“What should the State of Maryland do with large vacant historic complexes?” In 2019 Preservation Maryland’s advocacy team, elected officials, and other stakeholders sought to answer just that. A committee was formed and the project team chose three undeveloped historic complexes as case studies, including Warfield (Springfield State Hospital Women’s Facility) in Carroll County. The study included barriers to advance large complex preservation projects and recommendations to begin to overcome them. Now, Gov. Hogan and the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development announced Warfield as the first recipient of the State of Maryland’s Catalytic Revitalization Tax Credit, a program created as a direct result of the study’s findings.
DURING THE 2021 SESSION OUR ADVOCACY TEAM SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT FOR THE ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR CATALYTIC REVITALIZATION PROJECTS [SB885],
Introduced by Senator Katie Fry Hester (Carroll and Howard Counties) in 2021’s legislative session, SB885 created a new tax credit within the Department of Housing and Community Development to support the revitalization of catalytic projects. The program is result of a report, “Advancing the Preservation and Reuse of Maryland’s Historic Complexes,” by a work group that studied the reuse of government complexes in 2019, on whose steering committee Preservation Maryland served. The report made recommendations to the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Department of Commerce, including this funding.
Now, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development announced the first recipient of the State of Maryland’s Catalytic Revitalization Tax Credit, designed to rehabilitate formerly government-owned properties for economic and community development purposes. The Warfield Companies received a $15 million state tax credit for their ongoing project to redevelop a historic mental health facility and surrounding area in Sykesville into a mixed-use community.
The new tax credit program is designed to fill financing gaps between the cost of rehabilitation and the market-rate value of the redeveloped property. 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.
“Preservation Maryland is proud to see our work with so many partners come to fruition. These types of projects can catalyze the revitalization of whole communities, and this new tax credit program has the potential to unlock the economic benefits of redeveloping historic complexes across the state.” -Elly Colmers Cowan, Director of Government Relations
“This credit was created to provide an attractive tax incentive to support the renovation and adaptive reuse of aging, unused government buildings, facilities, and properties,” said Secretary Kenneth C. Holt. “The redevelopment at Warfield presents a once in a lifetime opportunity for the people of Sykesville to preserve a piece of their heritage by transforming the former Springfield Hospital Center into a residential and commercial hub that will enhance the local community, while preserving prime and productive Carroll County farmland and open space.”