Report: historical preservation spurs jobs, investment

Includes Post Rice Lofts

Steve Hawley, Mar 10, 10.

A federal income tax credit designed to encourage historic preservation has resulted in billions of dollars of economic activity, according to a Rutgers University report cited by the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance.

The program, which Congress implemented in 1981, “[provides] a 20 percent income tax credit for the rehabilitation of certified income-producing historic properties,” according to GHPA. In Houston, the program helped support the conversion of the Rice Hotel into the Post Rice Lofts and the renovation of the JPMorgan Chase Building, both located downtown. The Rice Hotel was built in 1913 and the JPMorgan Chase building, originally the Gulf Building, was built in 1929.

According to the Rutgers study, the US Treasury has expended $16.6 billion (2008 dollars) since 1981 on the program, generating $85 billion in historic rehabilitation projects. Those projects, in turn, have created 1.8 million new jobs, including 58,000 in 2008. In addition, most of those jobs require higher skill levels and result in higher pay than other construction jobs.

GHPA notes:

To qualify for the federal credits, a building must be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, be an income-producing project (no private homes) and the rehabilitation plans must be certified in advance by Texas Historical Commission and the National Park Service. A complete explanation of the preservation incentives program is available on the Park Service Web site.

Rutgers study: First Annual Report on the Economic Impact of the Federal Historic Tax Credit (pdf, 7.7 mb)
Explanation of tax incentives: National Park Service website