2003-03-12 CC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Optimists, including the U.S. Treasury Department, thought the effect of those changes would be minimal- .. - '. TI:~;~ated an 18 percent drop in rehabilitation ~ctivi~ ~reservation- ists predicted the amount pf invest- ment could fall by as much as half. Unfortunately for both historic build:" . ings and the urban revitalization that their rehabilitation spurred, even that proj~Il'was't06 .t(~sy. In the eight years smce tax reform was adopted, . certified rehabilitation projects have fallen 82 percent and investment in those projeCts is off 80 percent. Recently, however, there have been indications of reriewed interest in the rehabilitation of historic buildings using the tax credits. This interest sparked the reissuing of A Guitk to . " Tax-AtJoontogeti RBhtz!Ji!itQtion as an lnjormotion booklet. The changes in this update are nominal and deal primarily with amendments to the tax law since 1986. What Is the &ItoIJilitotiOft Tax Credit.P ~~d~r.~~ _~)a.:w 9ff~1l !. u~que incentive to taxpaye~ who contrib- ute to the preservation of this nation's old and historid buildings. By rehabilitating directly or investing in the rehabilitation of eligible buildings, taxpayers can take advan-' ~ 1l two-tier tax credit. The federal income tax credit is. equal to 20 perCent of the cost of rehabilitat- ing historic buildings or 10 percent of the cost of rehabilitating nonhistoric buildings constructed before 1936. These credits provide a'dollar-for- dollar reduction of income tax owed. While the 20 percent credit is available for rental residential buildings, neither credit is available for homes or apart- ments occupied by their owners. "'7.::1:1:1 ~ , In the case of historic buildings, the goal of me rehabilitation credit is not to preserve a building as a museum, but m.p-gJ .it .bac~ ~C? use. ~ ~~et _ current housing, retail, commercial, and ;ndustrial needs. These needs, however, must be met through con- struction that is appropriate to a buildjng's historic character. . . .. ..,;..-".~ 'e From1982 through .1993, the historic rehabilitation credit stimulated an estimated. investment of $14.8 billion in nearly 20,500 historic buildings. While large-scale projeCts are often the most visible, in fact the rehabilitation credits have most often been used on smaller projeCts. Since the inception of the first rehabilitation credits, more than'70 percent of historic projects incurred expenditures of less than $500,000, and nearly a third have been projects bfless than $100,000. .~ Rehabilitation investment gives old and historic buildings a place in the contemporary real estate market, The goal of this revi~ed publication thereby guaranteeing their continued is to remjnd preservationists and 1.1se and oontribunon.to an area's irivestors that, while diminished from ecortomic vitality. In some cases earlier years, the federal historic rehabilitation involves relatively small rehabilitatlontax credit remains a expenditures to renew a building's v~uable tool for saving historic structural or m~hanical systexns. In The National Park Service, which buildings aild revitalizing towns an<,l odlers, rehabilitation may involve a . administers ~e ~ credit certification . ....ci~~s .~~ut;~er~ca..: .,,~r ~ \.~~~~ ~eoo,ft~tr!J9rlon ~fa.~l;1~~~n~~ : J';fogratn,~aj' obser:ve~ ~t hou~ng.h~ . : :', . . ~. -. : . , ". ,~. . . . .' : . . . ~. mtenor spaces; .' been t4e smgle most Important use for . - rehabilitated historic buildings. More than 125,000 housing units have been '11 . This range in size and type of projects, . and the similar diversity of nonhistoric rehabilitations, such as the renovaoon of comer stores, brownStones, restau- ~ts and schools, demonstrates the breadth of opportunity that still exists for participation in this program. 10 qnolifJ for the historic relta/Jilitotion lox credits, reItoIJilitotion work must comply flDitlt the &cretory of the lnterior's Standards for Rehabilitation. Here the Roche Biometfeco! Laborotories undertokes the corefttl restorotion of the focode of the 1929 Atlontic Bonk ond TntSI Compony /miMing in Burlington, North Coro/ino. The compony Itos locoted its corporote office complex in Burlington's D()fI))ftt()fl!}fl Notionol lWgister Historic District. e