The heart of the historic tax credit (HTC) program is economics. In creating the current program, Congress recognized that preserving and rehabilitating older and historic buildings provided a social and aesthetic public benefit, but that incentives were needed because rehabilitation projects’ extra costs. In particular, changes to the tax code in 1981 had the undesirable […]
Due Diligence: The New Necessity
In the recent past, developers often neglected due diligence in an effort to close deals. It was not uncommon 10 years ago for developers of historic tax credit (HTC) projects to skip this step, and the tax credit investors rarely investigated the project themselves. Due diligence is not a new concept, however. It is simply […]
America’s Endangered Properties: An Avenue to Potential Projects
Throughout the United States there are thousands of historic properties ripe for rehabilitation or preservation. Many of these properties will be picked up by developers and find new life with the assistance of tax incentive programs as our downtowns revitalize. Other properties won’t be as lucky, as they may not be eligible for any financial […]
Twinning the HTC with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
There was a time when constructing or renovating a building was generally a straightforward affair. Buy the land, find your equity, get your approval and build. While this outline remains, the simplicity of the good old days seems as dated as the typewriter. Today, even straightforward projects are complicated. Complex ownership entities, lengthy project review […]
Condominium Conundrum and Other Multi-Owner Property Issues
By the mid-1990s the condominium market was gaining strength, military base closures totaled more than 350 installations and many mill renovations were under way. While many of these projects offered historic renovation opportunities, they also raised questions about the use of historic federal tax incentives on properties with multiple owners. When addressing these ownership issues […]
When State Incentives Meet Budget Realities- The New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credit
Recently, a number of developers have asked Heritage Consulting Group to find investors interested in purchasing New York state rehabilitation tax credits. After searching high and low, it is evident that the market has little to no appetite for the state’s rehabilitation tax credits. With state historic tax credits so prevalent and useful, it was […]
The Ups and Downs of State Historic Preservation Incentives
Study after study has proved that the federal historic tax incentive program, through the rehabilitation and ultimate adaptive reuse of older and historic buildings, has been one of the most successful and cost effective programs in leveraging private investment, fostering public private partnerships and creating jobs in both good and bad economies. The program has […]
State of State Historic Tax Credits
Since its inception as part of the Tax Reform Act of 1976, the federal historic tax credit (HTC) has aided with nearly $100 billion in rehabilitation investment. This law provided a 25 percent federal income tax credit on monies used in the rehabilitation of commercial, agricultural, industrial or rental buildings that are certified historic structures. […]
Storefront Design: Considerations When Using Historic Tax Credits
When I first began my career in historic preservation I learned that there were two important views of a historic downtown building, the ground level – a dynamic area, ever changing with the influx of people, permanent and passing retailers and tenants, basically a barometer of the economic conditions in country, and the upper floors, […]
Teamwork in Historic Tax Credit Projects
There are few things that we do in life that don’t or didn’t include the involvement of others to some extent. I like to refer to these “outside people” as your team. Some teams work and others don’t. In the case of the redevelopment of an historic property the right project team is critical to […]
Twinning NMTCs with HTCs Helps Produce Peabody Opera House Project
Ever since I began working in the field of historic preservation in the 1970s as grants manager and state and federal tax coordinator for the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, historic preservation projects have always had funding gaps that needed to be filled. In the past, these gaps were filled by various methods, whether it […]
Unique Opportunities and Small LIHTC Deals
The 20 percent federal historic tax credit (HTC) is a critical tool for affordable housing development. This tax credit can be combined with low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) and, depending upon location, urban renewal funding and state historic incentives. This is particularly true for single room occupancy (SRO) housing, which is often located in former […]