Book Description

Virginia has been a national leader in historic preservation for many years. One of the many areas where this is reflected is in the use of historic tax credits in the Commonwealth. As of FY 2012, the most recent year for which such data are available, Virginia ranks third in the nation in total dollar volume of estimated qualified rehabilitation expenditures at project completion, behind only Massachusetts and Missouri. Preservation Virginia retained the VCU Center for Urban and Regional Development to conduct an analysis of the economic impacts of historic rehabilitation, financed in part through the Virginia Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program and the Federal Historic Tax Credit Program, from 1997 to 2013. This analysis builds upon reports and updates completed by VCU for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in 2007, 2010 and 2012. Like those earlier reports, this study documents the significant economic returns that Virginia realizes from preserving and re-using historic properties. Similarly, a study published in 2012 by Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission concluded that unlike some tax preference programs that do not achieve their stated goals, Virginia’s Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program effectively achieves the goal of promoting the rehabilitation of historic structures. Although this report is able to document only the easily quantifiable returns of economic activity and tax revenues, historic preservation brings many additional benefits to society. These include aesthetic and psychological benefits that help citizens understand their heritage and which improve the attractiveness of places to residents, businesses and tourists. Ultimately, these impacts strengthen the economy and augment the tax base as well. Tax credit usage in Virginia has occurred more often in urban areas, such as Richmond, Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia and Roanoke, than in rural areas. This is understandable, since urban areas have more buildings, as well as a larger percentage of the stock of historic buildings. However, tax credit-financed projects have been completed in most communities throughout the Commonwealth, reflecting both the utility and perhaps the future expansion potential of this program. (See Map ES 1, below.) From 2000 (when the Virginia Historic Tax Credit was raised to 25% of qualified rehabilitation expenditures) through 2011 (the most recent year for which all Virginia tax credit projects have been completed and certified), an average of 174 projects have been certified each year. The number of rehabilitation projects increased steadily from 1997 to 2005, when it reached its peak of 235 projects certified per year. The Great Recession of 2008-09, which had a very significant effect on the construction industry overall, caused a moderate decline in historic rehabilitation activity.