The California Office of Historic Preservation calls the Mills Act the "single most important economic incentive program in California for the restoration and preservation of qualified historic buildings by private property owners."

On Tuesday, March 25, join Robert Chattel, AIA and Marissa Moshier for a special roundtable webinar with experts working with Mills Act programs in cities across California. Learn from case studies, gain insight on implementing and managing Mills Act contracts and weigh the financial impacts of the program. The webinar is part of the education program of the California Preservation Foundation. Robert Chattel, AIA will moderate the webinar. Other speakers include Mike Buhler, San Francisco Heritage; Lambert Giessinger, City of Los Angeles; Susan Park, City/County of San Francisco; Marissa Moshier, Chattel, Inc. and City of Orange; John Ciampa, City of San Clemente; Carol Lemlein, Santa Monica Conservancy; Patricia Johnson-Conner, Los Angeles County Assessor; and Shannon Lauchner, Office of Historic Preservation.

Robert Chattel, AIA is both a licensed general contractor and architect in California with more than 30 years’ experience in historic preservation. He established Chattel, Inc. Historic Preservation Consultants in 1994. For the past four years, Chattel, Inc. has represented the City of Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources in its Mills Act Historical Property Contract Program. Over that time Chattel, Inc. reviewed application materials, conducted pre-approval inspections, and prepared summary reports with photographs for over 150 eligible properties. Applicants were consulted on site at their property to ensure that recently completed, in progress, and proposed future work conforms to the Secretary's Standards. For private property owners, the firm has a successful track record preparing Mills Act contracts for commercial and residential buildings, including the Burr House in San Francisco and numerous adaptive reuse projects in Los Angeles. For inclusion in the Mills Act program, Chattel, Inc. prepares nominations to achieve local historic designation, as necessary, and consults with local project reviewers while developing scopes of work that address historic preservation objectives. In addition, for properties with existing Mills Act contracts, including Chase Knolls Garden Apartments and Pan American Lofts in Los Angeles, Chattel consults on prioritization for implementation of rehabilitation and maintenance work. Robert Chattel previously served as City of Los Angeles Mills Act Historical Property Contracts Manager. He currently serves as President of the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco-based 143 year old California Historical Society.

*Marissa Moshier, Chattel, Inc., Speaker*

Marissa Moshier, Chattel, Inc. associate, helped the City of Orange implement its Mills Act program last year as a contract historic preservation planner. With the largest National Register-listed historic district in California, Orange has approximately 200 existing Mills Act contracts. For the nine new contracts approved in 2013, Marissa conducted pre-approval inspections and coordinated with property owners to develop

critical work plans

. As part of her contract planning work for Orange, Marissa will continue to advise City staff on improvements to the Mills Act application process and develop a long-term strategy for regular inspections of Mills Act properties.