Heritage Preservation Financial Incentives: Establish and promote financial incentives for historically designated properties and other properties important to the City’s heritage.
THIS POLICY SUPPORTS GOALS:
THIS POLICY RELATES TO TOPICS:
Currently, Minneapolis’ preservation tools are mostly regulatory, with no local financial incentives. The rehabilitation of historic properties is often more time and labor intensive due to the level of materials and craftsmanship needed to ensure historically compatible alterations. This labor intensive work more often than not relies on local construction experts, resulting in more of the construction costs recirculating through the local economy than on typical new developments. Statewide, the compounding economic impact of historic rehabilitation incentives is illustrated through the State Historic Rehabilitation tax credit program. The financial impact of the $6.7 million of State tax credit incentives expended in fiscal year 2017 is estimated at $66.4 million. For each dollar of the Tax Credit program invested, $9.99 of economic activity is generated (Economic Impact of Projects Leverage by the MHRTC:FY2017). Providing and promoting historic rehabilitation financial tools and resources will help the City meet its goal of broadening the inclusivity of heritage preservation, protecting endangered properties, and promoting economic vitality.
ACTION STEPS
The City will seek to accomplish the following action steps to establish and promote financial incentives for historically designated properties and other properties important to the City’s heritage.
- Establish and promote financial incentives for city wide historic properties such as loans and grants targeted to historic properties in low-income communities.
- Enhance technical assistance for planning property maintenance, repairs, and rehabilitation projects.
- Promote financial preservation incentives for owners and developers of properties that are not locally designated but are important to the city’s heritage.
- Advocate for local, state, and federal policies, programs, and legislation that would enable stronger historic resource designations, protections, and rehabilitation programs.
- Further expand the City's strategic partnerships in the field of preservation.