This article is the second in a two-part series.

This year marks the Cranston Street Armory’s eleventh listing on the Most Endangered Places list. Residents of the West End have been organizing around the redevelopment of the castle-like building for decades, and each proposal thus far has been met with defeat.

This cycle of renewed excitement and eventual defeat has begun to wear on community members who have dedicated decades of their life to saving it. Given this context, the redevelopment of the Cranston Street Armory can be painful for the community to envision once again.

Successful redevelopment projects serve as excellent reminders that this kind of project is possible. Below we’ve collected three more of the most exciting armory redevelopment efforts currently underway across the country in order to build support for a successful redevelopment plan in 2025.

4. Duval County Armory: Jacksonville, Fla.

The Duval County Armory in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida had been vacant for over a decade when the City finally selected a developer to reimagine the building. The 80,000+ square-foot armory will be redeveloped into a mixed-use space, the main attraction being a food hall in what was formerly the building’s massive drill hall. In addition to food stalls and restaurants, the building will also house art galleries and studios, apartments, co-working space, and a microbrewery, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. 

Challenges to the project include lead and mold remediation and flood risk management — the building has flooded numerous times over the years, including damage from over a foot of standing water following Hurricane Irma. 

The real estate firm behind the project, REVA, has a 40-year lease with the City for the site. It estimates that the project could cost around $30 million to complete. The mayor of Jacksonville was recently authorized by the city council to apply for a $7.5 million loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. REVA also plans on funding the project through historic tax credits, New Markets tax credits, and traditional lenders.

5. Minneapolis Armory: Minneapolis, Minn.

Unlike many of the other projects on this list which have been publicly owned, either at the state or municipal level, the redevelopment of the Minneapolis Armory was completed by a pair of private developers, Swervo Development Corp. and Shea Inc. Swervo had previously been responsible for a variety of historic building redevelopment projects throughout the city.

Over the years, the Armory, located in Downtown Minneapolis, had been used for a litany of purposes: Like the Cranston Street Armory, it had served as a civic center for the community for decades. It was also the headquarters for the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1940s and ’50s, before they became the Los Angeles Lakers. After the National Guard fully vacated the building in the 1970s, the county purchased it with the hopes of turning it into a jail, but those plans languished in limbo for years. It eventually became a privately owned parking garage, and remained so for over a decade before Swervo and Shea stepped onto the scene in 2015. They bought it from the previous owner for $6 million.

The developers planned to transform the building into an events venue with two levels of parking and a commercial addition. Local Minneapolis leaders became concerned about the architectural integrity of the building and had it designated a local historic landmark in 2017. The firms adjusted their designs and managed to open an 8,400-person events venue for hosting concerts and sporting events by 2018. Though the property’s historic landmark status made it eligible for historic tax credits, the financing of the project is unclear. Since opening in 2018, the venue has attracted a variety of high-profile musicians to the city.

6. West Newton Armory: Newton, Mass.

The West Newton Armory was an active Massachusetts National Guard post for more than a century before being decommissioned in 2019. The property was then managed by the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM), and later purchased by the city of Newton for $1. The armory was transferred to the city under the condition that the structure be used to create 100% affordable housing.

Following a request for proposals in 2021, the Newton Planning Department selected development partners Civico and Metro West for the project — the former is a developer focused on historic preservation and sustainable design, while the latter is an affordable housing non-profit. Their plan envisions 43 units, with roughly two-thirds designated for families who make 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI), and the remaining third going to families who make 30% AMI. The units will include one- to three-bedroom apartments to facilitate a truly multigenerational living community with a shared plaza, walking path, and private patio.

In order to construct the 43 new units, the development team opted to demolish the armory’s field house, a decision made possible by the fact that the West Newton Armory is not a national or local landmark, and is not listed on national or local historic registers. Behind the headhouse, which the team plans to retain, they will construct a new Passive House addition (Passive House is a building strategy used to achieve ultra-low energy consumption while still maintaining comfort and livability). The Newton Planning Department has pointed out that this project is one way the city is working towards carbon neutrality by 2050. The new units will be located in the addition, limiting the need to radically redesign the historic headhouse, which will house Metro West offices and an exhibition space about the history of the building.

The city of Newton has a detailed breakdown of their funding sources for this $27.8 million project. They will take advantage of about $3 million in Newton Community Preservation Program funds, which are allocated for preservation and affordable housing projects in the city. They will also receive millions of dollars in low- and moderate-income housing funds, and a nominal incentive for Passive House construction. The project is currently in the permitting and funding phase, but should break ground in spring of this year. The team hopes to complete the project and move residents into the building in 2026.

Do you have ideas about what should happen to the Cranston Street Armory? We want to hear from you! Reach out to Keating at kzelenke@ppsri.org.

By Keating Zelenke / Mary A. Gowdey Special Projects Fellow / kzelenke@ppsri.org