The Observation Deck

I'm new to this site and was just reading the posting about the auction of the beautiful old home in Lakewood. One thing that was repeatedly mentioned was how the house was allowed to deteriorate over the years. It occurred to me that this is an extremely common problem with homes throughout our city, and not just mansions.

I realize that there are some programs to help homeowners with repairs such as the Heritage Home Loan, which I have taken advantage of, but what about something even more appealing, tax incentives. The Home Loan program, while nice, is still a loan which requires repayment. Other programs have income limits which many of us exceed.

Cleveland has been successful in the Ohio City and Tremont areas by giving property tax breaks, how about something similar in Lakewood to promote preserving all these beautiful homes. Even if we could write off a percentage of repairs to our homes it would be an incredible benefit to all of Lakewood in the long term.

One main issue raised during the West End controversy was the need to increase the tax base of the city. Wouldn't providing citizens with the ability to improve the value of the existing properties increase the tax base in the long run?

Janet


Great point.

I was at the last LakewoodAlive meeting and much of it had to do with incentives the city has available to paint, or repair homes. The one that really got my attention was getting on the historic registry. Then there is some serious money available for home renovation.

I have a friend on Sloan that just got his house on the registry, and is working with his neighbors to do likewise.

I myself am working on the area along the Emerald Canyon.

I think the library is having some programs on this as well.

Maybe we can get Mayor Tom George to get Housing involved in this forum, so that we can list all the options.

Thanks for joining and jumping in.


Jim

Janet and Jim,

Give Mazie at the Historical Society a call and she can get the right forms and get you off in the right direction. I'm working on getting the South side of Clifton Park on the registry. Only the North side is now. (It's my winter project). She was able to cut alot of red tape for me due to the fact that the Northside was already on the registry.

Give her a call at 221-7343

Thanks,
Rhonda Loje

Rhonda

Thanks.

Mazie

If you are reading this how about a story for the paper about this.

And/or

A list we can keep online of things available to save old Lakewood homes.

Jim,

For more information on listing your house on the National Register of Historic Places, contact the Ohio Historic Preservation Office at 567 East Hudson Street, Columbus, OH 43211-1030, (614) 297-2470. They will send a full description of the Register and a questionnaire. Their staff will review the questionnaire to determine if the property appears to be eligible for listing. If it appears eligible, they will send an official nomination form and instructions. This is a long process which requires extensive research by the homeowner.

The Cleveland Restoration Society is an excellent local resource for home owners. They operate the Heritage Home Loan Program, which provides low interest loans to eligible properties. CRS is located at 2751 Prospect, Cleveland, OH 44115, (216) 426-1000.

The Lakewood Historical Society and the Lakewood Public Library are co-sponsoring a program series, with assistance from the Cleveland Restoration Society, entitled Your Lakewood Home. The programs are:

September 12: Free Color Consultation for Older Homes, 7 p.m. at Lakewood Library Auditorium

September 19: Maintaining Your Lakewood Home, 7 p.m. at Lakewood Library Auditorium.

September 21: House: A Memoir by Michael Ruhlman, 7:30 p.m., Woman's Pavilion in Lakewood Park. Author Michael Ruhlman discusses his book in which he recounts his experiences owning and renovated an old home in Cleveland Heights.

September 26: Everything you Need to Know to Renovate Your Home, 7 p.m. at Lakewood Library Auditorium. Information on planning a construction project, hiring a contractor and deciding on an appropriate bid.

All of the programs are free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. For more information, call the Historical Society at 216 221-7343 or email at lakewoodhistory@bge.net

Mazie Adams
Exec Director
Lakewood Historical Society

While I am all for seeing more properties and districts in Lakewood listed on The National Register of Historic Places, I feel I must correct a misconception. There is NOT money available to residential properties listed on the National Register.

What Jim heard about at the Lakewood Alive! Forum is a State Historic Preservation Tax Credit for which Heritage Ohio, the statewide non-profit historic preservation group, and the Cleveland Restoration Society, the local non-profit historic preservation group, are lobbying. At the time, it appeared that, if this legislation were passed, it would include tax credits for residential projects listed on the National Register. Since then, those provisions have been removed as this legislation has moved through committee. As it stands, if the legislation is passed, it would be only for commercial buildings listed on the National Register.

This would make the state credit very similar to the federal historic preservation tax incentives, where income-producing properties listed on the Register that undergo a substantial rehabilitation are eligible for a 20% credit.

So, having your home listed on The National Register is certainly an honor and might provide protection from a federally-funded undertaking like a road project, but otherwise listing has no impact and doesn't bring $$$ (except, perhaps in added value).

Michael Fleenor
Director of Preservation Programs
Cleveland Restoration Society

Michael

Thank you for the correction.

I have been speaking with Mary Anne Crampton about getting transcripts and/or recordings of the meetings so that we can keep them on file as PodCasts.

But any help, suggestions, or possible links on anything that would benefit Lakewood Homeowners would be greatly appreciated.

Always enjoy your presence on the forum and paper.

Thank you for all the information. It would be nice to have Mayor George weigh in on this topic. Well I understand the benefits of historic preservation it can be a hard sell with many people.

I am very familiar with the Heritage Home Loan since my husband and I utilized it and were honored with the 2004 Restoration Award for rehabilitating our double. The Heritage Home Loan program is a great option for those of us who are really interested in keeping the historic integrity. However, there are restrictions on which houses qualify and what can be done. The biggest problems I see are: 1) it is a LOAN and therefore not really financial assistance; and 2) many homeowners would like to update there houses with energy efficient windows and vinyl siding which are not eligible.

There has to be a better way to help Lakewood residents maintain their homes. In recent years I have seen many of my friends move out of Lakewood to newer suburbs with newer homes, larger lots and lower property taxes. With the overwhelming repair list for my house and some of the highest property taxes in the county what incentive is there for me as a professional with a young family to stay in Lakewood? I think this is the question we need to ask. We love our home and Lakewood but at some point you have to decide what is best for you financially.

Janet:

In response to your original question, Lakewood does offer tax abatement on certain improvements, similar to the programs you mentioned in Ohio City and Tremont. I recently installed central air conditioning and got an application for abatement in the mail from the good folks at Lakewood Community Development. There is some information on the city website under the Division of Building and Housing.

As you have stated, the Heritage Home Program is specifically for people who want to take a preservation approach. We try to be as flexible as possible. For instance, we will finance a roof repair or replacement for any home, even if it has vinyl siding, because keeping water out of the house is the most basic form of preservation. The program is meant to be an incentive and a reward for maintaining the historic integrity of your house--so if you have wood siding/windows, we will also fund kitchen and bath remodels and even additions. We can even offer an "after-rehab" option where we have an appraiser tell us what the home will be worth after the improvements (addition, third floor completion, aluminum siding removal, etc.) and the bank will lend you 90% of this amount. In this case, we have to escrow the funds since the bank is actually lending more than the house is worth at the time.

The restrictions against vinyl siding and vinyl windows have many reasons. The installation of siding often requires the removal of significant character-defining features like cornice boards, window sills, and knee braces. Historically, most late 19th Century houses and many early 20th Century styles had window sash painted dark (green, red, brown, or black) something that isn't possible with white vinyl windows. We have also found that vinyl windows often don't hold up like their manufacturers claim as vinyl expands and contracts in the heat and cold. We've financed window replacements for a homeowner who only had her vinyl windows for seven years before they fell apart. A police officer told us that in some Cleveland neighborhoods burglars target houses with vinyl windows because they pop out so easily. If you are interested in greater energy efficiency, we can help you either rehab your existing windows or replace them with double glazed wood windows. Some brands are no more expensive than the better vinyl product. For more information, call Kerrington Adams at CRS-216-426-3116.

I might also mention that the County Treasurer, James Rokakis, who sponsors the Heritage Home Loan, also has another home repair loan available called the HELP loan, which doesn't have restrictions against the vinyl products.

Concerning the proposed State Rehabilitation Tax Credit, Senate Bill No. 60, go to www.heritageohio.org and look under advocacy. I don't think the fact sheet has been updated since the legislation was introduced.

Even if this credit only covers income-producing properties, it could be really good combined with the federal tax incentives and will be beneficial to Lakewood, as it makes rehabilitation projects like the Hilliard Theater or Lake Erie Screw more attractive to developers looking to do a substantial rehabilitation. This might even benefit those rehabbing doubles or apartment buildings, any income-producing property. The project just has to be big enough to qualify (meet "the adjusted basis").

You can get more information about the federal historic preservation tax incentives by going to the National Park Service website, www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/tax/index.htm. Ohio is the leader in the nation for the use of this program. There has been talk of a similar federal tax credit for residential properties listed on the National Register or contributing structures in NR-listed historic districts. There is supposedly bipartisan support for the Historic Homeowners Tax Act, but any time it has been included in the Interior Dept. budget, it has been dropped before the budget was passed, just as happened in the case of the State credit here in Ohio.

Michael Fleenor
Director of Preservation Programs
Cleveland Restoration Society