Historic Resource Evaluations (HREs)
Historic Resource Evaluations (HREs) are occasionally required by the San Francisco Planning Department in order to establish whether or not a building is a historic resource under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and how any planned changes may impact a structure’s significance. An HRE provides a more thorough examination of a building’s context, its ownership and alteration history, and provides descriptions of the building’s exterior, interior, and site. The report often establishes how a structure fits in the context of similar resources (thematically or geographically), and determines how proposed changes will impact features that demonstrate or embody that structure’s significant history. HREs are typical examples of historic preservation documentation and provide much of the same information used in getting a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places, on the California Register, or on local historic resource lists. Barrett Reiter’s experience professionally and academically has given her extensive experience in researching and writing this type of report. While preservation is often accused of trying to freeze time, Barrett’s work in areas of high political and economic pressure helps her navigate what is historically significant, while allowing the flexibility to create layers of change that make our city’s heritage so rich. Additionally, her close attention to detail, her passion for this city’s history, and her genuine interest in the narrative of every building she works on, will make her a strong advocate for your project. |
Historic Context Statements
A historic context statement is created to help understand a group of historic resources that, when viewed together, add to the richness of a particular historical narrative. This context or narrative can be defined by geography, by a method of development, by a theme, by a cultural perspective, etc. Recently context statements for the African-American community, the LGBTQ community, and other minority or non-normative groups have helped to show the diverse stories of the San Francisco Bay Area that have been underrepresented in traditional academic and preservation narratives. Barrett Reiter has experience navigating complex histories and highlighting non-traditional stories; her personal interest in the intersection between social justice and traditional preservation dialogues makes her particularly suited to projects that may have historically been seen as outside of the preservation roundhouse. While finding these difficult projects particularly rewarding, she is well-versed in architectural history and skilled at summarizing more traditional architectural and neighborhood trends in development, planning, and design. |
Historic Surveys
Surveys help the planning department, neighborhood groups, and non-profits understand the city’s building stock more fully. The resulting fine-grained information that is created by a survey can help to identify significant trends and development patterns, identify important buildings, and understand the resources that we should be more concerned with protecting or monitoring. Survey work not only helps to identify areas that need to be better protected, but allows us to see where more change - in areas like housing stock, infrastructure, and community resources - is most needed. As the city relies on such fine-grained quantitative data more and more, illustrating this information visually through geospatial representations are becoming key in creating intelligent planning initiatives and understanding community needs. Barrett’s professional experience includes the extensive use of geospatial software and the creation of easily understood graphics to analyze and demonstrate building integrity, significance, and construction patterns with areas of historical interest. |
Legacy Business Applications
Becoming a San Francisco listed Legacy Business offers a number of financial benefits to business that have operated in the city for over thirty years and play a role in creating and sustaining the unique, intangible cultural heritage of San Francisco. Business that are listed on the Legacy Business Registry are recognized as valuable cultural assets to the city and gain not only recognition, but benefit from business assistance grants, and also offer rent stabilization grants to landlords that can help to ensure the long-term stability of the property. Barrett Reiter works in partnership with San Francisco Heritage to assist business owners seeking Legacy Business listing. For more information about the listing process and to explore listed Legacy Businesses, please visit: https://sfosb.org/legacy-business/registry |
Historic Structure Reports
Historic Structure Reports (HSRs) provide a detailed description of the current condition of a building’s interior and exterior and help to establish the goals, procedure, and aims of any alterations that a building owner would like to undertake. By recording the surviving historic fabric and noting the presence of important features that are key elements of a building's significance, a Historic Structure Report is an important step in the maintenance of and long-term planning for a historic resource. You may have a narrow scope of work - exterior only, or limited to a couple rooms - a HSR can be scaled to fit your needs or can be expanded to establish a baseline for the entire building, allowing all future work to be based on a complete picture of the building and its historic context. |