7 Landmarks Saved by the Historic Tax Credit

Preservationists are fighting to save the decades-old federal Historic Tax Credit program, which was eliminated from the tax reform bill introduced in the House of Representatives on November 2. The program offers a 20 percent tax credit to developers who restore historic buildings in compliance with federal rehabilitation standards. Without that incentive, preservationists fear that developers will shy away from rehabs, which can be more costly and complicated than building new. Instead of being reused, more historic structures could sit empty or be demolished.

Chicago developer Ghian Foreman told Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune that the credit was essential to him. “Absent the federal historic tax credit, all of these buildings would need to be torn down,” he said, referring to the older structures in his portfolio. A commercial real-estate broker in New Orleans said the end of the credit would have “severe consequences” for that city.