Preserving Downtown America: Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits and the Transformation of U.S. Cities

Do historic rehabilitation tax credits (RTCs) playa central force in ongoing urban revitalization? Iexamine the role that federal RTCs have played intransforming U.S. downtowns using a case studyapproach and geocoded, longitudinal data for 10cities: Atlanta (GA), Baltimore (MD), Cleveland(OH), Denver (CO), Philadelphia (PA), Portland(OR), Providence (RI), Richmond (VA), Seattle(WA), and St. Louis (MO). I fi nd intenseconcentrations of downtown RTC investments inthese cities; these projects were relatively resilientthrough the recent recession. Federal RTCs playan important role in the ongoing, postindustrialtransformation of U.S. downtowns. RTC-fundedprojects concentrate downtown and are a keyfactor in the reinvestment of declining cities.Takeaway for practice: Historic rehabilitation tax credits are an important tool fordowntown revitalization efforts and will helplocal planners and urban policymakers developrobust strategies for downtown redevelopment.Unfortunately, the RTC program cannot be usedfor owner-occupied units, public schools, orgovernment buildings; there are a fi nite numberof eligible historic buildings; and planners havelittle control over the location of RTC-supportedprojects. Local planners, however, can facilitatethe use of RTC fi nancing by removing regulatorybarriers to adaptive reuse and downtownmixed-use development, being cautious whenconsidering demolishing older buildings, andworking with local preservation groups tostreamline the process.Keywords: historic preservation, downtownrevitalization, tax credits, adaptive reuse