Preserve The ‘Burg considers new preservation mechanism

Preserve The ‘Burg gathered preservation experts from Louisiana and Georgia Monday night to explore the possibility of starting a revolving fund, a mechanism used nationally by historic preservation experts to increase the stock of historic housing and prevent demolition of historic properties. Such funds are used in cities across the country from Galveston, Texas to Charleston, S.C. and Boston, Mass.

The recent donation of a building to Preserve The ‘Burg by former City Council member Jim Kennedy was the impetus for the discussion, according to the executive director of Preserve the ‘Burg, Monica Kile.

Revolving funds allow historic preservation organizations to purchase property, rehabilitate and stabilize it, and then sell it on the market with historic preservation easements attached to the property deed. The proceeds from the sale of one house are then put into another house, creating a cycle, or revolving door of funds.

The revolving fund concept allows historic preservation organizations to use free market solutions to historic preservation problems through acquisition by donation or purchase of historic property, rather than city government interventions like third-party designation, a primary tool of Preserve the ‘Burg in the past.

“If you really want to be in the game, making a difference, then you’ve got to be involved in real estate,” said Daniel Carey, past President and CEO of the Historic Savannah Foundation.

“I think, in the end, it’s a difference-maker,” Carey said. “When we look at those 50-60 organizations around the country that use revolving funds, that is the club of clubs … The fact is, they are the most effective organizations in the country, they are the leaders that the other organizations look to.”

According to Carey, it was the difference-maker in the Historic Savannah Foundation’s history, too. “We started off saving one endangered property, but we held it. In 1955, that became the Davenport House Museum. Others were endangered and people kept coming to us, asking, ‘What are you going to do now?’ We were confronted with this conundrum of, ‘Can we buy all of these properties?’ We took a road trip up the way to Charleston, which was about six, seven years ahead of us on the revolving fund, and we learned about the fund from them.”

Savannah’s fund was established nearly 60 years ago, around 1960, and it has since helped the Historic Savannah Foundation save over 400 homes. “People looked at us differently,” Carey explained. “We weren’t this dilettante group anymore … Our perception in the community changed from that group of gadflies that were saying, ‘Somebody ought to save this,’ to being the ones to say, ‘We’ll step in.'”

“That set the table for private money to follow but also for city leaders, elected officials and the banking community to kind of look at us and say, ‘They may be on to something,'” said Carey.

Brian Davis of the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation has seen the revolving funds restore neighborhoods and cities across Louisiana and previously in Texas. His organization looks for the properties most in danger of demolition that are 50 years old or older.”We’re looking for the ones where if we don’t step in, they’re not going to be there in five years,” Davis explained. “That’s our job as a nonprofit, to take the properties that are really scary, fix those issues … make them secure, and then market it at that point so it’s a blank slate.”

According to Davis, fixing up those properties, with crumbling foundations and severely damaged roofs, leads to an uplift in pride and stability of the neighborhood and brings in private investments for other houses less run down or damaged than the ones his organization purchases.

“I think it gives you street credibility,” Davis said of the revolving fund. “You’ve got your money, your blood, you’re out there working hands-on in buildings, you’re getting neighborhood people involved. I think that gives you some credibility in the field.”