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Consulting firm finds way to fit in to Barrio Viejo

December 14, 2009 (12:49 pm) | Permanent Link

by Teya Vitu

They go to work in a century-old adobe building with zero automotive hustle and bustle outside on the street.

Haley & Aldrich since March 1 has had its 13-employee office in the heart of Barrio Viejo, which is heavily influenced with Mexican architecture and neighborhood spirit. The contrast could not be more startling from the firm’s prior location on Wilmot Road across from Park Place.

“It’s more relaxing,” senior hydrologist Laura Davis said. “I get to see monsoon storms come up. I get to see the neighbors walking their dogs.”

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Haley & Aldrich seamlessly married historic and modern as it invested $2.2 million to restore the former Jerry’s Lee Ho Market, 600 S. Meyer Ave. The company stripped away the dilapidated 1950s blue tile façade to reveal the original 1900 brick façade on the structure’s right half (the original market) and plastered façade on the left half (once a carniceria).

The 1900 street-front look meshes with the 240 solar panels on the roofs of the building and covered parking that produce more electricity than Haley & Aldrich uses. The roof also harvests enough rain water to keep the underground storage tanks full to the brim – far more water than needed to keep the desert landscaping green, said Sheldon Clark, Haley & Aldrich’s vice president.

“This neighborhood, more so than many others, has its roots in our colonial history,” Clark said. “We wanted to preserve the cultural diversity and still create a vibrant place.”

The high-ceilinged interior is as modern as it is 110 years old.

One wall is bare brick, chipped with marks made over the course of a century. A central adobe wall that separates the open cubicle area from the back offices meanders off the straight line.

Ten solar tubes provide nearly all the lighting for the offices, a cool but abundant daylight. A mountain bike bought at the mostly outdoor Five Points Bicycle a few blocks over on Stone Avenue serves as “the company vehicle.”

The entire roof needed to be replaced. Haley & Aldrich recycled the rafters by having Aqui Esta in the Lost Barrio custom make ornate conference room furniture.

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Right by the main entrance is an 8-by-18-foot mural with Barrio Viejo scenes painted by artist Johanna Martinez, who lives across the street.

Boston-based Haley & Aldrich has 23 offices nationwide split into three groups: industrial and environmental; energy and infrastructure; and real estate. The Tucson office is in the first group, and it has scientists and engineers working on industrial cleanup projects in southern Arizona and southern California.

The Tucson office is the first one the company has owned in its 51-year history. The goal was to create an environmentally sound office.

“It’s walking the talk,” Clark said. “The power of this building is you can showcase sustainability goals and objectives and still honor culture and history. We don’t have to live in glass and stainless steel buildings.”

Clark said the Lee Ho Market structure is a model for sustainable energy use that any commercial building can adopt, because he insists there’s nothing special about his building. He also sees Haley & Aldrich’s renovation of vacant, historic property as more a model for Downtown revitalization than massive projects.

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“If you’d have 100 projects like this, $3 million projects, you’d have Rio Nuevo,” Clark said.

Behind the brick façade there are 1,088 square feet available for a merchant who wants to open a small market or café. And there are 2,366 square feet of upstairs office space available for lease.

“It’s gonna define the place,” Clark said about the streetfront space. “We want it to be a convenience market, a coffee shop, something that will serve as a social hub of sorts.”

Clark said there was some apprehension about moving from Wilmot to Downtown because of Wilmot’s central location and Downtown’s confusing streets.

“What we have discovered is this is a far easier location to get to,” Clark said.

Chemist Katherine Miller and environmental scientist Regina Mullen lived close to the Wilmot office, but they don’t mind the commute Downtown.

“It has more personality,” Miller said about Barrio Viejo. “When I walk to lunch, people will talk to me.”

“It’s nice to walk around the neighborhood,” Mullen said. “It’s nice to see more of the unique flavor of the neighborhood. I’m more interested in the restaurants around here (than on Wilmot).”

Staff even wanted to come to the office on the Fourth of July, and ended up grilling hot dogs outside and watching fireworks with the neighbors.

“The thing that has amazed me in our move here is how the staff has enjoyed being part of the neighborhood,” Clark said.

Haley & Aldrich joined the Barrio Viejo Neighborhood Association, and Clark regularly chats with neighborhood icon Don Rollings. The neighborhood association’s president, Pedro Gonzales, routinely has skepticism any time outsiders have eyes on Barrio Viejo, but he quickly warmed up to Haley & Aldrich.

“They are really nice people,” Gonzales said. “They came to our meeting and said they want to be our neighbors. They actually have been good neighbors.”

Photos courtesy of Haley & Aldrich

Haley & Aldrich

600 S. Meyer Ave.

• Founded: 1957, New England

• Locations: 23 offices nationwide, 400+ employees; 13 in Tucson

• Business: Engineering and environmental consulting

• Info: haleyaldrich.com