Since its initial construction in 1912, the historic Capitol Park Hotel has served a variety of roles, from women’s college to furniture store and most recently as temporary housing for the homeless before closing down in 2020.

Now named St. Clare at Capitol Park, this eight-story historic hotel reopened in early 2024 as permanent housing for those transitioning out of homelessness.

“Seismically retrofitting two historic, dilapidated hotel structures that were joined together a century ago presented a rare challenge,” says Ben Honsvick, senior project estimator and project manager at Midstate Construction. “Even more unusual was discovering that these seven- and nine-story buildings were originally constructed with heavy timber framing and unreinforced masonry walls.”

Photo by Argast Photography

Floor elevations were also different where the two buildings meet. To work around this, the team utilized two separate elevators, one for each half of the building. Between the floors, a stair connects floors three through seven, along with ramps for floors one and two.

Through this $76-million adaptive reuse effort, 180 hotel rooms were transformed into 134 studio apartments. Of these, 64 are reserved for residents experiencing homelessness and living with a serious mental illness and who also receive behavioral health services from Sacramento County. Five new commercial spaces were also included on the building’s ground floor.

Since project funding relied on California Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, Low-Income Tax Credits and Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits, the design had to be reviewed by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the National Park Service. Early in design, the team negotiated with SHPO about the width of the public hallways and keeping historic doorways on the upper floors because accessibility codes required wider hallways to accommodate wheelchairs. Working in tandem with the agency, the team developed a solution that retained some of the original hallways and doors while widening others and also incorporating wider doors. The design qualified for the Federal Historic Tax Credit, which provides a 20% income tax credit on renovations of historic, income-producing buildings.

Photo by Argast Photography

As the first step in this extensive $76-million restoration, the team performed a thorough assessment of the structure’s historic significance, ensuring every alteration and enhancement would adhere to preservation standards while enhancing functionality and aesthetics.

Crews meticulously restored the wood framing, employing traditional techniques that honored the building’s original craftsmanship while ensuring structural integrity and longevity. Attention to detail extended to the restoration of the brick facade, with the team seamlessly blending modern restoration materials with historic brickwork to achieve a uniform appearance that respects the structure’s heritage.

Due to the historical significance of the building, the structural design team had to ensure it was both improving the seismic performance of the structure and preserving its historic characteristics. As a result, seismic retrofit design added concrete shear walls on the upper floors in discrete locations behind the historic exterior brick-bearing walls. This decision helped the team avoid any alterations to the exterior that may have obstructed the historic windows.