Ohio awards nearly $36M in tax credits to preserve buildings

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

The state has awarded nearly $36 million in historic-preservation tax credits for the rehabilitation of 45 historic buildings around Ohio.

The Ohio Development Services Agency says the credits were awarded recently to 23 owners and applicants planning to rehabilitate buildings in nine communities. Officials say the projects are expected to leverage more than $252 million in private investments.

Agency director Christine Schmenk says the tax credits put empty buildings back into the economic cycle and create jobs through construction activities and re-occupation of the buildings. She says the program has saved some of the state’s most significant historic structures.

A Cleveland State University study released in 2011 says $1 million in tax credits generates $8 million in construction spending, $40 million in total economic activity and nearly 400 jobs.