An all-inclusive approach produces the strongest results when developing a comprehensive community revitalization plan.

Successful revitalization efforts should identify both historic and existing non-historic buildings that are vacant, underutilized, or no longer meeting the needs of the community. These properties represent opportunities for adaptive reuse and reinvestment that can help address critical local needs, particularly housing, retail, office, and mixed-use development.

A variety of existing state and federal incentive programs can support these redevelopment efforts when combined with private investment. These may include State and Federal Historic Tax Credits, New Markets Tax Credits, FHA financing programs, Tax Increment Financing, Opportunity Zone incentives, and state and federal grants. Many of these tools are most effective when projects are structured as income-producing developments, allowing institutional and private investors to provide equity needed to move projects forward.

The adaptive reuse of larger commercial and industrial buildings can often have the greatest immediate impact by creating market-rate multifamily and senior housing that helps increase downtown activity and stimulate additional investment. At the same time, smaller commercial and residential buildings throughout surrounding neighborhoods also play an important role in long-term revitalization efforts.

As new residents move into redeveloped areas, demand for supporting retail, office, restaurant, and service-oriented businesses naturally increases. For that reason, revitalization planning should not focus solely on individual landmark projects, but rather on the broader network of buildings and neighborhoods that make up the community as a whole.

A successful revitalization strategy identifies opportunities across the entire built environment—historic and non-historic, large and small, commercial and residential—to create sustainable economic growth and long-term community vitality.