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Before could pursue its vision for the Rich Hotel building, the affordable housing developer had to be sure it could afford it.

The 106-year-old structure is constructed of brick, and falls under city rules for unreinforced masonry. A full seismic upgrade is required if a building’s use is significantly changed or if a cost threshold is reached for a renovation. For Innovative Housing, however, a full seismic upgrade wasn’t financially feasible.

鈥淔or buildings that are this small, it’s pretty much a deal-killer if you have to do a full upgrade,鈥� said Julie Garver, housing development director for Innovative Housing.

The developer engaged a structural engineer and a contractor early on, and met with city officials to develop a project that would not trigger the code-mandated full seismic upgrade. As a result, the renovation will be a product of that balance, and the former railroad hotel will be transformed into an apartment building designed to appeal to urban 20-somethings.

Like many old buildings in Portland, the Rich Hotel building has a lot of seismic issues: a brick exterior, and an interior courtyard surrounded with a hollow, clay-tile wall that principal Tim Terich calls 鈥渁 big, yucky no-no鈥� for seismic safety.

The city’s full seismic upgrade requirements would have included installation of a seismic strengthening skeleton in the interior as well as braces on the exterior, Terich said.

鈥淚t’s always a challenge on these unreinforced masonry buildings because they need so much help,鈥� he said, noting that the owner had to 鈥渃ompromise鈥� to avoid the cost-prohibitive requirements.

The building will receive some seismic help 鈥� albeit less than city code would require for a full upgrade. While converting tiny hotel rooms into 34 200- to 400-square-foot studio apartments, the project team will 鈥減unch down鈥� a central courtyard and add a new structural core as part of a voluntary upgrade, said architect Gary Hartill, president and principal of . The building’s roof will be replaced and strapped seismically to the exterior walls.

The smaller upgrades are a better fit for the project’s design and budget, Terich said.

鈥淚f the building code had its way, sometimes you’d put concrete over the whole thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat’s economically impossible, and architecturally impossible.鈥�

The seismic compromise also will benefit tenants: with the courtyard space 鈥減unched down,鈥� a potential restaurant tenant in one of the building’s four or five retail bays could have outdoor seating.

Innovative Housing purchased the building, at the corner of Second Avenue and Couch Street, from the Naito family in October. The building originally was a railroad hotel, and later was used to accommodate homeless individuals and people with disabilities.

The rooms don’t have individual bathrooms, and are very small, Hartill said. At least two of the rooms will be combined into each new multi-room apartment 鈥� a process Garver calls 鈥渁 giant jigsaw puzzle.鈥�

For the first time, Innovative Housing will finance a project itself instead of seeking affordable housing grants from state or federal government sources. And the building will be marketed to young adults who desire to live in the Old Town neighborhood, Garver said. Tenants will each have a small living area, kitchen and bathroom 鈥� but likely will spend less time in their apartments than out, Garver said.

Innovative Housing is working with Wells Fargo to obtain a construction loan and mortgage for the $1.2 million project. The organization also plans to seek a facade improvement grant from the Portland Development Commission.

The team plans to start construction in February or March 2012 by changing the building’s structure and repairing damage from water and neglect, Hartill said. He expects apartments to enter the market next May or June.

In the meantime, the building is experiencing a little fame 鈥� one of the retail bays has been transformed into a 鈥渟pice shop鈥� for the television show 鈥淕rimm,鈥� which is set and filmed in Portland. That retail space is the only one in use at the moment, but 鈥渆very little bit helps鈥� an organization self-financing its first project, Garver said.