Downtown hotel project gets $1 million state tax credit

A project to restore the Empire Hotel in downtown Tiffin has received a $1,040,000 Historical Preservation Tax Credit on an $8.8 million project. The historical hotel, 160 S. Washington St., was built in 1874 and was in use for 90 years, but the building has been "mostly vacant for decades," according to a state news release. The owners plan to rehabilitate the building to again serve as a boutique hotel serving visitors while preserving Italianate historic features. An October 2019 news release announced the purchase of the former Gibson Hotel by Tiffin Boutique Hotel Group LLC. At the time, the company was planning to convert the historic structure into a contemporary boutique hotel with 23 rooms. Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced state support for 54 rehabilitation projects throughout Ohio that will restore 57 historic buildings in 21 communities. The release said the $64 million in tax credits are expected to leverage more than $1 billion in private investment. Funding is being awarded as part of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program, administered by the Ohio Department of Development. "By rehabilitating these historic buildings today, we can preserve the heart of our communities for future generations of Ohioans," DeWine said in the release. "Once restored, these sites will help renew local communities and create additional opportunities for Ohioans." The awards will assist private developers in rehabilitating historic buildings. Developers are not issued the tax credit until project construction is complete and all program requirements are verified. "In many cases, it's more expensive to revitalize an historic structure than it is to build a new one," Husted in the release. "Historic tax credits generate opportunity for communities by attracting investment that would not make financial sense otherwise. When we preserve buildings that are part of a community's historic legacy, we're preserving the past and investing in the future of our great state." In addition to the downtown Tiffin project, a downtown Findlay building, 331 N. Main St., received a $221,000 tax credit on a $1.35 million project. Built in 1889, the brick building has housed a drugstore, a barbershop and a tailor on the first floor, and the upper floors housed apartments. Rehabilitation efforts will preserve historical features such as arched windows and doors and façade. The building will be rehabilitated to house office and retail space on the first floor with 10 residential units on the second and third floors. Five other projects from northwest Ohio are in Toledo. One Toledo project is at Burt's Theatre, which received $908,360 on an $8.2 million project to turn the former lunge and concert venue into commercial space and 15 residential apartments. Toledo's Craft Master Building, once occupied by the Craft Master Paint-by-Number company, received $1 million tax credit on a $6.4 million project to turn the building into office, warehouse and manufacturing tenants.