Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-1983

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Planning

Major Professor

George E. Bowen

Committee Members

Walter Shouse, Joseph Prochaska

Abstract

Urban areas throughout the U.S. have been experiencing a decline in importance in the past three decades. Changes brought about by technological advances and improvements in communications and transportation systems have combined to facilitate a transition in the role and function in America's urban cores. Once the industrial and commercial center of a metropolitan area, the urban cores have gradually evolved as the service and office center. This transformation in role and function has had a negative impact upon the buildings designed for the original role of the urban core. Buildings once designed for industrial and retail use have been abandoned or left to deteriorate to such a condition requiring the demolition of the building, ultimately to be replaced by contemporary buildings. As the old and historic buildings are being demolished to make room for the new generation of impersonal buildings or parking decks, yet another vestige of America's and the particular city's history and past is lost forever.

While preservationists argue that old buildings possessing historic or architectural significance need to be preserved, both the public and private sector believe that these buildings could no longer serve a useful purpose in today's contemporary society and take no actions to preserve these buildings. Compounding the public attitude that these buildings could no longer be functional or were not economically feasible to renovate for future use is the "throw away" philosophy of many Americans which results in discarding objects when they get old, dirty, need repair or are out of style.

In the mid-1960's a small number of developers began to undertake preservation and reuse projects involving old buildings. While a number of factors have combined in the past decade to create an improved climate amenable for the resurgence of the preservation and reuse of old buildings, the Bicentennial celebration served to stimulate the growth of the preservation movement.

Preservation and reuse projects in cities such as the harbor area in Charleston, Old Faneuil Hall in Boston, Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco and Trolley Square in Salt Lake City served as a sensible means to preserve significant old buildings in a non-government supported manner. This is the key to preservation and reuse projects, reusing the old buildings for contemporary and profitable activities. The economics of preservation and reuse projects in many instances presently favor reuse projects versus new construction. With a project of this type, generally the project sites are located in the center city and they serve to support and, in some instances, stimulate revitalization activities in the vicinity of the project.

This thesis examined the increasing practice on the part of the private sector to implement preservation and reuse projects and the types of economic incentives available from the federal, state and local governments to stimulate these projects. This thesis focused its attention on the southeast United States. Mail questionnaires were sent to the states and large cities in the southeast to determine the types of economic incentives available and their use.

One major finding was that most of the state and local governments did not provide economic incentives and generally the incentives available were for economic development activities in general. Generally, the state and local governments did not provide incentives because they did not have sufficient revenues for such a program. The second major finding was that the tax incentives developed as a result of the Tax Reform Act of 1976 and Revenue Act of 1978 have served to be the most effective incentive for preservation and reuse projects. The tax incentives serve to provide tax treatment comparable with new construction and in a few respects better which attracts the attention of the private sector.

In order for preservation and reuse projects to occur, the government must develop a framework comparable with new construction. In areas, such as the urban cores, where government desires preservation and development activities, the government must develop a framework which will allow the private sector the financial returns necessary for the private sector to justify its risk and involvement.

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