The first step in finding out if your property qualifies for the National Register of Historic Places is to complete a National Register Questionnaire. Information about the questionnaire and the National Register program and process is available on the State Historic Preservation Office’s (SHPO) website at: https://www.ohiohistory.org/preserving-ohio/national-register-of-historic-places/nomination-submission-process/. After you’ve been approved to proceed you may want help with researching and preparing the actual National Register nomination and related materials. The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) offers grants from their Ohio Pipeline Initiative Grant to hire a professional historic preservation consultant to prepare the National Register nomination for individual properties or historic districts. For information on the Ohio Pipeline Initiative Grants you can reach Lisa Brownell of the Ohio Department of Development. She can be reached at 614-752-2345 or Lisa.Brownell@development.ohio.gov. To get started visit the SHPO website and Ohio Department of Development website. Not to worry SHPO can give you a list of vetted professionals to perform the research. Visit this link here.

Once your building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, call Sam DeCillis with the State Historic Preservation Office. He can be reached at 614-298-2000 and will walk you through the next series of requirements step by step. Don’t hesitate to call him with any questions you have throughout the process. He will work with you through what are called the Part I and Part II applications to the National Park Service. The end result of completing these processes successfully will have your project 20% in Federal tax credits. If you are persistent and follow each step you are likely to be successful. You will want to hire an architect or consultant who is knowledgeable in the field of Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation. Lastly, you can contact Sam by emailing SDecillis@ohiohistory.org. You’ll also want to visit the Ohio History/SHPO website before you call so you can gain some understanding of the process and have your list of questions prepared. 

You’ll want to check the ODD website and make sure you understand the deadlines for the each aspect of the application process. Submitting the intent to apply and Part I and Part II is necessary before submitting the State Historic Tax Credit application. This is a very involved process that requires you to collect and research a lot of information like project schedule, financing, budget, history, intended us of building, number of jobs you will create, amount of investment you are leveraging with the tax credits, etc. You have the option of submitting during one of the two application cycles. Lisa Brownell also facilitates this program and is extremely helpful. You can reach her at Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program Manager, Office of Grants and Tax Incentives. Her email is
Lisa.Brownell@development.ohio.gov. If you want to get a sneak peak of applications from a previous round so you have an idea of what you will need to submit visit their website. This will give you a chance to start working on components of the application before the application process opens. This is highly advised.

The best guidance we can provide is to set aside about a year to complete the entire process from nomination to the Federal Historic register to completing the State Historic Tax Credit process. Be prepared to make very detailed decisions about the final design of your building and research your true costs like construction and use the resources above to help you. There are also professionals who provide guidance through the process whose services you can engage. The positive outcome of preparing the paperwork and doing the research for the application is you will have thought through and documented all aspects of your project.