CWM attorneys, Delphine Carnes and Harriet Reynolds, represented Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority in the Monroe Building transaction

This $9.7 million transaction utilized state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits to renovate the hundred year old building for use as the Governor’s School for the Arts (the “Governor’s School”). Located in Norfolk’s Downtown Historic District, the Monroe Building, with its large three-paneled windows and terra cotta façade, is one of the few remaining examples of the Chicago School of Architecture in Norfolk, Virginia. The renovation preserved many of the historical features of the Monroe Building while modernizing it to accommodate the needs of the Governor’s School which provides art, music, dance and theatrical classes for more than three hundred high school students from eight area public school divisions. The renovated Monroe Building will house visual art, music, theater and dance classes, sound–proofed practice rooms and a Black Box theater. Virginia Stage Company, which occupies the neighboring Wells Theatre, will use a portion of the Monroe Building’s space as a dressing room and set-building area.