The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development announced the opening of the third application round of the Catalytic Revitalization Tax Credit (CRTC) program, which provides funding to rehabilitate eligible properties formerly owned by the State or federal governments, for the purposes of driving economic and community development.
In 2019 Preservation Maryland’s advocacy team, elected officials, and other stakeholders sought an answer to what to do with large vacant historic complexes in Maryland. A committee was formed and the project team chose three undeveloped historic complexes as case studies. The study included barriers to advance large complex preservation projects and recommendations to begin to overcome them. The Catalytic Revitalization Tax Credit program was created as a direct result of the study’s findings.
CRTC is designed to fill financing gaps between the cost of rehabilitation and the market-rate value of the redeveloped property. An eligible project must be a formerly State or federally-owned college or university, K-12 school, hospital, mental health facility, or military facility or installation, and may no longer be in service. Proposed revitalization projects related to the rehabilitation of these government-owned properties must foster economic growth, job creation, affordable housing, or other community improvements and services.
Eligible applicants can apply for a 20% tax credit of total eligible project costs, capped at $15 million. Credits may be claimed each year for the first five years after the project has been put into service or spread among multiple completed phases.
In 2021, the Department awarded the first round of tax credits to The Warfield Companies’ redevelopment of Warfield at Historic Sykesville in Carroll County. The second award was made in 2023 to Cascade Properties, LLC for redevelopment of Historic Fort Ritchie, a former military base located in Washington County.
Applications are due on Friday, October 11, 2024, at 5 p.m. For more information about the Catalytic Revitalization Tax Credit and to apply, visit dhcd.maryland.gov.