Unlocking Historic Tax Credits to Preserve New York City’s Existing Affordable Housing.
Preservation Is Part of the Housing Solution.
Affordable housing is one of the most pressing issues facing New York City today. While much of the conversation focuses on building new housing, preserving the affordable housing we already have is equally important.
Thousands of affordable apartments are located in buildings that are now 50 to 100 years old. Many face aging building systems, deferred maintenance, and growing capital needs. At the same time, the public resources available to rehabilitate these properties are limited.
The Historic Districts Council believes historic preservation tools can be part of the solution.
Many older affordable housing developments may be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, making them eligible for federal and New York State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits. These incentives, alongside existing financial incentives from the city and private funders, can provide substantial financial support to rehabilitate historic buildings while preserving the affordable housing they contain.
Across New York City, older and historic apartment buildings continue to provide affordable homes. This project explores how preservation incentives can help finance their rehabilitation and support their long-term affordability.
About the Project
Protecting Historic Affordable Housing is a research and planning initiative exploring how historic preservation incentives can help address the capital needs of New York City’s aging affordable housing stock.
HDC is working with experts in affordable housing, historic preservation, and tax credit finance to identify places where concentrations of older affordable housing overlap with potential National Register eligibility. The project will develop financial case studies to demonstrate how historic tax credits could contribute to rehabilitation costs and work toward a pilot National Register nomination.
The initiative will begin by focusing on publicly supported and nonprofit-owned affordable housing, where historic tax credits may be able to complement existing affordable housing financing programs. Using these initial examples as a proof of concept, HDC will explore how the model could eventually benefit privately owned rent-regulated housing and be replicated in other parts of New York City.
Project Goals
The project seeks to:
- Identify concentrations of older affordable housing that may be eligible for National Register designation.
- Demonstrate through financial case studies how federal and state historic tax credits could help fund needed rehabilitation.
- Partner with nonprofit affordable housing providers and public agencies to identify opportunities for preservation and reinvestment.
- Advance a pilot National Register nomination that can test the approach in practice.
- Develop accessible resources for affordable housing owners explaining National Register listing and historic tax credits.
- Create a model that can eventually be expanded to additional neighborhoods and housing types across New York City.
Our Approach
Rather than attempting to identify every historic affordable housing property across New York City at once, HDC will begin with a targeted pilot.
The project will identify older publicly supported and nonprofit-owned affordable housing and examine where these properties overlap with areas that could qualify for National Register Historic District designation. Working with housing providers and project advisors, HDC will develop case studies examining properties with significant rehabilitation needs and estimate how much historic tax credits could contribute toward those costs.
From this research, HDC will identify a promising pilot area and work toward National Register designation. The resulting case studies and pilot will provide concrete examples that can help demonstrate the potential of this approach to public agencies, nonprofit housing providers, private owners, and funders.
As the project develops, HDC will explore opportunities to extend the model to privately owned rent-regulated housing and additional areas of New York City.
Why the National Register?
The National Register of Historic Places is the federal government’s official list of buildings, sites, and districts recognized for their historic significance.
Unlike New York City landmark designation, National Register listing does not place a property under the regulation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. For eligible income-producing properties, however, National Register listing can provide access to valuable federal and New York State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits.
For affordable housing owners facing substantial rehabilitation needs, these tax credits have the potential to bring an additional source of equity into a project—helping existing public and private resources go further.
Did you know?
Listing on the National Register of Historic Places does not place a property under New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) regulation. However, it can make eligible rehabilitation projects qualify for valuable federal and New York State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits, providing new funding opportunities for preserving affordable housing.
Building a Model for the Future
The goal of this initiative is to test whether historic preservation incentives can become a practical tool for addressing the financial challenges facing New York City’s aging affordable housing.
By starting with a focused pilot, HDC can test the model, understand its financial potential and practical challenges, and develop a process that can be refined and repeated elsewhere.
Over time, this work could expand to additional neighborhoods and boroughs, helping connect more affordable housing owners with preservation incentives and bringing new resources to the long-term stewardship of the city’s existing affordable housing stock.
Project Advisors
- Chris Cirillo, Executive Director & President, Ascendant Neighborhood Development
- Al Shehadi, Principal, Shehadi Advisory
- Ian Volner, Journalist, Author, and Co-organizer of HDC’s 2025 conference on historic affordable housing.
Questions?
For questions about the project, partnership opportunities, or National Register and historic tax credit resources, please contact Emma Bartley, Historic Districts Council’s Preservation & Research Manager, at [email protected].
Protecting Historic Affordable Housing is supported by The New York Community Trust