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Historic Preservation Incentives Mean New Life for 1920s Winston-Salem Building
Downtown Winston-Salem’s new entertainment complex, Roar, began its life in 1926 as an automobile dealership. It’s what it is now through use of historic preservation incentives that made the multimillion-dollar renovation project viable for developers.
The building on Liberty Street was an auto repair shop when Mayfair Street Partners, LLC, became involved. The company partnered with GBX Group, LLC, to help secure partial funding for the multimillion-dollar renovation project through various government-backed historic preservation incentives.
One of those incentives, a Historic Preservation Easement, protects the structure’s distinct, white-glazed terra-cotta facade. The easement was donated to Preservation North Carolina to ensure redevelopment followed National Park Service guidelines.
“The property has a great location, but renovation would have been hard to finance with traditional debt,” said Simon Burgess, managing partner of MSP. “Combining historic tax credits with the easement brought $5.3 million of equity to $12 million cost, which resulted in a less than 60% loan-to-cost ratio.”
- ◦Development
