Historic designation would help encourage rehabilitation of Rosewood Courts by making the development eligible for Historic Tax Credits as well as other funding. But it appears that HACA, its consulting architect, and its chosen residents do not want to expeditiously plan to receive this funding and the leverage it would provide. Their plan continues to be focused on demolition and densification (i.e. gentrification), not preservation. The National Register State Board of Review voted to postpone the Rosewood nomination for reasons that have nothing to do with historic preservation. In doing so it violated its own rules which state as follows (see the link below): Beyond the intricacies of historic judgment, other important issues faced by the Review Board are the political and economic ramifications of National Register listings. A present owner may oppose a propertys listing regardless of its significance, because of a fear of being unable to develop or use the property as desired. On the other hand, an owner may push for nominating a property that does not have sufficient historical significance to justify listing in order to take advantage of certain tax incentives. These factors shall not be taken into consideration by the State Review Board. Their responsibility is to apply professional, technical standards in an unbiased fashion to determine if properties meet the National Register Criteria. Residents are caught in the middle and have been misinformed. One for one replacement of units does not mean that the replacement units would actually be affordable. Public housing rents are limited to 30% of the HUD Median income, whereas affordable housing based on tax credits can start at 80% of the HUD Median. The 2013 Median income for Austin is $73,200. Additionally, residents have been misled into believing that advocates of historic preservation are opposed to ANY change at the property. This is not--and has never been--the case. nps.gov/history/nr/publications/bulletins/strevman/strevman6.htm
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 17:45:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015