The Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio is thought to be one of the largest urban historic districts in the Unites States. It was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and comprises 1,458 contributing buildings, according to the National Park Service.
With the help of federal and state historic tax credits (HTCs) as well as federal and state new markets tax credits (NMTCs), another one of the neighborhood’s historic structures was recently preserved: Memorial Hall.
The 1908 Beaux Arts building, across from Washington Park, is a 600-seat theater that has been in use since it was built. But development partners note that the facility has been drastically underused in recent years as it has not been retrofitted in more than two decades and it no longer meets the needs of a 21st-century events space.
The redevelopment of Memorial Hall took a unique partnership. Hamilton County owns the building, while Cincinnati Memorial Hall Society (CMHS) manages the space with help from Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), which is also acting as the developer.
William Baumann, president of CMHS said, “Although the building had been underutilized for many years, our board recognized in 2012 that the revitalization of Washington Park and its Over-the-Rhine neighborhood presented an opportunity for the rebirth of Memorial Hall.”
“While using these four tax credit programs on one development can create some inherent challenges, the benefit it provides to a development is astronomical,” said John Sciarretti, partner in the Dover, Ohio, office at Novogradac & Company LLP.
Photo credit: CincinnatiMemorialHall.com
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