Aiken extends tax breaks to fix up old buildings

“Abandoned building credits can make or break whether a development is renovated or adaptively, reused, or needs to be torn down,” City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh said.

The city is adjusting its rules to match state law, allowing tax credits to freeze building values for up to 20 years. “There’s a number of projects coming forward, which, could take advantage of it and repurpose some, older buildings that have been vacant for a while, especially in our downtown,” he added.

This move could make it easier—and cheaper—for developers to bring these buildings back.
That includes the old Aiken County Hospital, empty since 2013. The developer behind Warren Mills is taking it on next. “Which without the tax credits, could be more expensive than a demolition in a rebuild,” the City Manager shared.

The city worked with preservation groups former Historic Aiken Foundation to help get Hotel Aiken, the old hospital, the Johnson Drugstore and other buildings on the National Register — opening the door to funding that wasn’t available before. “They did a lot of the legwork in terms of completing the application, which is a pretty detailed document,” he recalled. “That is a win for the community and for the city. By getting it on the national Register makes it eligible for millions of dollars of tax credits.”

For the Hotel Aiken, progress is being made. Several developers submitted plans, and now only two are in the running. “This will come into play,” he said. “The main goal was to find a firm that would do an adaptive reuse of the property, and renovate, to take advantage of the tax credits. These firms all have experience doing that.”

Once one is picked, the city says the public will get a chance to give input on the final plans.

City leaders say any developers taking on these projects must go through the usual review process.