Cover photo: 1326 Valley Place, SE, Washington, DC. Before and after The L’Enfant Trust purchased and rehabbed the house in the Anacostia Historic District.

Historic Properties Redevelopment Programs: The Basics

What is a HPRP?

A historic properties redevelopment program is an active real estate-based program for protecting endangered properties using techniques such as: options, purchase/resale, easements, and tax credits. These historic structures ultimately are returned to the private sector with deed restrictions in place. Any proceeds realized from transactions are “recycled” to sustain the proactive preservation efforts of the program.

The goal of these programs is community redevelopment using historic preservation as a tool. These programs were commonly known as revolving funds, but as not all of the programs revolve, the more inclusive term of historic properties redevelopment program is now being used.

Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN) is working with The African Heritage Co-op in Buffalo, NY, to rescue and rehab a c.1876 building for a new food co-op. The two organizations teamed up to save the building following an emergency demolition order, tapping into PBN’s revolving fund to secure and stabilize the fire-damaged structure. Learn more here.

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In 2014, the Savannah College of Art and Design created this video to introduce the concept and power of historic property redevelopment programs. Produced by The 1772 Foundation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

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