Over the years, the historic tax credit program has been a critical incentive in the rehabilitation of historic buildings and by extension, in the economic revitalization of America’s downtowns and main streets. According to the National Park Service, in its lifetime, the tax credit program has generated $62 billion in construction over 38,000 projects. In […]
News
Maximizing Historic Rehabilitation as an Economic Revitalization Tool
February 2013
As detailed in the National Park Service’s (NPS’s) 2011 Annual Report, the federal historic preservation tax incentive program is the nation’s most effective program to promote historic preservation and community revitalization through historic rehabilitation. Since its inception in 1976, the tax credit program has generated $62 billion in the rehabilitation of income-producing historic preservation.
Historic Tax Credits in a Modern World” Retail as Theater
January 2013
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
November 2012
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
October 2012
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
September 2012
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
August 2012
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
July 2012
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
April 2012
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
February 2012
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
January 2012
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
December 2011
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 […]
