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HomeMy Public PortalAboutReport- Impact on Property ValuesPRESERV AT ION Property Values in Indiana PRESERV AT ION Property Values in Indiana Donovan D. Rypkema Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana Indianapolis INTRODUCTION In Elkhart the rate of appreciation of properties in the historic district, a par- ticularly depressed area, mirrored the rate of appre- ciation of the entire Elkhart market. In Evansville the appre- ciation of properties within the local historic district out- paced both the surrounding historic properties not in- cluded in the local district and the overall Evansville market. In Indianapolis the prop- erty values in the local his- toric district increased at a rate consistent with the met- ropolitan Indianapolis over- all market and exceeded the rate of both the adjacent and highly similar neighbor- hood and the larger area of Indianapolis within which it sits. In Vincennes, while the amount of appreciation over the fifteen-year period was modest for both commercial and residential properties, commercial properties in the downtown historic district maintained a pattern of appreciation similar to both the rest of the commercial properties and the overall Vincennes real estate market. The cities within which the districts were located varied widely in size, loca- tion within the state, and health of the local real estate market. In spite of these variations the results were remarkably consistent: regardless of the historic district, the community, Historic Landmarks Foun- dation decided property val- ues provided one concrete measure of the effect of local historic districts. To quantify the impact of local districts on property values, we commissioned Donovan Rypkema, a Washington, DC real estate expert. We collaboratively selected rep- resentative districts in Ander- son, Elkhart, Evansville, In- dianapolis and Vincennes for the study. Rypkema’s study methodology, detailed on the next page, centered on Multiple Listings Service and U.S. census data. I’m pleased to report that our instincts are solidly veri- fied by the numbers. As this study shows, property values rise with local historic district designation, equaling if not outpacing similar, undesig- nated areas and often the performance of the city as a whole. In addition to docu- menting the positive eco- nomic effect of such protec- tive regulation, the study reveals other benefits—we call them “historic district bonuses”—both for the resi- dents and the community as a whole. We hope Preservation & Property Values is useful to communities throughout Indiana as they weigh the benefits of creating preser- vation commissions and designating older neighbor- hoods as historic districts. J. Reid Williamson, Jr. President Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana September 1997 PREFACE Historic Landmarks Foun- dation of Indiana has advo- cated local historic districts as a method of revitalizing and protecting landmark neighborhoods for more than 30 years. Time enough to develop a measurable track record, and to evaluate the bottom line. We believed local district designation was making a difference because we could see the positive changes. Take Lockerbie Square in Indianapolis, for example. In 1974, boarded and dilapi- dated houses and unsightly vacant lots dominated the area around the preserved museum home of James Whitcomb Riley. Today, Lockerbie is a charming re- stored neighborhood and a highly desirable downtown address where property owners must receive prior approval from the India- napolis Historic Preservation Commission for exterior rehabilitation, new construc- tion, and demolition. Virtu- ally every house has been restored, and nearly every vacant lot filled by a new home. We concede that Lockerbie had some early advantages, not least of which was His- toric Landmarks’ dramatic transformation of a key prop- erty and a revolving fund we operated there which caused the timely restoration of many houses. In an average district, we wondered, what hath local designation wrought? Does the visual and economic improvement exist only in the eyes and minds of preservationists? The question was straight- forward—“What is the impact on property values of local historic districts in Indiana?” Historic Landmarks Founda- tion of Indiana commissioned me to answer that basic ques- tion, and to analyze the data for other effects. I collaborated with Historic Landmarks in the selection of local historic districts in five cities, guided by the desire to represent the geog- raphy of the entire state and communities of various sizes. We chose districts in Ander- son, Elkhart, Evansville, Indianapolis and Vincennes; these districts also represent variety in terms of building size, age, price, architectural quality and demographic characteristics. Four districts in the study are residential; in one case, the study focused on the predominantly commercial area of a district. Finally, we chose local his- toric districts which have been in place long enough for the impact on property values to be measurable. These findings reveal that local historic districts in Indiana not only provide valuable protection for each community’s historical re- sources but protect and en- hance individuals’ financial resources as well. In looking at local historic districts in five Indiana communities we learned that: In Anderson the values of properties in the study areas steadily appreciated after the creation of the historic districts. 1 the type of property, or the condition of the local real estate economy, no evidence was found to suggest that a local historic district adversely affected property values. The Multiple Listings Service and U.S. Census data that was analyzed also showed several other substantial benefits of local district status: Historic districts often mirror the entire community in terms of their economic, educational and racial diversity. Historic districts promote increased levels of home ownership. People moving into his- toric districts aren’t just pass- ing through but tend to be home owners for extended periods, adding stability to the neighborhood. Buyers who choose his- toric districts often have wider choices and get more house, dollar for dollar, for their money. Historic downtown still effectively serves its tradi- tional multifunctional role in a community. When the subject of his- toric district status is raised in a city or neighborhood, Historic Landmarks Founda- tion reports that the most common, anxiously posed question is “Won’t my prop- erty values go down if I have to submit to whatever requirements the preserva- tion commission decides to impose?” In addition to providing an authoritative answer—“No, your property values will not decline; in fact, they will probably rise.”—this investigation of years’ worth of historic pres- ervation commission records suggests that commissions neither prevent investment in new construction nor rou- tinely say “no” to the pro- posals before them. These findings should encourage communities to create local historic districts. In neighborhoods desig- nated and regulated by his- toric preservation commis- sions, property values are generally positively affected; change that is positive for the district is not only allowed but actively encouraged; and investment often takes place when a neighborhood’s assets are protected. The mathematically demonstrable evidence shows such districts to be valuable tools for safe- guarding and strengthening the physical, economic and social fabric of Indiana’s neighborhoods and cities. Donovan D. Rypkema Real Estate Services Group Washington, DC The criteria used to determine the cities and districts in- cluded in the Preservation & Property Values study were out- lined in the introduction. After jointly selecting the geography to be studied, a variety of methodological approaches was used in order to learn as much as possible within the budget- ary scope of the project. Multiple Listing Services (MLS) data maintained by the local Boards of Realtors provided the base data for all property value comparisons. However, also evalu- ated were census data, records of local preservation com- missions, City Directories, and other public records. Every sale reported in the subject districts was included for evaluation, and contributed to the calculations and graphs of the average yearly sales price for the fifteen-year period from 1980 to 1995. Because of the relatively small number of sales in any year in a given district (sometimes as few as four or five) the unadjusted sales data do not provide an ac- curate reflection of changes taking place over time. Therefore the graphs in this report depict the trend line, superimposed over the raw data represented in the columns shown behind the trend lines. The trend lines were created mathematically by Microsoft Excel™ using the formula y = ce ^bx. Where trend lines and narrative show property value compari- sons to the city as a whole, they are based on a comparison of MLS data for every sale (residential sales in four cities and commercial sales in Vincennes) recorded during the study period. In the case of Vincennes, MLS data was examined for every commercial sale within the downtown Vincennes his- toric district between 1982 and the first quarter of 1996. These figures were then compared with all of the commercial sales outside of the downtown over the same period, as well as the average MLS sales price of all properties sold during the period. 2 STUDY METHODOLOGY ★ Anderson ★ Evansville Indianapolis ★ Elkhart ★ ★Vincennes Street versus $32-37.80/ square foot in the newer neighborhoods. The Anderson historic districts offered another advantage over the other neighborhoods (see charts at right). Buyers could choose from a substantial number of houses at several price points: they could easily find a home for less than $20,000 (23%) or over $60,000 (19%), or somewhere in between—$20,000-39,000 (41%) and $40,000-59,000 (17%). The range of housing options was much narrower in the three competing neighborhoods, where only 5% of homes sold for less than $20,000 and just 8% could be purchased for over $60,000. In Anderson, real estate professionals identified five neighborhoods that offered choices for first-time home buyers and those looking for housing in the more af- fordable range: the two his- toric districts and three newer subdivisions (Hilltop, South View and Meadowbrook). While houses in the historic districts fell in the middle of the range of average selling prices—from $52,853 in Hill- top to $32,171 in Meadow- brook—the homes are 79% larger on average than homes in the subdivisions. Historic district buyers therefore got much more house for their money: $14.70/square foot in West Central and $21.50/ square foot in West Eighth Anderson, (pop. 60,000) in east central Indiana has two historic districts—the West 8th Street Historic District (WESHD) and the West Cen- tral Historic District (WCHD) —both created in 1985 and viewed with pride by the community. In fact, Commu- nity Profile: A Vision for the Future 20/20 Foresight pro- claimed “the need to preserve and protect the distinctive qualities of historical, archi- tectural and culturally signifi- cant buildings of the districts is essential in enhancing the quality of life in our City.” The Anderson Historic and Cul- tural Preservation Commis- sion carries out local design review in the districts, includ- ing approval of proposed exterior renovation and new construction. Both districts also are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. WHAT HAPPENED TO PROPERTY VALUES? From 1980 to 1995, both the West Eighth Street His- toric District and the West Central Historic District ex- perienced property value appreciation. The trend of appreciation accelerated slightly after the creation of the historic districts in 1985. HISTORIC DISTRICT BONUS Buyers who decide on houses in historic districts often have wider choices and get more for their money. Anderson Property Values: Anderson Historic Districts WCHD ★ Anderson WESHD 3 $60,000 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Housing Options – Historic Districts $40-59,999 $20-39,999 Less than $20,000 Over $60,000 23% 19% 17% 41% SNAPSHOTS Less than $20,000 $20-39,999 $40-59,999 Over $60,000 8% 5% 53% 34% Predominant architectural styles: Gothic, Greek Re- vival, Italianate, Free Classic, Colonial Revival West Central Historic District Boundaries: Brown-Delaware, 10th, John and 13th streets Period of significant architecture: 1885-1910 Number of buildings: 192 structures Predominant architectural styles: Italianate, Queen Anne, Bungalow 4 Housing Options – Newer Subdivisions Building accelerated in both areas following the 1887 discovery of natural gas, when Anderson pro- moted itself as the “Queen City of the Gas Belt.” West 8th Street Historic District Boundaries: 7th, 9th, Jack- son and Henry streets Period of significant architecture: 1860-1890 Number of buildings: 271 structures Buyers in Anderson’s historic districts—West 8th Street (above) and West Central (left)—get more space and architectural detail for their money than buyers in recently developed neighborhoods. Elkhart The State-Division Street His- toric District ranks as the “first fashionable subdivision” in the northern Indiana city of Elkhart (pop. 45,000). First developed in the 1860s and 1870s following the arrival of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad shops, the area housed an economi- cally diverse population from its earliest days; while single- family homes predominate, the area also contains row- houses, flats, and duplexes. The Elkhart Historic & Cul- tural Preservation Commis- sion locally designated the near-downtown district in 1984 and exercises review over renovation, demolition and new construction in the district. A nomination cur- rently is being prepared to list the district in the National Register of Historic Places. WHAT HAPPENED TO PROPERTY VALUES? The study produced two conclusions: first, the rate of appreciation within the historic district paralleled the appreciation rate in the city of Elkhart as a whole over the period from 1980 through 1995; and second, the average values of hous- ing in the historic district were significantly below average values in the city. The latter finding suggests that the historic district pro- vides affordable housing— and appreciating assets—to people of modest means. HISTORIC DISTRICT BONUS The historic district re- flects the breadth of the community’s diversity. Many neighborhoods, particularly newer subdivi- sions, house narrow slices of a community’s popula- tion. Few neighborhoods reflect the economic, social, racial, and educational diver- sity of the entire community. This is true in small and large cities alike, not only in Indiana but throughout America. However, every residential historic district included in this study Property Values: Elkhart Market & Historic District 5 $80,000 $70,000 $60,000 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 ★ Elkhart State-Division Street Historic District Elkhart Market SNAPSHOT State-Division Street Historic District Boundaries: Midpoint of lots facing Marion St. (N), NYC Railroad (S), Monroe and Waterfall streets (E), midpoint of lots facing Main Street (W) Period of significant archi- tecture: 1860s-1920s Number of buildings: 127 structures Predominant architectural styles: Italianate, Queen Anne, Neoclassical, Stick Style, Four Square, Bungalow Elkhart County Similar Neighborhood Elkhart City Historic District Long-Term Home Ownership - Owned 20+ Years 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% displayed a greater range of the community’s entire population among its resi- dents than other areas, whether newer subdivisions or older neighborhoods not recognized as historic districts (see chart on page 13). Elkhart’s State-Division Street Historic District serves as a useful example. In three demographic categories— race, occupation and educa- tion—residents of the his- toric district closely reflect the entire community. No other neighborhoods in the city came close to mirroring the community as a whole. The Elkhart historic district is less reflective, however, in one important area —in- come. The district encom- passes a greater percentage of both Elkhart’s high- and low-income families (with the spectrum in between also represented) in a single neighborhood. While there are a variety of perspectives on urban problems in America, there is an almost universal agreement that isolating less well-to-do citizens in exclusively poor neighborhoods serves no one well. That Elkhart’s historic district—and every other one in this study— provides an economically integrated neighborhood is one of the most significant contributions it makes in its community. People moving into historic districts aren’t just passing through but tend to be home owners for extended periods, adding stability to the neigh- borhood. The study compared the State-Division Street Historic District with the city as a whole. Slightly more than 50% of the homeowners in the historic district had been in the neighborhood for twenty years or longer; in the city, only 31% of owners had a comparable stable tenure. 6 Research in Elkhart shows that historic districts like State-Division Street offer appreciating property values, stability, and socio-economic diversity. ★ Evansville Evansville, (pop. 130,000), an Ohio River city in the southwest corner of the state, claims one of Indiana’s first local historic dis- tricts—the Old Evansville Preser- vation Area (OEPA), created in 1974. In 1978, a larger area— including Old Evansville—was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the Riverside Historic District. The area developed primarily between 1836 and 1920; early residents included many of Evansville’s most prominent citi- zens, who built imposing houses that expressed the wealth of their owners, but it also sheltered clerks, shopkeepers, and crafts- men in more modest homes. As is not uncommon in older neigh- borhoods, economic and social changes brought adverse condi- tions to the area. The National Register nomination notes, “In time, and particularly during the period between the two World Wars, the descendants of the original families began to move out, and the area deteriorated as more and more of these substan- tial houses were divided into smaller rental units or converted to other uses.” The Original Evansville Preser- vation Commission oversees Old Evansville, which encompasses approximately 60% of the larger Riverside district. It is important to note that there are neither protections nor regulations in National Register districts. There- fore, only the properties in the Riverside Historic District that are also within the boundaries of the locally designated Old Evansville Preservation Area are protected by design review, demolition limitation and other controls. Evansville WHAT HAPPENED TO PROPERTY VALUES? Old Evansville is unique among the districts in the study in two important ways: first, the Old Evansville Preservation Area (OEPA) was the only one of the districts evaluated where the average housing values were significantly greater than the market as a whole; and second, the local his- toric district is part of a larger National Register His- toric District. This situation allowed a revealing analysis. Values in the entire River- side Historic District appre- ciated at a rate faster than the Evansville market as a whole from 1979 through June 1996. When the two components of the Riverside Historic District—the locally protected Old Evansville Preservation Area and the unregulated balance of the district—are compared, a more refined picture emerges. Data showed that the rate of appreciation is significantly greater for those properties within the OEPA, the locally designated and controlled portion of the district. 7 Entire Riverside Historic District Property Values: Evansville Market & Riverside Historic District $140,000 $120,000 $100,000 $80,000 $60,000 $40,000 $20,000 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Evansville Market 8 SNAPSHOTS Riverside Historic District Boundaries: Roughly bounded by SE Third and Fourth streets, Parrett, Riv- erside Drive and Veteran’s Parkway, and Walnut Street Period of significant architecture: 1836-1920 Number of buildings: 413 structures Predominant architectural styles: Federal, Greek Revival, Shotgun, Gothic, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Prairie, Four Square, Mission, Crafts- man, Renaissance Revival, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Free Classic Old Evansville Preservation Area Boundaries: Roughly bounded by SE Second and Third streets, Blackford Av- enue, Shawnee Drive, River- side Drive and Veteran’s Parkway, Walnut and Oak streets Period of significant architecture: 1836-1920 Number of buildings: 223 structures Predominant architectural styles: Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Prairie, Four Square, Renaissance Revival, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Free Classic $140,000 $120,000 $100,000 $80,000 $60,000 $40,000 $20,000 Property Values: Riverside Historic District & Old Evansville Preservation Area Old Evansville Preservation Area Like many historic districts, Riverside includes large homes restored by affluent residents as well as small cottages and multi-family buildings housing people of modest means. While property values in the Riverside Historic District appreciated at a faster rate than the Evansville market as a whole, the locally regulated Old Evansville portion of the district saw an even steeper increase. 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Riverside Historic District $90,000 $80,000 $70,000 $60,000 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 Property Values: Two Historic Districts Indianapolis In Indiana’s capital city, the study looked at property val- ues in adjacent neighborhoods—Fletcher Place and Holy Rosary-Danish Church—both listed in the National Register, and one locally designated. The Fletcher Place Historic District is one of ten historic districts under the jurisdiction of the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission. Located a half-mile southeast of Monument Circle, Fletcher Place won local historic district status in 1980 and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The boundaries of the local and national districts are virtually the same. Much of the area was platted in 1855, and by 1872 the subdivision was known as Fletcher Place. Worker’s cot- tages for Irish and German immigrants dominated the neighborhood, although successful local entrepreneurs built larger homes along Fletcher Avenue. Near the end of the nineteenth century, Italian and central European immigrants began purchasing existing houses and building new modest-sized dwellings in a variety of architectural styles. With significant movement to the suburbs follow- ing World War II, the near-downtown neighborhood declined and suffered encroachment by industrial uses. Recent history has been kinder: for nearly two decades, Fletcher Place has been experienc- ing incremental revitalization. The Holy Rosary-Danish Church neighborhood lies adjacent to and has an early history that strongly parallels Fletcher Place. Platted in 1854, the area was initially occupied by German, Irish, Scottish and Welsh laborers in rental cottages. By the 1880s Danes had become a significant ethnic population in the neighborhood, but by 1910 they largely had been replaced by Italian immigrants. Holy Rosary-Danish Church became a National Register Historic District in 1986. The two neighborhoods are nearly twins. The age, history, housing size and style, and proximity to downtown and transportation connections are virtually identical. There is one significant difference however: Fletcher Place is a locally designated his- toric district under the purview of the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission, while Holy Rosary-Danish Church enjoys no local protection or regulation. Holy Rosary-Danish Church Fletcher Place Historic District WHAT HAPPENED TO PROPERTY VALUES? While both neighborhoods appreciated over the period 1982-1995, Fletcher Place— the locally designated historic district—appreciated at a significantly greater rate. Data available from the India- napolis Metropolitan Area Board of Realtors includes the average selling prices of all houses in the Indianapolis metropolitan area and a smaller area representing the southeast quadrant of central Indianapolis where both Fletcher Place and Holy Rosary-Danish Church are located. The data shows that the rate of appreciation in the Holy Rosary-Danish Church neighborhood mirrored the rate in southeast quadrant of the city, while Fletcher Place not only significantly out-performed the southeast 9 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Indianapolis SNAPSHOTS Fletcher Place Boundaries: roughly I-65/ 70, Penn Central railroad tracks, Virginia Avenue, and East Street Period of significant architecture: 1855-1924 Number of buildings: approx. 150 structures Predominant architectural styles: Vernacular and Queen Anne cottages, Italianate Holy Rosary-Danish Church Boundaries: roughly Virginia Avenue, I-65/70, and East Street Period of significant architecture: 1859-1930 Number of buildings: approx. 230 structures Predominant architectural styles: Vernacular and Queen Anne cottages quadrant but largely paral- leled the rate of value growth for the entire metropolitan region—including Indiana- polis’s booming suburbs. As in Elkhart, the statistics prove that both historic neighborhoods are providing quality housing across a broad range of price levels and attracting a more eco- nomically, socially and edu- cationally diverse population than is typically found in neighborhoods and subdivi- sions in the Indianapolis marketplace. How could there be both a greater percentage of home ownership and more units of rental housing? Fletcher Place experienced a combi- nation of new construction, reinvestment in formerly vacant structures, and conversion of non-residential properties into residential use. Such investment is often attracted to historic districts. HISTORIC DISTRICT BONUS Historic districts promote increased levels of home ownership. The investment protection provided by a local historic district may well be an over- looked catalyst for home ownership, an aspect of the American dream that has been a long-standing public policy priority of local, state and national governments for decades. In these side- by-side and almost identical Indianapolis neighborhoods, the 1980 ratio of home own- ers to renters was close—34% of the residents in Fletcher Place were owners and 29% in Holy Rosary-Danish Church. By 1990, while home ownership increased to 38% in Holy Rosary-Danish Church, the ratio of owners to renters had virtually reversed in Fletcher Place, moving to 66%. Lest this be interpreted as more affluent home buyers chasing out renters, how- ever, three additional obser- vations are significant: There were more house- holds renting in Fletcher Place in 1990 than in 1980. The percentage of long- term renters and owners in Fletcher Place was signifi- cantly greater than for India- napolis in general. Fletcher Place continues to be an affordable neigh- borhood for both renters and owners as compared to the overall Indianapolis market. ★ 10 While Holy Rosary-Danish Church (below) saw an impressive increase in home ownership, the rise was much more dramatic in the locally designated Fletcher Place historic district, where rehabilitation of multi-family structures (right), also increased the number of rental units for low- and moderate-income residents. Vincennes In Vincennes, a portion of the historic district is commercial in nature, encompassing downtown Vincennes. Situ- ated on the Wabash River in southwestern Indiana, Vin- cennes (pop. 20,000) was established as a French fort in 1732 and ranks as Indiana’s oldest city. During the Revo- lutionary War the fort was occupied for a time by the British before being taken by George Rogers Clark and his followers. When Indiana be- came a Territory, Vincennes was its first capital. The Vincennes Historic District includes the majority of downtown and extends into abutting residential ar- eas where the earliest struc- tures date from as early as 1806. The study investigated only the commercial portion of the district. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, the district was locally designated a decade later by the Vincennes Historic Review Board. In spite of these difficul- ties, however, a surprisingly consistent pattern emerges. While the value of down- town commercial properties on average was less than that of commercial proper- ties in other parts of Vin- cennes, the trend line of value movement was essen- tially parallel. Furthermore, the modest rate of apprecia- tion over the decade and a half for commercial proper- ties corresponded with the overall Vincennes market, which saw significant devel- opment along the highway that skirts the edges of the city. While downtowns in WHAT HAPPENED TO PROPERTY VALUES? Three challenges became apparent in the Vincennes data collected for the fif- teen-year study period: first, commercial sales are far fewer than residential sales, which makes statistical analysis more difficult; sec- ond, the real estate market in Vincennes was much more volatile than in the other four cities; and third, the appreciation of Vin- cennes real estate was modest. general are often dismissed as being obsolete as busi- ness centers and no longer appealing as investments, historic downtown Vincennes more than held its own in relation to the overall market. Property Values: Historic Downtown, Commercial Market & Overall Market Overall Market 11 Historic Downtown Commercial Market 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 $120,000 $100,000 $80,000 $60,000 $40,000 $20,000 ★Vincennes HISTORIC DISTRICT BONUS Historic downtown still effectively serves its tradi- tional role in a community. Some think that down- town has been economi- cally, physically and socially replaced by the shopping mall, the office park, and the discount center. Prop- erty values in the historic district covering downtown Vincennes suggest other- wise. Downtowns tradition- ally have served three im- portant economic roles in a community: 1) as a geo- graphically defined, multi- functional setting for a vari- ety of economic activities; 2) as an informal incubator for new businesses which need both affordable space and the interaction with a number of other types of activities; and 3) as the per- manent home of institutions and long-term businesses. SNAPSHOT Vincennes Historic District Boundaries: Wabash River, College, 9th and Willow streets Period of significant architecture: 1733-1920 Number of buildings: 1,878 structures (87% residential, 13% commer- cial/office) Predominant architectural styles: in the commercial portion of the district cov- ered by the study, styles range from Federal to Italianate Historic downtown Vin- cennes continues to serve all three functions. In addi- tion to MLS data, the study employed the Vincennes City Directory to make a compari- son of downtown Vincennes in 1980 and 1995, with the following key findings: Nearly thirty percent of the non-residential activities in downtown Vincennes had been in their current loca- tion for fifteen years or longer. Over the last decade, an average of twenty new busi- nesses a year chose to locate in downtown Vincennes. The data showed a con- sistent pattern of downtown businesses expanding to ad- ditional space or relocating to a larger space within the downtown as they became more successful. 12 Commercial property in Vincennes’ historic downtown held its own, even while rival development sprouted along the highway on the outskirts of town. AFTERWORD Historic preservation commissions are sometimes viewed—usually by people who do not live in historic districts—as bureaucratic naysayers, spoolers of red tape and hassling regulation that’s not worth the difficulty. Resoundingly not true, ac- cording to this study. Inves- tigation of case files for the five cities covered in the study show that the historic preservation commissions approved the applications that came before them more than 90% of the time. Couple this finding with the evidence showing that property appreciates more rapidly in local historic dis- tricts controlled by preserva- tion commissions, and the certificate of appropriateness process followed by most commissions begins to look like a benign process that puts money in the bank. The buyer of property in a local district trades total freedom to do as he pleases with the exterior of his prop- erty for the comforting as- surance that property around him will be renovated and maintained in a manner that is likely to enhance the value of his own property. A handful of other lessons learned while undertaking this analysis were less easy to quantify and represent in charts and graphs but are important nonetheless: The image of historic district residents being rich home owners displacing poor renters was not found to be true in any of the dis- tricts studied. In fact the re- verse was often the case— historic districts effectively provide quality housing for citizens of every economic level. Indiana has a wealth of historic residential and com- mercial historic districts that are not only providing a good investment for this generation, but conserving man-made cultural and physical resources for the next generation. Cities and towns in Indiana would do well—for current citizens and posterity—to create preservation commissions where they do not exist and designate eligible areas as local historic districts. Historic districts seem to have the greatest positive impact on property values when the preservation com- missions in control have ef- fective communication of their rules and clear guide- lines, firmly and consistently applied. The existence of a strong neighborhood organization, whether created before or after the establishment of the historic district, has a posi- tive impact—socially and economically—on the district. Investment will be at- tracted sooner and more con- sistently if there is a package of incentives—“carrots” such as design assistance, low- interest loan programs and the like—to accompany the regulations or “sticks” of the historic district commission. Household Income - Elkhart & Historic District 13 Most locally regulated historic districts are not elite enclaves; instead, rich and poor and those in the middle coexist, as in Elkhart’s State- Division Street district. Less than $10,000 $10,000-24,999 $25,000-49,999 $50,000-99,999 $100,000+ 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% State-Division Street Historic District City of Elkhart A CKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to thank many individuals and city offices who shared informa- tion critical to the completion of the Preservation & Prop- erty Values study: ANDERSON Roger R. Reed, F.C. Tucker/ O.C. Clark, Realtors Leon A. Mudd, American United Appraisal Company Jim Haberek, Planning De- partment, City of Anderson ELKHART Bridget Lail, community activist Kathy Bradley, Elkhart Board of Realtors Patricia Lake, City of Elkhart EVANSVILLE Barbara Cunningham, Executive Director, Evans- ville-Vanderburgh County Area Plan Commission Betty J. Gilles, Evansville- Vanderburgh County Area Plan Commission Joan Marchand*, Historic Preservation Officer, City of Evansville David Matthews, David Matthews and Associates Shirley McDowell, Evansville Board of Realtors Pigeon Township Assessors Office,Vanderburgh County Darrell Veach, Chair, Origi- nal Evansville Preservation Commission Larry Young, Realtor INDIANAPOLIS David Baker & Parker Cohen, Indianapolis Historic Preser- vation Commission Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors Planning Division, Depart- ment of Metropolitan Devel- opment, City of Indianapolis VINCENNES Garry Hall, Appraisal and Management Services Toni Holmes, Arnold Real Estate, Vincennes Vincennes Township Asses- sors Office, Knox County Knox County Board of Realtors Mayor’s Office & City Engineer’s Office, City of Vincennes HISTORIC LANDMARKS FOUNDATION OF INDIANA J. Reid Williamson, Jr., President Karen Kiemnec, Preservation & Property Values Project Coordinator Michael Carter* Tina Connor Mark Dollase Hays Hendricks Fred Holycross Amy Kotzbauer *deceased Historic Landmarks Founda- tion of Indiana thanks the contributors whose generos- ity made the Preservation & Property Values study and publication possible. CONTRIBUTORS Indiana Department of Commerce (Community Promotion Fund Grant) City of Elkhart Edmund L. Hafer & Asso- ciates, Architect Indiana Humanities Council Indianapolis Historic Pres- ervation Commission Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation National Trust for Historic Preservation Samuel B. Sutphin & Kerry Dineen City of Vincennes 14 Anderson Downtown Neigh- bors Association Anderson Urban Enterprise Association City of Aurora Elkhart Historic & Cultural Preservation Commission City of Hammond Historic West Eighth Street Neighborhood Association Huntington Historic Review Board LaPorte Historic Review Board City of Mishawaka City of Nappanee City of Scottsburg Town of West Baden Springs Scott W. Berger Costello + Associates East Central Neighborhood Association Delaware County Historical Alliance Greater Crown Point Chamber of Commerce Minnetrista Central Neighbor- hood Association Barbara Quilling James & Patsy Smith Anderson Historic and Cultural Preservation Commission 765-646-9690 Elkhart Historic & Cultural Preservation Commission 219-294-5471 Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission 317-327-4406 Original Evansville Preservation Commission 812-435-5226 Vincennes Historic Review Board 812-886-4692 HISTORIC LANDMARKS FOUNDATION OF INDIANA Headquarters, Indianapolis 317-639-4534 / 800-450-4534 Central Regional Office, Indianapolis 317-639-4534 / 800-450-4534 Northern Regional Office, South Bend 219-232-4534 Southern Regional Office, Jeffersonville 812-284-4534 Southeast Field Representative, Aurora 812-926-0983 Eastern Regional Office, Cambridge City 765-478-3172 Western Regional Office, Terre Haute 812-232-4534 Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, a private not-for-profit or- ganization, is the largest statewide preservation group in the U.S. His- toric Landmarks saves and protects buildings and places of architec- tural and historical significance. From its network of regional offices, Historic Landmarks leads and assists individuals, organizations and communities in preserving and revitalizing endangered landmarks through education, advocacy, and financial support. A membership or- ganization, Historic Landmarks seeks to enrich contemporary life and leave a legacy of landmarks. For information about becoming a member, call or write: FOR MORE INFORMATION 340 West Michigan Street Indianapolis, IN 46202 317-639-4534 / 800-450-4534 15 ©Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana 340 West Michigan Street Indianapolis, IN 46202 317-639-4534 / 800-450-4534 Credits: Study director & author: Donovan D. Rypkema Project Coordinator: Karen Kiemnec Research assistants: Jeffery E. Jutte & Jena R. Noll Editor: Tina Connor Designer: Ed Norman Printer: Benham Press Produced in cooperation with the Indiana Department of Commerce September 1997