COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Development awarded $17.5 million for restoration and preservation of eight historic Ohio buildings.

What You Need To Know

  •  The awards are a part of the Ohio Hisotric Preservation Tax Credit Program that provides a tax credit for private redevelopment of historic buildings

  •  The $17.5 million is in addition to the $64.1 million already awarded through Round 29, and concludes this round of the program

  •  The eight additional buildings include one in central Ohio, two in northeast Ohio, one in southeast Ohio, and two in Southwest Ohio

The awards are a part of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program (OHPTC) that provides a tax credit for private redevelopment of historic buildings. The eight announced awards are in addition to the $64.1 million already awarded through Round 29 of the program, and conclude the round. 

Applications for Round 30 are accepted until March 31. 

OHPTC is administered in partnership with the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office. The State Historic Preservation Office determines if a building qualifies as historic, and if rehabilitation plans comply with the U.S Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. 

The eight buildings include Fairfield Shoe Factory in central Ohio, McKinley School and Taylor Tudors in northeast Ohio, Lostro Building in southeast Ohio, and Commodore Apartments and Edward Wren Building in southwest Ohio. There were no additional northwest Ohio locations announced.

The Fairfield Shoe Factory is located in Lancaster. They have been awarded a $3.2 million tax credit to restore the three-story building and turn it into a combined retail and apartment space with apartments on the upper floors and commercial spaces on the first floor. 

Mckinley School is located in Cleveland. They have been awarded a $1.2 million tax credit for a rehabilitation project that will update the space, keeping its original functions. 

The Taylor Tudors are located in Cleveland Heights and have been awarded a nearly $6 million tax credit. The property holds three identical three-story Tudor Revival buildings that will be rehabilitated for use as retail and apartments, mirroring their historic uses. 

The Lostro Building is located in Athens and has been awarded a $1.9 million tax credit. The building was originally built for retail and automobile storage. It will be rehabilitated to hold apartments on the upper floors and commercial spaces on the first floor. 

The Commodore Apartments are located in Dayton and have been awarded $735,500 in tax credit. The building was vacated in 2018 but will be rehabilitated to serve as apartments once again. 

The Edward Wren Building is located in Springfield and was awarded a nearly $4.5 million tax credit. It was originally built to hold a department store and a bank. It has sat vacant and was slated for demolition. It will be rehabilitated with additional new construction to hold apartments on upper floors, a lobby and commercial space on the first floor, and an attached parking garage.