Page 29 - Reflect DSM (City of Des Moines, IA)
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ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND
AFFORDABILITY Economic Benefits of Historic
Preservation
The economic benefit of investing in
historic properties is well-documented. Their Numerous studies and reports have
restoration and reuse provide a return on detailed the economic benefits of
investment in the form of direct costs, new historic preservation and historic
job creation, and increased tax base, and preservation programs in communities
their catalytic impacts are unmatched across the country. The links below offer
by most new construction. And, because a sampling of these resources.
preservation projects are generally more
labor intensive and use locally-sourced Measuring Economic Impacts of Historic
building materials, more of the investment Preservation, A Report to the Advisory
stays in the local economy. The restoration Council on Historic Preservation (2013)
and reuse of historic buildings almost https://www.achp.gov/sites/default/
always creates flexible, distinctive, and files/guidance/2018-06/Economic%20
more affordable spaces for new and Impacts%20v5-FINAL.pdf
existing owner-occupied businesses. They
create a variety and vibrancy of uses that Getting Results: The Economic Impact of
serve residents and attract others to the Main Street Iowa, 1986-2012
community. By their very nature, most of Des
Moines’ older and historic neighborhoods https://www.iowaeda.com/
offer more affordable housing options. userdocs/documents/ieda/
They are densely developed, have more MainStreetReportMay2013.pdf
modest scaled single-family housing, and a State, Local, and Regional Economic
greater variety of multi-unit dwellings. Most Benefit Studies, as provided by the
have small commercial nodes and are Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
accessible by public transportation. With
proper protections and planning, these https://www.achp.gov/initiatives/
neighborhoods and variety of building types community-revitalization-economic-
could be appropriately restored and still benefits/area-studies
provide affordable housing options.
Economics and Historic Preservation: A
Guide and Review of the Literature
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/
uploads/2016/06/20050926_preservation.
pdf
Preservation & Economics, National Trust
for Historic Preservation - Preservation
Leadership Forum
https://forum.savingplaces.org/learn/
fundamentals/economics
Adopted Plan (September 2023) 23
