Published October 23, 2006 - Inside Business Hampton Roads
 

Phoebus hopes for historic change
Tax credits are incentives for improvements

By Janet Dunphy

No one said it would be easy. In fact, the six large binders and $40 reference book on Jim Turner’s top shelf prove otherwise.

Nevertheless, Phoebus is inching toward a modern milestone. The commonwealth put the Hampton community on the Virginia Landmarks Register last month and then forwarded an application to the National Park Service for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. A decision is expected before Jan. 1.

What does it mean in dollars and cents?

The combined state and federal tax credits for renovating properties that match the guidelines in a designated historic district can reach 45 percent. There are 426 buildings in the district and 60 percent may be eligible for those credits if Phoebus is listed on the National Register.

“This is one of the new tools that people are using to preserve historic features and engage communities,” said Turner, executive director of the Phoebus Improvement League, a 20-year-old nonprofit with a membership of residents, businesses and civic organizations.

Turner conceived the idea when he started working for the improvement league almost two years ago. The league signed a contract with Suffolk-based Commonwealth Preservation Group in April 2005 to spearhead the effort.

“It can definitely be lucrative,” said Paige Pollard, an architectural historian, explaining that the state tax credits are 25 percent of capital improvements while the federal credits are 20 percent. She is half of the Commonwealth Preservation Group team. Marcus Pollard, her husband, is a historian.

The district proposed for federal consideration is 86 acres, with rough boundaries along County Street, Mallory Street, Interstate 64, Willard Avenue and Water Street. The properties eligible for tax credits have to be at least 50 years old.

Phoebus, named for the founder of what is now called the Chamberlain Hotel at Fort Monroe, originally dates to 1608 when the ships Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery landed there on the way to Jamestown. The community, a gateway to the historic fort, is home to a pre-Civil War cemetery, The American Theatre, founded in 1908, an art gallery, quaint shops, several restaurants and services.

“Phoebus is like a time capsule. It’s like someone came in and shut the light off and closed the door,” said Turner, explaining how circumstances kept the community quiet. The railroad that helped it thrive eventually stopped coming and the opening of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel signaled the end of the ferry commute across the water to Norfolk.

Property owners who refurbish their buildings according to National Register guidelines aren’t the only ones who benefit from the historic designation, Turner said.

“It’s an inducement to other property owners to improve,” he said.

Plus, local assessments grow, the city’s tax base increases, buildings are preserved and those who aren’t eligible for tax credits see their property values increase in most cases.

The Phoebus Improvement League receives a limited amount of financial assistance from Hampton, but has paid about $32,000 to the Pollards so far from other funding, Turner said. The city supports the league’s efforts and so do the citizens, he said.

In addition, Urban Design Associates, under contract with the city, is developing a master plan for Phoebus, one of six citywide. A draft is expected in January 2007.

The process of getting on the National Register began at the state level with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and a preliminary information form that the Pollards were in charge of. What followed was a historical and architectural review of every property within the proposed historic boundary, including photographs – taken in winter so the foliage wouldn’t mar the documentation, Turner said.

More than 1,200 pages were submitted to the state, which added the Phoebus Historic District to the Virginia Landmarks Register in September and forwarded the information to the National Register. The previously prepared documents were so comprehensive – including the use of Department of Interior forms – that no other paperwork was required, Turner said.

Camille Bowman is an architectural historian for the Tidewater Regional Preservation Office of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. She regularly conducts public stakeholder meetings when localities are being considered for the Virginia Landmarks Register, including Park Place in Norfolk and Phoebus.

The most common concern Bowman hears is that people will lose control of their properties if they are in historic districts. Instead, local zoning ordinances dictate what property owners can and can’t do.

“People fear government doing something to them and that just isn’t the case in historic districts,” Bowman said. “It is purely recognition and it opens up opportunities. You don’t have to tear down pink or purple.”

To block the historic landmark designation, Bowman said 51 percent of the property owners who are affected have to object. Only one person objected in Phoebus and two out of 1,400 in Park Place.

The possibility of tax credits in Phoebus is generating interest.

“I’m already getting a lot of calls from property owners,” Bowman said.

Paige Pollard once worked for the commonwealth advertising and educating people about historic tax credits. She agreed that there is a lot of misunderstanding among the public about state and national historic districts, which have no regulatory requirements unless property owners want to take advantage of the tax credits.

“There are huge misconceptions,” Pollard said. “So we did a lot of local outreach to avoid confusion on that topic. We had to dispel that.”

Eligibility, plan reviews, construction updates and photo documentation are all required to get the tax credits, Pollard said.

“This can be a valuable resource for community spirit,” she added.

The Pollards have consulted on numerous projects for private developers on Granby Street in Norfolk as well as Old Town Portsmouth and Suffolk. Phoebus was unique.

“Typically what you see is a city-sponsored project or a city-state partnership,” she said. “The league took the project on themselves.” Pollard added, “I don’t think they fully understood the level of documentation and research and how it would generate interest in revitalization. We were pretty confident it would meet the requirements. It has a distinct character. You can feel it as you get off the interstate.”

Pollard said she sees a growing awareness in preservation, especially with the growing trend that focuses on downtown communities.

“The private sector interest in preservation is growing. People are beginning to value historical buildings more as assets,” she said. “They are dealing with them in a more organized approach and developers are more interested in refurbishing them for modern use.”