Start From the Assumption That It Qualifies
Elsewhere we tell owners to check whether the building is a certified historic structure. Here the more useful starting point is to assume it probably is and be told otherwise, because so much of the surrounding fabric contributes to listed districts.
That inverts the usual sequence. Rather than asking whether a repair is affordable and then wondering about credits, the question becomes what scope of work the credits will support. The full position is on our page covering historic credits, brick and condemnation.
What Difference Does That Make to My Decision?
Transferability Is the Part People Miss
The surrounding streets built out principally between the 1890s and the 1920s. The Missouri credit is 25 percent of qualified rehabilitation expenditures in St. Louis, against 35 percent outside the two largest cities, and the federal 20 percent applies to income-producing property. Credits carry back 3 years, forward 10, and may be sold or transferred. The programme dates from 1997.
The obvious objection to a tax credit is that it only helps if you owe enough tax. Missouri's does not work that way. The credits may be sold or exchanged, which means an owner without sufficient state liability can still realise the value.
They can also be carried back three years and forward ten. Between those provisions, a credit is closer to a financeable asset than to a deduction, and lenders familiar with the programme understand that.
Can I Use the Credit If I Have Little Missouri Tax Liability?
We publish no figures on what transferred credits realise. Pricing depends on the market, the size of the credit and the buyer, and it is a matter for an accountant or a specialist broker rather than for a website.
Consistent Stock Makes Everything Easier to Price
The buildings here are consistent enough that comparable sales are meaningful and construction cost is predictable. Combined with near-default eligibility, that means offers cluster more tightly than on varied stock and an outlier is easy to spot.
The masonry logic applies as elsewhere: an interior fire frequently leaves the walls sound, and those walls carry the structure, remove the demolition and hold the eligibility. A buyer pricing the property as a teardown has not looked at them properly.
Tower Grove in Context
Where the same eligibility applies at higher values and tighter standards, see our page about a district of substantial historic housing. Where the brick stock is comparable but securing the building comes first, see our page for the neighbourhoods most exposed to brick theft.
Tower Grove Questions
I Cannot Fund the Rehabilitation.
Then the transferability of the credit is the first thing to explore, because it turns the credit into something realisable rather than something you need tax liability to use. An accountant familiar with the programme is the right person to ask.
My Street Looks Preserved but I Am Not Sure About the District.
The City's Cultural Resources Office holds the boundaries and the State Historic Preservation Office verifies certified historic structure status. Both are free and both are worth the call.
Will You Buy Here?
Yes, and on this stock we will frequently tell you that rehabilitating with the credits nets you more. We would rather say so early than negotiate toward a number that was never competitive.