular connection, incorporates outdoor retail space near the entrance, and provides porch areas for residential and office occupants. Because the site lies within a floodplain, the addition was elevated to accommodate parking beneath the building. The design preserves the existing second-floor housing while integrating contemporary uses into the historic downtown context.