3535 Magazine Street
Adaptive reuse of a 1925 commercial building, formerly Harry's Ace Hardware, on Magazine Street into 30,000SF of retail and offices, preserving historic masonry, windows, and structure.
The building at 3535 Magazine Street had served commercial uses for nearly a century but required modernization to remain viable. The challenge was to adapt the structure for contemporary office and retail tenants while preserving its architectural presence and role within the Magazine Street corridor.
Outcome
The project reestablishes the building as an active commercial property without disrupting its identity. Ground-floor retail supports street life, while upper-level offices provide flexible, efficient workspaces shaped by the existing structure. The result is a restrained, durable reuse that allows the building to continue evolving along Magazine Street.
The Jefferson Motor Company building at 3535 Magazine Street was completed in 1925 as a three-story Ford dealership and service center. After operating as an automobile dealership for approximately a decade, the building was leased around 1935 to Mother’s Homemade Pie Shop. The bakery later purchased the property and, in the 1940s, constructed a small 1.5-story garage addition on the east side of the building, now referred to as the annex. The bakery closed in 1953, and in 1958 the building was leased to Harry’s Ace Hardware, which remained the most recent occupant prior to redevelopment.
The project converted the building to a mixed-use program with ground-floor retail and covered office tenant parking, office spaces on the second and third floors, and rooftop office amenities located on the annex roof. New vertical circulation—including one elevator and two stairs—was introduced to meet current egress and life-safety requirements. Trapolin-Peer Architects had previously studied the property for potential residential conversion, informing early feasibility and planning efforts.
The main building is constructed of steel columns and beams with wood joists and brick masonry exterior walls beneath a flat roof. Upper-floor windows consist of original industrial steel sash. The ground-floor storefront along the Magazine Street façade retains historic openings, with replacement aluminum-framed display windows and automatic sliding doors installed within those openings.
Architectural ornamentation is restrained and includes Classical-style cast stone detailing at the central entrance and along the roof cornice and parapet. The annex is of brick and wood-frame construction and includes a partial second floor built with metal-clad wood framing to accommodate office and restroom functions.