In addition, with the HRTC, tax credit investors can realize the tax benefits in year one. Nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and community groups are the main beneficiaries of these programs. Getting Started Affordable housing developers wanting to get involved in historic preservation might want to find a consultant who specializes in the field, Huang said. Nonprofit developers sometimes use two consultants, one who can help get the property on the National Register, and a syndication consultant who can value the tax credit and market it to investors. Sharon Park of NPS recommended that organizations wanting to develop historic housing contact their SHPOs, located in the capital of every state, to learn of any requirement particular to their state.
Many cities also have historic preservation departments.
Partnering with local preservation groups can also be useful for nonprofit housing developers inexperienced with historic preservation. The Cleveland Restoration Society is working with the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Corporation, an umbrella group of CDCs, to train CDC personnel and building contractors in historic rehabilitation. And NTHP s Community Partners Program creates partnerships between community development and traditional historic preservation groups at the national, state, and local levels to promote historic preservation as a tool for revitalizing historic urban neighborhoods, particularly African-American communities. The act would create a 20 percent federal income tax credit toward rehabilitation of housing stock with the goals of historic preservation, community revitalization, and homeownership. The HHAA could also increase CDC involvement in historic preservation.