Round 16 Recipients of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Announced
Awards to Assist 26 Historic Rehabilitation Projects
Today, the Ohio Development Services Agency awarded $27.8 million in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits to 26 applicants to rehabilitate 39 historic buildings. Together, the projects are expected to leverage approximately $261.4 million in private investments in 14 communities.
“Preserving these historic buildings will help revitalize neighborhoods and downtowns,” said David Goodman, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency. “Historic rehabilitation transforms underutilized properties into assets for communities.”
Many of the buildings are vacant today and generate little economic activity. Once rehabilitated, they will drive further investment and interest in adjacent properties. Developers are not issued the tax credit until project construction is complete and all program requirements are verified.
The Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit program is administered in partnership with the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office. The State Historic Preservation Office determines if a property qualifies as a historic building and that the rehabilitation plans comply with the United States Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
Round 16 Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Recipients:
NORTHEAST REGION
2125 Superior (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County)
Total Project Cost: $13,601,108
Total Tax Credit: $826,667
Address: 2125 Superior Avenue, 44114
The two adjacent commercial buildings in this project will be converted into 64 apartments in Cleveland’s downtown business district and Cleveland State University. The structures were built in 1914 in what was originally an expansive garment district. In the early 20th century, the buildings saw a variety of clothing manufacturing and other textile industry related uses.
City Savings Bank and Trust Building (Alliance, Stark County)
Total Project Cost: $8,125,790
Total Tax Credit: $812,579
Address: 449 East Main Street, 44601
This eight story building in downtown Alliance was built in 1925-26 as the City Savings Bank and Trust. It contained the bank on the first floor and office tenants above. The Neoclassical building has two story Ionic columns along its Main Street facade. In 1991, it was converted into affordable senior housing. This rehabilitation project will preserve and improve 42 affordable senior apartments.
Faber Building (Wooster, Wayne County)
Total Project Cost: $860,000
Total Tax Credit: $168,500
Address: 148 West Liberty Street, 44691
This project is the first to be awarded Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits in Wooster and Wayne County. The 1890 Faber Building is a mixed-use commercial building in downtown Wooster. Prior to the last 12 years of vacancy, it housed a variety of first floor retail tenants and apartments on the second and third floors. The rehabilitation project will allow Vertical Runner, a specialty running/athletic store, to locate in the commercial space and the upper stories will be for residential use.
Falls Theater (Cuyahoga Falls, Summit County)
Total Project Cost: $1,279,475
Total Tax Credit: $249,999
Address: 2218-2220 Front Street, 44221
The historic Falls Theater space, two storefronts and four apartments on the second floor have been empty for more than a decade. Tax credits will help transform the theater space into a microbrewery and restaurant. The commercial and apartment spaces will be renewed for their original intent. The project is part of a newly revitalized Front Street.
Mueller Electric Company (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County)
Total Project Cost: $17,472,000
Total Tax Credit: $1,745,000
Address: 1587 East 31st Street, 44114
Starting in 1922, the Mueller Electric Company Building was built in phases for the company’s production and distribution of alligator and other insulated electric clips. After rehabilitation, the building will have 60 market rate apartments drawing residents to the St. Clair Superior neighborhood close to the Cleveland State University campus.
Sanford House (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County)
Total Project Cost: $1,481,674
Total Tax Credit: $249,999
Address: 2843 Franklin Boulevard, 44113
The Sanford House is an 1862 Italianate brick house in Cleveland’s Ohio City Historic District. Once home to families of prominent business owners, it later housed a juvenile detention home, a nursing home and a school for children with disabilities. The building’s more recent use was as the county archives building. The now vacant building will be rehabilitated as small business office space and four market rate apartments.
Veronika Building (Lakewood, Cuyahoga County)
Total Project Cost: $502,760
Total Tax Credit: $82,402
Address: 12301 Madison Avenue, 44107
Lakewood’s first Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit project, this small commercial building in the Birdtown National Register Historic District formerly housed a bar on the first floor with apartments above and behind. The 1970s storefront modifications will be removed and new wood storefronts modeled on the originals will be installed, reopening the commercial space to the street. The apartments will also be completely rehabilitated.
Joseph and Feiss Clothcraft Warehouse (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County)
Total Project Cost: $16,618,799
Total Tax Credit: $826,668
Address: 2149 West 53rd Street, 44102
Located in Cleveland’s Stockyards neighborhood, the Joseph and Feiss Clothcraft Warehouse will be rehabilitated as the home of Menlo Park Academy, a K-8 school serving gifted children. Once the site of a large clothing manufacturing operation, it has been abandoned for years. The large windows and skylights and wide open floor plans that served the factory will be maintained to serve the needs of the school.
NORTHWEST REGION
Hotel Secor (Toledo, Lucas County)
Total Project Cost: $35,730,832
Total Tax Credit: $5,000,000
Address: 413-425 Jefferson Avenue, 43604
Hotel Secor, constructed in 1908, was once Toledo’s preeminent hotel. Over the years the hotel was converted into office space as well as space for a charter school and artists’ studios, but is now at least 85 percent vacant. After rehabilitation, the Hotel Secor property will again serve downtown Toledo as a high-quality, full-service hotel with 144 guest rooms.
CENTRAL REGION
14-16 North Park Place (Newark, Licking County)
Total Project Cost: $1,546,489
Total Tax Credit: $249,999
Address: 14 – 16 North Park Place, 43055
This project faces the Licking County Courthouse on the north side of the square and contains first floor commercial space with upper levels that have been vacant for decades. The project will renew the upper floors and rear spaces into three apartments and office spaces, hoping to add vitality to downtown Newark with new residents and workers.
100 Jefferson Avenue (Columbus, Franklin County)
Total Project Cost: $1,370,864
Total Tax Credit: $133,155
Address: 100 Jefferson Avenue, 43215
100 Jefferson Ave. is part of the Jefferson Center for Learning and the Arts, a campus of buildings in the neighborhood that house a variety of nonprofit organizations. Built in the late 1870s, this Italianate style house has been vacant for more than 10 years. The project will rehabilitate the space for office use.
457 North High (Columbus, Franklin County)
Total Project Cost: $1,514,699
Total Tax Credit: $120,800
Address: 457 North High Street, 43215
Once part of the well-known Yankee Trader complex, this building has been vacant for many years. The rehabilitation project includes the neighboring building at 459 North High and will convert the space to restaurant use on the first floor with offices above. This project is adjacent to the former Yankee Trader complex that was completed in 2014, which also received Ohio historic tax credits in a previous round.
459 North High (Columbus, Franklin County)
Total Project Cost: $1,519,574
Total Tax Credit: $120,800
Address: 459 North High Street, 43215
Once part of the well-known Yankee Trader complex, this building has been vacant for many years. The rehabilitation project includes the neighboring building at 457 North High and will convert the space to restaurant use on the first floor with offices above. This project is adjacent to the former Yankee Trader complex that was completed in 2014, which also received Ohio historic tax credits in a previous round.
Circleville High School (Circleville, Pickaway County)
Total Project Cost: $20,219,948
Total Tax Credit: $543,163
Address: 520 South Court Street, 43113
This 1916 high school and elementary school, which includes a 1937 addition, served Circleville’s children until the end of the 2015 school year. Circleville’s first Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit project, the Woda Group will rehabilitate the building into 49 one and two bedroom senior apartments and a community cafe. An auxiliary building on the site will be converted to a greenhouse for use by the residents and to grow produce for the cafe.
Green Lawn Abbey (Franklin Township, Franklin County)
Total Project Cost: $184,263
Total Tax Credit: $98,000
Address: 700 Greenlawn Avenue, 43223
The Green Lawn Abbey rehabilitation project will renew a historic mausoleum building for continued use as it was intended, but also new use as unique special event space for rental and cultural programming. Nearly abandoned and suffering from damage caused by vandalism, the building is now secure and ready to be restored. The building will undergo modern upgrades such as improved entrances and restrooms.
Municipal Light Plant (Columbus, Franklin County)
Total Project Cost: $20,163,767
Total Tax Credit: $2,000,000
Address: 55 West Nationwide Boulevard, 43215
The oldest part of the Municipal Light Plant was built in 1903-1904 and additions were added between 1937 and 1954 to serve the power generation needs of Columbus’ municipal electric utility. The building housed coal movement and storage facilities, boilers and turbines but ceased operations in the late 1970s. The rehabilitation project will convert the space to offices and a large auction house. More than 200 employees from the two tenants will work there.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Parish House (Columbus, Franklin County)
Total Project Cost: $1,541,339
Total Tax Credit: $250,000
Address: 36 South Garfield Avenue, 43205
St. Paul’s Episcopal Parish House supported the adjacent St. Paul’s Episcopal Church from the time of its construction in 1926 until the mid-1990s when the church closed. It has served as a social services agency, then as a private residence, but has been vacant for the past five years. Rehabilitation plans call for 16 new apartments that will share access to the large and unique common spaces of the historic building.
WESTERN REGION
Fire Blocks Lofts (Dayton, Montgomery County)
Total Project Cost: $23,592,093
Total Tax Credit: $4,481,132
Address: 100 East Third Street and 111-129 East Third Street, 45402
This project includes two buildings in the Fire Blocks Historic District on the eastern edge of downtown Dayton: the Huffman Block and the Elk’s Building. Both the Huffman Block and the Elk’s Building were built shortly after the devastating floods and fires of 1913. Across Third Street from each other, the project is next to the building at 124 East Third Street that was awarded credits in Round 14. The owners plan to construct 94 market rate apartments in the two buildings with retail and commercial spaces on the first floors.
Hosier and Jones Houses (Dayton, Montgomery County)
Total Project Cost: $513,157
Total Tax Credit: $106,000
Address: 329 Central Avenue and 104 Federal Street, 44506
The Hosier and Jones houses are a unique project where the houses were moved from one area to another within the same historic district in order to save them from demolition. The rehabilitation project will convert them to institutional housing units for students and employees associated with the nearby Grandview Hospital. The two single family homes were built in the early 1920s in Dayton’s Grafton Hill Historic District.
SOUTHEAST REGION
16 West Union (Athens, Athens County)
Total Project Cost: $2,396,864
Total Tax Credit: $250,000
Address: 16 West Union Street, 45701
This project will involve the rehabilitation and reconstruction of buildings damaged in a 2014 fire in downtown Athens. The first floor will be returned to commercial uses with a restaurant as tenant, while the upper floor will include four apartments with four bedrooms each to house a total of 16 tenants.
313 Second Street (Marietta, Washington County)
Total Project Cost: $2,096,000
Total Tax Credit: $249,999
Address: 313 Second Street, 45750
Marietta-based Perry and Associates, an accounting firm, will rehabilitate the former Wilderman Ford Motor Car dealership building as their new offices, housing 30-40 employees. After housing various retail tenants over the decades, the building sat vacant for more than 20 years. This is Marietta’s second Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit project and will enhance the downtown area across from the Washington County Courthouse.
SOUTHWEST REGION
771 and 772 East McMillan (Cincinnati, Hamilton County)
Total Project Cost: $2,295,211
Total Tax Credit: $250,000
Address: 771 and 772 East McMillan Street and 2504 Chatham Street, 45206
This project will redevelop three buildings, two of which are historic. The Hamilton Building (771 McMillan) dates to 1883 and was originally a single family residence. Over time it was converted to apartments, but has been vacant since 1981. 772 McMillan is a mixed use building with three commercial spaces on the ground floor and apartments above. The apartments have been vacant since the mid-1970s and the ground floor has been empty since 2004. Plans call for the rehabilitated historic buildings to house seven apartments and a restaurant/bar in the commercial space. The non-historic building at 2504 Chatham has six vacant apartments that will be rehabilitated. This project is a partnership between Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation and private developers.
Crosley Building (Cincinnati, Hamilton County)
Total Project Cost: $45,333,987
Total Tax Credit: $5,000,000
Address: 1333 Arlington Street, 45225
The Crosley Building, built in 1930 and designed by Samuel Hannaford and Sons, was the headquarters of the Crosley Radio Corporation and home to their design and manufacturing operations. The nine story, 300,000 plus square foot building and an adjacent building will become home to 324 market rate apartments. This is the first Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit project in the Camp Washington neighborhood of Cincinnati.
Film Center Building (Cincinnati, Hamilton County)
Total Project Cost: $10,725,620
Total Tax Credit: $1,067,220
Address: 1632 Central Parkway, 45202
Located in the Over-the-Rhine Historic District, this building was one of several buildings along the neighborhood’s western edge that served the film industry. Now 100 percent vacant, Urban Sites will redevelop the first floor into commercial space for office and restaurant tenants and the upper floors into 46 rental units with a mix of studio, one and two bedroom apartments.
Market Square II (Cincinnati, Hamilton County)
Total Project Cost: $17,934,738
Total Tax Credit: $1,790,000
Address: 1807-1830 Elm Street, 127 Findlay Street, and 1827 Logan Street, 45202
The Market Square II project includes 10 historic buildings and one new building to be constructed near Over the Rhine’s Findlay Market. It is the second phase of a larger redevelopment effort by the Model Group and the buildings will include 55 apartments as well as 24,000 square foot of commercial space. The historic buildings will all be mixed-use with residential spaces above ground floor commercial spaces that will include office, restaurant and commercial tenants.
Strietmann Biscuit Company Building (Cincinnati, Hamilton County)
Total Project Cost: $12,288,623
Total Tax Credit: $1,200,000
Address: 223-235 West 12th Street, 45202
This building is the former home to the manufacturing and office facility for the Strietmann Biscuit Company, that made a variety of baked goods including biscuits, cookies, crackers, and pastries. Located in the Over the Rhine Historic District, the original building was built in 1899 with three subsequent additions in the early 20th century as the company expanded. After the company moved to a new facility in the 1940s, the building was home to a number of mixed uses and small businesses until it was vacated. Once rehabilitated by Grandin Properties, it will house office space for 10-15 businesses with first floor restaurant space. Up to 550 employees could work in the building.
