Benefits and Challenges
15
CHALLENGES
Land Use Regulations
For most municipalities, existing
zoning and land development standards
do not allow institutional buildings to be
converted into a new use. With no clear
pathway to reuse, potential developers
are confronted with the choice of either
demolition or a lengthy rezoning process.
Development may be further delayed if a
property is within a Historic Preservation
Overlay District that adds another level of
oversight.
Community Attitudes
The scale and appearance of
institutions, and the community’s
familiarity with them, lends them an
air of permanence. People can be
uncomfortable with change and may
prefer that the institution remain vacant
rather than have it adaptively reused.
Neighborhood
Impacts
Adaptive reuse of an institution
will naturally impact the surrounding
neighborhood. Depending on the type
of use and its intensity, a municipality
may wish to control the associated
impacts through the selective application
of land use regulations. For example,
a nonresidential use may require more
parking, altering the property’s character.
First Baptist Church undergoing adaptive reuse, Lower Merion.
St. Margaret School during its conversion, Narberth.
