The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Local bank receives tax credit
State awards tax credit to restore historic bank building
The Ohio Development Services Agency has awarded $1,918,000 in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits for the rehabilitation of the Lake County National Bank Building in Painesville.
The currently vacant, midcentury architecture building that sits on the city’s central square in the downtown historic district, will house 65 dormitory-style apartments serving the students of Lake Erie College after the rehabilitation is completed.
As part of a statewide tax credit program totaling $26,523,083 for the rehabilitation of 51 historic buildings throughout Ohio, the bank building project is expected to cost $13,952,000 total, according to a press release from the Ohio Development Services Agency.
The awards will assist private developers in rehabilitating historic buildings in downtowns and neighborhoods. Developers are not issued the tax credit until project construction is complete and all program requirements are verified, the release stated.
“Twenty-four rounds of this program have proven that historic preservation is a catalyst for investment in our downtowns and neighborhoods.”
— Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency
The belief is that once buildings are rehabilitated, they will drive further investment and interest in adjacent property.
“Twenty-four rounds of this program have proven that historic preservation is a catalyst for investment in our downtowns and neighborhoods,” said Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency. “These historic buildings will be a part of our recovery, providing homes for Ohioans and job opportunities during the rehabilitation and long after, when new businesses move into the buildings.”
The tax program is partnered with the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office, where it determines if a property qualifies as a historic building and the rehabilitation plans comply with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.