Architecture - Planning - Urban Design - Historic Preservation - Development - Licensed Architects
Community Heritage Partners, uses architecture, planning, urban design, historic preservation, and real estate strategies to develop innovative design solutions and find new active uses for under-utilized properties, older buildings and districts. When these older structures and places can generate new revenues, provide reasonable returns on investments, grow the local tax base, and strengthen property values, we enable them to play a vital role in continuously improving local quality of life.
An ever-improving and appreciating building stock is KEY to community success, because it adds safety, comfort, energy efficiency, livability, and economic sustainability, as well as more life and new investment. Without these, cities, towns, and villages are always at risk of backsliding.
We also work at the larger scale of districts, neighborhoods, and communities, to recommend and design possibilities, policies, and procedures that will encourage and support individual property improvements.
Working closely and collaboratively with our clients, we produce plans for new construction and renovations as well as studies to analyze project development feasibility. We produce fund-raising visualization graphics, and full architectural plans for project construction, including budget development, contractor pricing, bidding/negotiations, zoning and building code approvals, building permits, and the construction process.
In all our work, we emphasize design innovation, interpretative historic preservation, and downtown revitalization. We provide the full complement of design and technical professional services necessary to produce value-added, timely, and financially feasible architectural results.
Keywords: architect; architecture; registered architect; licensed architect; building design; design; site planning; university of notre dame; renovation; planning; city planning; city plans; town planning; town plans; urban design; urban development; place-making; design guidelines; preservation; historic preservation; downtown development; historic district; revitalization; downtown revitalization; re-use older buildings; adaptive use; construction drawings; restoration; building projects; construction remodeling; building alterations, national register; national excellence award for Lancaster Central Market; public markets; farmers markets; urban planning; urban development; heritage plans; Pennsylvania; Maryland; Maine; New England; Massachusetts; Vermont; New York; award-winning; Aleci; Gene Aleci; AIA; Eugene Aleci
Interview Q&A
How long have you been in business?
30 years. In 2013, we were a finalist for Central Penn Biz Journal's Business of the Year Award.
What is your primary product or service?
We Add VALUE: Architectural Design and Project Planning Services for new construction, renovations for older buildings, and urban development. Urban Design and Town Planning. Historic Preservation and Adaptive Use solutions.
How did you first become interested in your line of business? (if owner) - What is your background? (If owner or store manager)
As the son of a downtown PA jewelry retailer and a chemist-educator, I was always interested in matters of Main Street and community success as well as the mix of art, history, and the science of building things which constitutes "design." I earned my 5-year degree in Architecture with concentration in Urban Design and Preservation from the University of Notre Dame, which included one full year of study and residence in the heart of Rome. With nearly 40 years of professional experience working in large cities and small towns from Portland, ME to Charleston, SC, we have focused primarily on Lancaster County and the City of Lancaster. We are licensed to practice architecture in several states, qualified under federal standards as a "Preservation Architect," and longtime members of the American Planning Association and the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the state and local components. Our principal, Gene Aleci, also served a term on Lancaster City Council, from 1990-94.
How do you differentiate yourself from other businesses in your category and area?
First, we are licensed, Registered Architects with professional credentials and insurance, and decades of professional experience; some who call themselves "building designers" or "design-builders" in our region are not. We are the only firm in our area which combines expertise in planning and urban design, historic preservation, and urban development in our architectural solutions and designs. So, our work is not only practical, affordable, and buildable, but also rooted in local character, and it adds long-term value in each place where we work. We focus new investment on already existing communities and campuses, where revitalization is needed, and away from rural, natural, and farmland areas. We also produce projects in suburban and rural areas, but not large developments which displace farmland and open landscapes. Our projects do not detract or exploit - but add value and economic strength - to local quality of life, everywhere we work.
How many locations do you have and do you have plans to expand?
We have been based in the City of Lancaster for more than 30 years. From here, we have worked all over the eastern seaboard, from western PA to Charleston, SC and Portland, ME, and including Maryland, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. Lancaster is a solid, central location, and a great place to live and work.
Provide detailed directions to your location
214 West Grant Street is just west of Water Street and Prince Street in the heart of Downtown Lancaster, just behind the Fulton Opera House and the Ware Center. Heading south on Prince or Water Sts, turn right on West Grant St. after crossing Orange St. Heading east on West King Street, turn left on Water Street, and left again quickly within 1/2 block onto West Grant Street. Look for the large "214" on the Grant Street face of our building. Parking available from Grant Street, alongside our building.
What type of payments do you accept?
Typically payment is by personal or business check, and can be done over the internet or in other ways; this is very negotiable. We accommodate owners' needs and requirements at every step in our relationships.
Which areas do you service?
Eastern Seaboard US, from Maine to South Carolina, with focus on mid-Atlantic, Lancaster and surrounding towns, cities and counties in PA and MD.
Who owns your company or runs daily operations?
Eugene Aleci, RA, AIA, (Registered Architect)
What are your hours of operation?
By appointment.
What is the best compliment anyone can give you?
Our Clients often say, when seeing the built results of our projects, that our architectural solutions feel like they belong, and have always been there; they're an integral part of their place. Another frequent remark is that the result is just what they "designed" or
"intended" it to be. and while we've actually done the design work, we understand this remark as one of the best compliments we can get, because it reveals the pleasing attachment our clients feel to the work we've produced. We're glad that what we did for them feels like they did it themselves.
What is your favorite quote or Bible verse?
"Anything will give up it's secret, if you love it enough." Geo.Washington Carver
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