For some, they might be plain, simple buildings. For others, just plain ugly.

But Terrace Apartments, which consists of seven stark, bleach-white buildings at the cusp of Raleigh Court and Wasena in Roanoke, seems close to being registered as one of the state's historic landmarks.

The designation opens the door to about $4 million in tax credits that will help to finance Terrace Apartments' massive renovation project. The renovation is expected to start at the end of the year or in January.

Susheela Shanta, a development consultant who is working with the apartments' owner, said the extra money was crucial to the project.

"We would have had to do a number of things to make up for it," Shanta said, including scaling back renovations and increasing rent.

But those involved with the historic designation said they recognize that the apartments are certainly not an obvious choice for a historic landmark, such as Roanoke's St. Andrew's Catholic Church or the iconic Hotel Roanoke.

Their importance, they say, is in the story behind the bricks.

Built in 1950, the apartment complex represents a period when the postwar baby boom was under way. Roanoke, like the rest of America, was in need of affordable housing and lots of it.

Then called Roanoke Apartments, the seven buildings were the largest apartment complex in the city.

The buildings embody the spirit of what the Federal Housing Administration was pursuing after World War I, building apartments popularized by the Garden City Movement, a European-design trend that emphasized a walking community with plenty of greenery.

Terrace Apartments' historic designation has not been finalized. The affordable housing complex, today home to many of Roanoke's recently arrived immigrants, likely will gain that status officially at a meeting Thursday in Richmond, said Michael Pulice of the Roanoke Regional Preservation Office.

About the money

Being a historic landmark is not simply an honor. Officials of Total Action against Poverty, the community-action group that owns the apartments, had always planned on applying because of the financial benefit, Shanta said.

If designated as a historic landmark, the apartments would provide a significant opportunity for TAP to gain state and federal tax credits to finance the renovations.

TAP had asked the Roanoke City Council early this year to provide it with some starting money -- $500,000 -- to get the ball rolling on what will be an estimated $20 million long-term renovation.

Before the city could formally decide, TAP withdrew the request, said Dick Robers, TAP's vice president for business affairs. He said he knew they wouldn't be getting the money.

Robers said it was beneficial, however, that the city provided a letter of support which helped TAP receive low-income-housing tax credits. The tax credits are awarded based on a score from a range of criteria, and a letter from the city manager is one aspect that earned TAP some of the needed points.

Those tax credits would amount to $5.18 million over 10 years, but TAP won't receive the full sum, because as a nonprofit organization, it doesn't pay taxes.

But that status allows TAP to turn around and sell the credits, for less than the full value, to a venture capital firm. Shanta declined to say which firm TAP has negotiated with because the deal hasn't been finalized.

The agreement will get TAP about $8 million, combining the low-income-housing and historical tax credits -- a "good deal," she said.

"This property is a really good investment for anybody," she said. "TAP is an agency that is well-regarded."

The $8 million will go toward the first phase of renovations, which will cost an estimated $10 million to $11 million and essentially gut four of the seven buildings and improve the landscape.

By expanding some single-bedroom apartments to two- and three-bedroom apartments, the renovations will be more accommodating to families, Robers said. A second phase is also being planned for the remaining buildings, and TAP plans to reapply for the tax credits next year, said Shanta.

Behind the bricks

Richmond-based Sadler & Whitehead Architects, which prepared Terrace Apartments' application, wrote that the apartments have gone virtually unchanged since they were built in 1950.

"It doesn't look like historic Roanoke. ... It doesn't jump out and grab people," said Mary Harding Sadler, an architect with Sadler & Whitehead. But, she said, that doesn't diminish its historical significance.

The architectural firm was hired by TAP to evaluate and verify the historical significance of the apartments.

"It did take a lot of effort because the architecture is fairly quiet," Sadler said.

She said there are many examples in Northern Virginia, particularly Arlington, where buildings with a similar history to Terrace Apartments have been designated as historic landmarks.

If approved by the State Review Board and the Virginia Historic Resources Board, the property will be listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register.

Angela Penn, TAP's director of housing and community development, said the money from the designation is a big help in getting work started.

A backup plan would have hurt the project significantly, she said.

"Luckily we don't have to go that route; we're excited about that."