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Other economic suport paths to consider for your legacy business program.
The following economic support elements are not in use in current legacy business programs. They are presented as ideas or concepts that, with some effort, could be initiated to support your program’s goals.
Legacy Business Revolving Fund
Preservation Revolving Funds, such as the Cincinnati Preservation Association’s Preservation Loan Fund for Endangered Buildings, have become increasingly common tools for private and government organizations. Many of these programs offer revolving short-term loans specifically for historic preservation efforts. Others, like the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s Revolving Fund Program, acquire, option-purchase, or receive donations of endangered historic properties, then resell them with protective agreements to “preservation-minded” individuals. Either of these approaches could be adapted to focus less on the endangered building and more on the endangered business, creating a legacy business fund for commercial property. This could enable your legacy business program to provide access to capital or potentially pathways to building ownership.
Legacy Business Preservation Easements
Preservation easements are currently used as legal agreements to protect historic buildings or properties. Easements consist of part or all of a property donated by the property owner to a preservation partner (government, land trust, or nonprofit) that holds the property and is responsible for maintaining it. Generally, the easement lasts in perpetuity and remains in effect even with new ownership. The donation is incentivized by local, state, and/or federal tax deductions for the property, based on the size of the easement.
A legacy business easement could provide a way to donate space for use only by legacy businesses. In this case, the building owner would receive the tax deduction associated with the easement, and the preservation partner (you) would manage the space to house and retain legacy businesses. The management plan could also include tenant protections like affordable rents to ensure the legacy business’s success.