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Proposed legislation that would create a state historic rehabilitation fund to help offset the cost of restoring and upgrading aging commercial buildings could encourage more renovation projects throughout Oregon.

The Revitalize Main Street Act is in the queue to be introduced in the Oregon Legislature by the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue for consideration during the 2015 regular session, Restore Oregon Executive Director Peggy Moretti said.

The Portland-based nonprofit advocates for historic preservation and is lobbying for the legislation as a way to help revitalize downtowns in cities throughout the state. The proposed state incentive program would help break down the financial barrier for property owners considering seismic upgrades and other costly measures to rehabilitate older buildings, Moretti said.

鈥淚t always boiled down to money,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ftentimes, it’s just out of reach. When we realized Oregon lacked a financial incentive we realized this was the single most important thing we could do to encourage preservation and revitalize main streets. We’re responding to the need we saw in the field.鈥�

The bill would create a fund with revenue from the auction of state income tax credits at a capped amount. This money would be used to provide developers or property owners a 25 percent rebate 鈥� administered through the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office 鈥� on restorations of historic commercial buildings. The fund would operate much like the Oregon Production Investment Fund, which encourages film production in the state.

Presently, 35 other states offer historic restoration incentives similar to what is being proposed in the Revitalize Main Street Act. Such an incentive in Oregon would join federal incentives as a way to spur restorations of historic buildings, Moretti said.

鈥淭he goal is to have an impact on small main streets as well as larger urban settings,鈥� she said.

Restore Oregon commissioned consulting firm ECONorthwest to complete an economic analysis of the proposed incentive. The state historic preservation fund would dramatically increase the number of building rehabilitation projects in Oregon and create hundreds of new jobs in construction and other related fields, the analysis said.

The fund would be especially helpful to building owners facing the high cost of retrofitting unreinforced masonry buildings, said Walt McMonies, a Portland property owner and senior real estate attorney with the Portland office of Lane Powell. He serves on the Restore Oregon board and is a member of a steering committee backing the Revitalize Main Street Act.

鈥淚t’s going to help the construction industry if we pass this because it’s real money that will be spent on these buildings,鈥� McMonies said. 鈥淭here will be a lot more people renovating their buildings. It really will start a renovation boom.鈥�

Fellow steering committee member John Russell, founder of Portland-based Russell Development Company Inc., said he supports the proposed incentive for similar reasons. It cost between $400 and $500 a square foot for his company to seismically retrofit a 157-year-old building near the corner of Southwest Naito Parkway and Oak Street in Portland, he said.

鈥淚t sat vacant for two years because the costs to restore it were enormous,鈥� Russell said.

The fund wouldn’t just be a boon for development companies that own multiple properties, said George Kramer, principal of Ashland-based historic preservation consulting firm Kramer & Co. and a Revitalize Main Street Act steering committee member. The legislation is geared toward owners of smaller commercial properties in downtowns throughout the state that wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to fix up their aging buildings, he said. The proposed incentive program could also help these property owners secure financing from private lenders for restoration projects.

鈥淭hose kinds of smaller projects don’t really have anywhere to go in Oregon for assistance,鈥� Kramer said. 鈥淭his program will directly target those types of property owners. I think we will make quantitative improvements on main streets across the state.鈥�

Kramer, who has three decades of experience working on historic preservation projects, said he has long pushed for the state to set up a restoration incentive program. The Revitalize Main Street Act will encourage developers to invest in restoring historic buildings and create jobs, he said.

鈥淚f you look at the big picture, there are few things that we can invest in as Oregonians that have so many positive paybacks,鈥� Kramer said.