Benefits of Adaptive Reuse in Urban Development

Real estate development professional Chad Faglier has served as a project manager for a building and design firm in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2009. In his work, Chad Faglier draws upon his interest in urban development and adaptive reuse of old buildings.

For many, the term “urban development” conjures images of old buildings demolished and new skyscrapers erected. In recent years, however, urban planning projects from the United States to China have increasingly reused established warehouses, factories, and other old buildings in urban spaces, a practice known as adaptive reuse. 

Adaptive reuse has multiple advantages for urban development professionals, including:

- Cultural benefits. A city’s character is composed, in part, by its social, cultural, and architectural history. Whether the old buildings are warehouses, churches, or factories, they contain chapters of a community’s history. By repurposing old buildings, that history can live on for the new generations who use them. 

- Environmental benefits. By reusing existing structures, cities create less waste that requires disposal, conserve the resources needed for new construction, and save the fuel and energy required to demolish old buildings, 

- Business benefits. According to a study by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, urban areas with new buildings are less likely to encourage new entrepreneurial activity than urban areas with repurposed historic buildings.