The Des Moines Rehabbers Club is an organization whose mission is to promote revitalization in the City of Des Moines by encouraging, supporting, and promoting preservation and renovation. I am co-organizer and current Board Member. This group is loosely based on one I helped organize in St. Louis in the early ’00s. Originally started by…
Author: Steve
Historic Tax Credits
Historic tax credits are valuable as a tool for both encouraging preservation of significant buildings and stimulating investment in distressed communities. I have given this presentation for neighborhood organizations in newly established historic districts, economic development groups, historic preservation commissions, and conferences. It covers the State and Federal historic tax credit programs (depending on the…
Why Old Buildings Matter
I don’t actually advocate for rehabilitation of old buildings as a strict preservationist. While I have a huge amount of respect for historic buildings, I approach rehabilitation from a pragmatic perspective. I strongly advocate for preservation of “character defining” aspects of historic buildings and neighborhoods. On the flip side, I also recognize that current building…
Managing a Historic Rehabilitation Project
This presentation is intended to help participants establish a foundation of basic knowledge about the historic property redevelopment process – particularly as it relates to rehabilitation of historic homes and small commercial buildings. Learning Objectives I have presented this several times for audiences at Iowa’s statewide historic preservation conference, the Preserve Iowa Summit.