The federal historic tax credit helped spur the creation or rehabilitation of 16,280 housing units in fiscal 2019.

The total includes 6,206 low- and moderate-income housing units that received their certifications of completed work, according to an annual report on the program from the National Park Service (NPS), which administers the historic tax credit in partnership with state historic preservation offices.

Mercy Housing Northwest transformed a vacant building at the Naval Air Station Sand Point in Seattle into Mercy Magnuson Place, a 148- unit mixed- income, mixed- use community with the help of historic and low-income housing tax credits.
Pavel Verbovski Mercy Housing Northwest transformed a vacant building at the Naval Air Station Sand Point in Seattle into Mercy Magnuson Place, a 148- unit mixed- income, mixed- use community with the help of historic and low-income housing tax credits.

The historic tax credit is the largest federal program specifically supporting historic preservation. It has been instrumental in preserving historic places, including adapting key buildings into market-rate and affordable housing.

Since fiscal 1977, the program has helped create or preserve more than 604,000 housing units, including 172,416 low- and moderate-income units.

In addition, the historic tax credit has also been used to turn building into hotels, performing arts centers, offices, and other uses.

The program provides a 20% federal tax credit to property owners who undertake a substantial rehabilitation of a historic building in a business or income-producing use, while maintaining its historic character. In a three-part application process, the NPS certifies that a building is historic, and therefore eligible for the program, and that its rehabilitation meets preservation standards.

According to this year’s report on the economic impact of the program, the historic tax credit contributed more than $12.1 billion in output in terms of goods and services to the U.S. economy and added $6.2 billion in gross domestic product in fiscal 2019.

The Hale Bathhouse in Hot Springs, Arkansas, has been turned into a boutique hotel, restaurant, and conference center with the help of historic tax credits.
National Park Service The Hale Bathhouse in Hot Springs, Arkansas, has been turned into a boutique hotel, restaurant, and conference center with the help of historic tax credits.

Almost half of the certified rehabilitation projects were located in low- and moderate-income areas, and three-quarters of all projects were in economically distressed areas. Almost half of all projects were less than $1 million in rehabilitation costs and 17% were less than $250,000. A quarter of all certified rehabilitation projects were located in communities with a population of less than 50,000 people, and 16% in communities with a population of less than 25,000 people.

For fiscal 2019, program-related investments created approximately 109,000 jobs, including 39,000 in construction and 25,000 in manufacturing, generating $1.7 billion and $1.1 billion in income, respectively, says the study by the Rutgers University’s Center for Urban Policy Research.