Historic preservation investments are revitalizing economies and adding jobs around the nation. Preservation expert Donovan Rypkema shares lots of data and his own thoughts about the role of preservation in boosting economic success. Enjoy this lecture from the 2013 Placemaking Conference in Norman, Oklahoma, hosted by The University of Oklahoma Institute for Quality Communities on April 3, 2013. Donovan Rypkema is a leading voice in historic preservation. He is Principal of PlaceEconomics, specializing in services for clients who are dealing with neighborhood revitalization and the reuse of historic structures.

1. Placemaking and the Economics
of Historic Preservation
Institute for Quality Communities
University of Oklahoma
April 3,2013

2. The Values
Historic resources have
cultural, educational, social,
aesthetic and many other
values.

3. The Values
But today historic
preservationists are being
asked to demonstrate
economic value as well.

4. Areas of Impact
Jobs
Property Values
Heritage Tourism
Environmental Impact
Social Impacts
Downtown Revitalization
Economic Competitiveness

5. #1 - Jobs
Federal Historic Tax Credit (1978-2011)
• Spent = $19.2 billion
• Jobs created =2,216,000
• Cost per job = $8,868
Federal Stimulus Package (Feb. 2009-March
2011)
• Spent = $878 billion
• Jobs created or saved = 3.6 million
• Cost per job = $244,000
— Third Annual Report on the Economic Impact of the Federal Historic Credit
(2012)
— www.recovery.gov (2011)

6. The Federal Tax Credit:
A Self-Funding Incentive (1978-2011)
$0.0
$5.0
$10.0
$15.0
$20.0
$25.0
Cost to Federal
Government
Taxes to the Federal
Government
Inflation Adjusted Dollars (Billions)
$24.4
$19.2

7. #1 - Jobs
3.5 4
8.7
10.4
14.9
18.1
Automobile
Manufacturing
Computer
Manufacturing
Air
Transportation
Poultry
Processing
New
Construction
Historic
Rehabilitation
Jobs created per $1 million of activity
Georgia
Historic preservation creates more jobs per $1 million of economic
activity than does the same amount in other major industries.
— Good News in Tough Times: Historic Preservation and the Georgia Economy (2011)

8. Dubuque, Iowa (2001-2006)
Average annual growth rate for:
• Historic rehabilitation
property values = 51%
• Value of neighboring historic
properties = 9.7%
• All properties = 5%
• Other properties in
downtown Dubuque = 3.7%
(2000-2007)
– Iowa’s Historic Preservation and Cultural and
Entertainment District Tax Credit Program
Evaluation Study (2009)
#2 – Property Values

9. #2 – Property Values
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Premium commanded by National
Register historic district houses =
14.3%
• Premium commanded by local
historic district houses = 22.5%
— The Economic Impact of Historic Preservation in
Philadelphia (2010)

10. Louisville, Kentucky
• Properties in local historic
districts were worth between
$59,000 and $67,000 more than
comparable properties not in
historic districts.
• 2000-2007: Houses in local
historic districts appreciated
21% more than the rest of the
market.
– Historic Preservation’s Impact on Job
Creation, Property Values, and Environmental
Sustainability (2009)
#2 – Property Values

11. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Foreclosures per 1000
Housing Units
Historic Districts
Comparable Neighborhoods
Philadelphia
Analysis of:
Single Family Houses
6 Historic Districts
10 Comparable Neighborhoods
10/09 – 9/10

13. #3 – Heritage Tourism
International heritage visitors
• Stay longer, visit more places, and
spend more per day than other tourists.
• 2.6 million more visited a historic place
than went to an amusement park.
• 4.1 million more visited a historic place
than went to the beach.
• 4x as many visited a historic place than
went to a casino.
• For every international visitor who
played golf, 14 visited a historic place.
- Profile of Overseas Travelers to the United States (2010)
- Heritage Tourism Guidebook (2007)

14. #3 – Heritage Tourism
Georgia
Heritage tourism supports 117,000
jobs and $203,850,000 in salaries
and wages.
– Good News in Tough Times: Historic Preservation
and the Georgia Economy (2011)
#3 – Heritage Tourism

15. #3 – Heritage Tourism
Civil War Battlefields
 Spending by visitors to 20 Civil
War battlefields generated:
• $21 million in state taxes
• $11.7 million in local
government revenues
 This amounts to:
• $5.22 per visitor at the state
level
• $2.92 to pay for local services
#3 – Heritage Tourism
– Blue, Gray, and Green: A Battlefield Benefits Guide
for Community Leaders (2006)
Photo from National Park Service

16. #4 – Environmental Impact
Hartford, Connecticut
Had 410 Asylum been razed instead of
rehabilitated:
• 615,777 gallons of gas in embodied energy
would have been thrown away.
• 9,986 gallons of gasoline would have been
expended in demolition and hauling to the
landfill.
• Its demolition would have generated waste
equal to 21 days of trash from the city of
Hartford.
• Debris would have filled 39 boxcars.
• Landfill impact would have wiped out the
benefit of recycling 21,211,680 aluminum
cans.
- Investment in Connecticut: The Economic Benefits of
Historic Preservation (2011)

17. #4 – Environmental Impact
Preservation projects save 50 to 80% in infrastructure costs
compared to new suburban development.
— “Heritage Tax Credits: Maryland’s Own Stimulus to Renovate Buildings for Productive Use and Create Jobs, an
$8.53 Return on Every State Dollar Invested”, The Abell Report (March 2009)

18. It takes 10 to 80 years of an energy efficient new
building to make up for the negative climate change
impacts of construction
Building reuse almost always offers environmental
savings over demolition and new construction

19. Office buildings built
before 1930 use one third
less energy per square foot
than buildings built after
1991

21. Facadomy
Negative Economic Impact
Negative Environmental Impact
Not Historic Preservation

22. Rhode Island (2005)
The state’s historic
preservation tax credit
created 409 affordable
housing units.
– Rhode Island Historic Preservation
Investment Tax Credit Economic and
Fiscal Impact Analysis (2005)
#5 – Social Impacts

23. Connecticut
95% of Federal Rehabilitation Tax
Credit projects have taken place in
neighborhoods with a concentration
of households with a modest annual
income.
– Investment in Connecticut: The Economic Benefits of
Historic Preservation (2011)
#5 – Social Impacts

24. #5 – Social Impacts
75%
21%
4%
Median Household Income in
Census Tracts with
Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive Projects
Less than $25,000 $25,000 to $49,999 More than $50,000
Connecticut

25. #6 – Downtown Revitalization
Main Street (National Trust for
Historic Preservation)
Over the last 31 years the Main Street
communities have seen:
• $55.7 Billion Invested in Physical
Improvements
• 109,664 Net New Businesses
• 473,439 Net New Jobs
• 236,201 Building Rehabilitation
Projects
• $2,394 Cost per Job Created
• $18 to $1.00 Leverage of Public
Funds
— National Main Street Center of the National
Trust for Historic Preservation

26. Oklahoma
More than two decades
of Main Street activity
have created 24,437
jobs, equal to roughly
1.5% of the state’s entire
non-farm workforce.
– Economic Impacts of Historic
Preservation in Oklahoma (2008)
#6 – Downtown Revitalization

27. Iowa (1986-2012)
– Net New Businesses
generated $43 Million in
state sales tax last year – 48
times cost of state program
– Added net new jobs 25 of
26 years.
– Added net new businesses
26 out of 26 years
– Job and business growth
outperformed both Iowa
economy and US economy
– Getting Results: Main Street
Iowa, 1986-2012 (2013)
#6 – Downtown Revitalization

28. #7 EconomicCompetitiveness

29. #7 EconomicCompetitiveness

30. Thank you!
Donovan Rypkema
PlaceEconomics
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Drypkema@PlaceEconomics.com
www.PlaceEconomics.com