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Bill Introduced to Boost Energy Efficiency and Spark Community Revitalization Through Restoration and Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings

Preservation Organizations, Congress Unite to Make Incentive Work Better for 21st Century Communities

Posted October 5, 2009 | Contact pr@nthp.org or 202-588-6141

Washington, D.C. (October 2, 2009)— Legislation introduced today by Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) and Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) would improve the existing historic preservation tax credit (rehab credit) for the restoration and rehabilitation of the nation’s vacant and underutilized historic buildings and, for the first time, also include incentives to improve energy efficiency in historic buildings. The bi-partisan Community Restoration and Revitalization Act (H.R. 3715 and S. 1743)  was developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in close collaboration with the Historic Tax Credit Coalition and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), leading preservation organizations, developers, tax credit users, the financing community, and a host of allied groups.

The rehab credit is the nation’s largest federal incentive that promotes sustainable development through private investment in reusing America’s historic urban and rural buildings.  For the past 32 years, it has attracted private capital to historic areas of cities and towns, diverted countless tons of wasteful demolition material from our landfills by encouraging the reuse of existing buildings, generated thousands of jobs, strengthened property values, created affordable places to live, and increased revenues of state and local governments. 

The Community Restoration and Revitalization Act is a package of amendments that would further the mission of the rehab credit by encouraging substantial energy savings in historic buildings, spurring greater investment in commercial projects -- particularly those smaller, Main Street businesses located in older neighborhoods where there is a critical need for revitalization. 

“We are grateful to Reps. Schwartz, Tiberi, and their colleagues for recognizing the enormous potential the rehab credit has in transforming our historic communities into energy-efficient, vital, dynamic places,” said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  “Every abandoned mill, every dilapidated commercial building, every vacant industrial structure that qualifies for the rehab credit can become part of the solution in using our resources wisely, attracting reinvestment, and stabilizing neighborhoods.  Many places need help to renew our older buildings and make them viable for the future.  In fact, the majority of the nation’s historic districts overlap areas where disinvestment is high.  There’s no better argument for the need to make the rehab credit work better in these places.”

The rehab credit has generated over $50 billion in renovation and revitalization dollars since it was enacted in 1976.  As a disincentive to demolition, it allows the owner of a historic building to receive an income tax credit of 20 percent of the amount spent to rehabilitate a certified historic structure.  There is also a 10 percent credit for older, non-historic buildings.  With a five-to-one ratio of private investment to federal tax credits, the program has developed more than 35,600 projects nationwide.  Last year alone the rehab credit produced $5.64 billion in private investment and created over 67,000 new jobs – about 55 new jobs per project. 

“The Historic Tax Credit Coalition is delighted to be a partner with the National Trust in the development of this legislation,” said John Leith-Tetrault, Chairman of the Historic Tax Credit Coalition. “Through our Coalition, this bill has received thoughtful input from the developers, preservation consultants, accountants, lawyers, syndicators and investors who make historic tax credit transactions possible. We believe enactment will make historic properties greener, enhance the subsidy value of state historic tax credits, and expand the use of the federal credit as an economic development tool, especially in small towns and rural areas.”