Well as promised at my last article, I did some research, not anything in great depth but enough to see what strategies and financing models have been used to salvage architectural heritage in various places across the world.

The first one I came across and which has a record of successful applications is;

Tax Increment Financing (TIF), the most widely used method for funding urban renewal in North America, and most recently in the UK .

As defined “TIF is one of a number of “value capture” methods being adopted to fill the gaping hole in public investments in critical infrastructure, the public domain and community facilities.”

WHAT IS TAX INCREMENT FINANCING?

Economically depressed areas are provided  with funds to ‘front load’ the finances required for  expenditures for urban renewal. Property tax revenue increases are referred to as the Incremental District Revenue. Bond holders and investors receive a stable, long term and often tax-favourable return on investment, and communities are able to spread large capital expenditures over the 20 – 25 year term of the bond.

Successful TIF programs in various occasions include;

cities to use this method to fill a £83m funding gap for the proposed 350,000 sq ft

Buchanan Galleries extension.

heart of the City covering approximately 300 acres and more than 700 parcels

historic theatre district and contributed to the revitalization of the CBD as a cultural,

entertainment and residential precinct.

Others  ways of funding include;

owners restore or rehabilitate buildings;

• tax relief to enable  owners to devote more of their means to

maintenance and conservation (including reductions in property tax,

the setting-off of maintenance and restoration costs against income

tax, and reductions in estate tax. If interested to go in depth about these methods and how they work I recommend checking out this excellent paper on the subject. http://book.coe.int/ftp/3255.pdf.