What historic building tax credits have meant for downtown Baton Rouge

Roughly 100 downtown Baton Rouge buildings have been renovated and returned to commerce thanks to the Louisiana Rehabilitation of Historic Structures Tax Credit Program, now on the potential chopping block.

Gov. Jeff Landry’s Louisiana Forward tax reform package—the reason for the current legislative session—includes 10 bills to modernize and simplify the state’s tax system and could potentially mark the end of the tax credit program, which sunsets on June 30, 2025.

The tax credit program reimburses property owners up to 25% of what they spend renovating a structure in a downtown development or cultural district and up to 35% in rural areas.

“Had we not had those credits, downtown would look a lot different today,” says Downtown Development District Executive Director Whitney Hoffman Sayal. “A lot of what makes downtown unique and special is the architecture, the culture and the history. Old buildings are typically more expensive than building new and for developers to make those buildings come back to life, they have to have those credits to make those numbers pencil out.”

Sayal says there are still more downtown buildings that could use the program.

Earlier this year, the Belle of Baton Rouge withdrew its appeal effort for the demolition of the 100-year-old Maritime II building on France Street. Casino officials contended the building is in poor condition and needed to be demolished to meet parking requirements for the Belle’s $141 million expansion. The casino is now exploring the historic tax credits to help preserve the building, according to Sayal. 

Visit Baton Rouge signed a purchase agreement in September to buy a building on Lafayette Street near the Hilton and Hotel Indigo to become the organization’s new headquarters. The building has been vacant for decades and is missing a roof.

“There’s still a lot of opportunities, not just in downtown Baton Rouge, but all over the state, to help preserve our culture and history,” she says. “If we don’t have those, there’ll potentially be a lot of buildings being demoed.”

Downtown Baton Rouge has a demolition ordinance in effect—developers looking to tear down buildings more than 50 years old must go before the Historic Preservation Commission first. The Metro Council adopted the ordinance in 2004 as a mechanism to protect the historical buildings.

Created in 2002, the state’s program has been used to restore nearly 1,800 structures across the state, according to the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans.

Some notable downtown buildings that have been restored using the program include 440 on Third, the Tessier Building and I Rivermark Centre.

“It’s something that Louisiana should be proud of because we are one of the top-performing states in utilizing those credits and bringing buildings back to life,” Sayal says. When you bring a building back to life, you bring commerce back to life and then those properties become more valuable.”

Read how taxpayers might be affected by the tax reform package.