Tax Credit Finance and Economic Development Incentives

Overview

BakerHostetler’s multidisciplinary Tax Credit Finance and Economic Development Incentives team provides vital assistance to clients nationwide looking to obtain non-traditional financing for their projects. We have extensive knowledge and experience with these gap-filling financing tools, including New Markets Tax Credits (federal and state), Historic Tax Credits (federal and state), Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and State and Local Incentives. Our attorneys are at the forefront of the tax credit and incentive industry, which gives our clients a competitive edge.

Our team is composed of attorneys with knowledge in tax, financing, real estate, government policy, controversy, and non-profit organizations. As a result of our experience, we have developed strong relationships with key industry contacts such as tax credit investors and syndicators, community development entities (CDEs), historic architects, project accountants, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) personnel, and strategic state and local government contacts. Consequently, we are well-positioned to assist clients in obtaining the most valuable non-traditional financing for their particular project. More often than not, our projects will include more than one of these financing tools which must be combined with traditional debt and equity. Our attorneys possess the technical knowledge and creativity to advise on how best to bring all financing sources together for maximum benefit to the client.

We offer our clients a wide-range of services from up-front incentive negotiation to transaction structuring and documentation to tax opinions and tax controversy defense.

We are regular speakers at national tax credit conferences, and actively involved in industry groups such as the New Markets Tax Credit Working Group and the Historic Tax Credit Coalition.

We help clients with:

  • New Markets Tax Credits
  • Historic Tax Credits
  • Low-Income Housing Tax Credits
  • Tax Credit Controversy
  • State and Local Incentives

Select Experience

  • Represented NMTC leverage lender group in connection with the development of a $25 million Ace Hotel to be located in East Liberty, PA. The project was financed with federal NMTCs and federal HTCs.
  • Represented the developer in the $120 million historic renovation of the landmark Bedford Springs Hotel in Southwestern Pennsylvania and the $150 million historic rehabilitation of the Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, Michigan. These historic rehabilitation projects received widespread recognition in national publications, including The Wall Street Journal.
  • Currently representing one of the top LIHTC developers in the nation who has rehabilitated thousands of apartment units over the past 10 years in eight states (including Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and New York).
  • Represented dozens of developer clients in connection with IRS TEFRA examinations, resulting in no change to historic tax credits claimed.
  • Successfully negotiated the most complex community reinvestment area abatement for a sporting facility in Ohio.
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Professionals

Name Title Office Email
Partner Columbus
Associate Cleveland
Counsel Cleveland
Associate Cleveland
Partner Cleveland
Partner Cleveland
Partner Cleveland
Counsel Cleveland
Partner Cleveland
Partner Cleveland
Associate Cleveland
Partner Cleveland
Partner Cleveland
Partner Cleveland

Experience

New Markets Tax Credit
  • Represented NMTC leverage lender group in connection with the development of a $25 million Ace Hotel to be located in East Liberty, PA. The project was financed with federal NMTCs and federal HTCs.
  • Represented joint venture between a Brazilian company and a U.S. private equity firm in connection with a $42 million federal and a $10 million Mississippi state NMTC financing to develop a $200 million silicon metal production facility in Mississippi; the project received senior financing from a German financial institution and incentives from the state and local government.
Historic Tax Credit
  • Represented the developer in the $120 million historic renovation of the landmark Bedford Springs Hotel in Southwestern Pennsylvania and the $150 million historic rehabilitation of the Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, Michigan. These historic rehabilitation projects received widespread recognition in national publications, including The Wall Street Journal.
  • Represented a Cleveland, Ohio non-profit performing arts center in a number of historic tax credit redevelopment projects, including a “phased” rehabilitation of a downtown building consisting of 16 floors of office space along with a performing arts theatre. Some of these HTC projects also utilized state historic tax credits and New Markets tax credits.
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
  • Currently representing one of the top LIHTC developers in the nation who has rehabilitated thousands of apartment units over the past 10 years in eight states (including Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and New York).
  • Represented a developer in connection with the acquisition and rehabilitation of affordable housing complexes in Cleveland, Ohio and Denver, Colorado utilizing nine percent LIHTC financing.
Tax Credit Controversy
  • Represented dozens of developer clients in connection with IRS TEFRA examinations, resulting in no change to historic tax credits claimed.
  • Successfully settled with IRS Appeals regarding several challenges to the qualification of historic tax credits claimed in connection with the rehabilitation of a performing arts center.
State/ Local Incentives
  • Successfully negotiated the most complex community reinvestment area abatement for a sporting facility in Ohio.
  • Assisted a manufacturing client in qualifying for the Economic Development for a Growing Economy Tax Credit Program (EDGE) Illinois corporate income tax incentive by working with state and local officials to qualify for the incentive.

Recognition

  • Chambers USA: Tax
    • District of Columbia (2010 to 2018)
      • Band 3
    • Recognized Practitioner: Nationwide Tax: Controversy (2014 to 2018)
  • Recognized as one of the top law firms for client service, BakerHostetler was named to the 2020 BTI Client Service 30 for the sixth consecutive year.

Publications

Key Contacts