Five years ago, the average Joe wouldn't have known that 1505-1507 E. Carson St. was beautiful. It was hidden behind graffiti, boards and a red-and-yellow Photo Hut sign.

Today, the former German Beneficial Union Building looks like its former self -- the way a 128-year-old, three-story Italianate building with 8-foot-high windows deserves to look.

The restoration won a preservation award from the city's Historic Review Commission in May and has enhanced the lengthiest late-1800s historic district in the nation. The South Side building has two retail tenants, one office tenant -- with room for one or two more -- and six apartments.

Vacant for several years at the street level, the Beneficial was empty of human use upstairs for decades. Rain and hundreds of pigeons came through a 10-foot hole in the roof. It took $4 million from 18 sources to revive it.

The building before renovation.

For years, the South Side Local Development Co. had made overtures to owner Frank Sklar, "but he was never in the mood to sell," said Rick Belloli, executive director of the nonprofit LDC. "Then, he was. So we got an option on it and sent out a request for a development partner."

Oakland-based TREK Development answered the call.

"It seemed like a good fit for us," said TREK president William Gatti. "We had experience with small historic community projects."

Urban restorations are "more complicated and more gratifying," he said, "because you are contributing to the vibrancy of our urban core, which we believe is the lifeblood of the region."

In 1999, TREK completed 900 Penn Ave., one of Downtown's first historic loft conversions, and it is refitting the Century Building on Seventh Street, Downtown, to accommodate 60 loft apartments opening next month.

Mr. Belloli says the purchase price of $500,000 for the Beneficial Building was $100,000 too high, "but we didn't think it was the right $100,000 to quibble over in a $4 million project."

Once the national headquarters of a bank that loaned money to help German immigrants start businesses, this building has found a lot of good fits.

City Theatre committed to renting the apartments for actors, directors and other theater professionals it brings to the city. Managing director Greg Quinlan said the theater company's previous housing arrangements were too small.

"We're trying to develop plays of national significance," he said. "Now, when actors return to New York, they can say, 'City Theatre takes really good care of you.' "

The apartments have high ceilings, and some have views of Downtown. The theater has a parking arrangement a half a block away, which satisfies the city's minimum-space requirement based on occupancy.

The Carson Street Deli had been wanting to escape 1610 E. Carson for years, said its owner, Eric Cohen. He said he paid higher rent for 800 square feet there than for 2,000 square feet in the Beneficial. The deli moved to 1507 about the same time Owens Cleaners signed on to rent 1505. They are the street-level businesses.

Cardinal Resources, an environmental engineering firm, relocated its offices from Monroeville to parts of the second and third floors.

"We wanted a place that was more central and urban" where offices, lab and storage could be consolidated, said Joyce O'Connor, a principal at the firm. "We wanted a building that was in the process of being rehabbed and [whose owners] would be interested in green options."

The firm's environmental consultants want to use the building "as a model for clients," she said.

Cardinal was able to work with the contractors to make sure a portion of the roof could hold a garden. It has installed rain barrels and will be racking solar panels within a month, she said. All tenants will share the savings.

Mr. Belloli said the building was eligible for financing from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency that rewards mixed-use development and for state funds from the "anchor building" program, which the URA oversees locally. S&T Bank was the lead lender and bought the historic tax credits.

"Making the numbers work was a challenge," said Mr. Gatti. "We have some investor equity, loans, historic tax credit equity, some financing from the URA.

Navigating city codes while doing historic restoration to National Park Service standards is challenging, too, he said, using tin ceilings as an example.

"Old tin ceilings don't have a [modern] fire rating, so you tear down the tin, put in the fire-rated material and reinstall the tin. You've doubled your work to preserve something old and beautiful.

"We like to think that doing a painstaking restoration might encourage others to do the same. Three buildings on the block are being renovated or were done after we did ours," he said. "We don't think that's a coincidence."