Press Release
House and Senate Bills Introduced to Help Community Revitalization Through Restoration and Rehabilitation
Preservation Organizations Unite to Make Incentive Work Better in Rebuilding Neighborhoods
Richard Moe with Reps. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) and Phil English (R-PA)
Washington, DC (February 15 th, 2007) – Reps. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) and Phil English (R-PA) along with their Senate colleagues Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), today introduced The Community Restoration and Revitalization Act – H.R. 1043 in the House and S. 584 in the Senate – a bipartisan bill that would improve the existing historic preservation tax credit (rehab credit) for the restoration and rehabilitation of the nation’s vacant and underutilized historic buildings. The House bill was introduced with 23 original cosponsors comprising eight key members of the tax committee and the leadership of the House Historic Preservation Caucus.
The measure was developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in close collaboration with leading preservation organizations, developers, tax credit users, the financing community, and endorsed by Preservation Action, the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), the American Institute of Architects, and the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition.
The rehab credit is the nation's largest federal incentive that promotes urban and rural revitalization through private investment in reusing historic buildings. It has attracted private capital to historic areas of cities and towns, 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 spurring greater investments in smaller commercial projects and Main Street commercial properties in older neighborhoods – particularly where there is a critical need for affordable housing and community revitalization. A key aspect of the bill highlights the usefulness of creating affordable rental housing in historic buildings. The law allows the rehab credit to be "paired" with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit in certain projects. In 2006 the rehab credit alone produced a total of over 15,000 units of housing in the United States and – in conjunction with the affordable housing credit – about 40 percent of those units fell into the affordable range.
"We are grateful to Reps. Tubbs Jones and English and Sens. Lincoln and Smith for recognizing the potential the rehab credit has in transforming our historic communities into vital, dynamic places," said National Trust President Richard Moe. "Every abandoned mill, every dilapidated commercial building, every vacant industrial structure that qualifies for the rehab credit can become part of the solution in providing housing, attracting reinvestment, and stabilizing neighborhoods. The majority of the nation’s historic districts overlap census tracts where the poverty rate exceeds 20 percent. There’s no better argument for the need to make the rehab credit work better in these places."
The rehab credit has generated over $36 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 31,000 projects nationwide. Last year the rehab credit produced nearly $3 billion in private investment and created over 60,000 new jobs – about 49 new jobs per project.
"Congress hasn’t taken a good look at this valuable incentive since it was enacted nearly 30 years ago. It's time that we build on the credit's proven economic development benefits," said Preservation Action's President, Heather MacIntosh. Her organization and NCSHPO worked closely with the Trust in developing the bill. "State Historic Preservation Offices work with the tax credit every day to revitalize historic buildings and neighborhoods. This bill will importantly eliminate barriers to private investment in America’s historic places.” said Nancy Schamu, NCSHPO’s Executive Director.