With industry professionals responding to policy shifts in tax reform that jeopardized the Historic Tax Credit, we had to do something, and we did—by bringing multiple cosponsors from the Senate Finance Committee to restore the Historic Tax Credit.

On November 6th, 2017, we were honored to host Senator Tim Scott and Secretary Dr. Ben Carson of Housing and Urban Development at Drayton Mills which is a Sherbert Group development and the largest historic restoration project in South Carolina to-date. The historic renovation of Drayton Mills is becoming a national model for success in using Historic Tax Credits (HTC) to revitalize communities, and Sen. Tim Scott showcased the project during the Nov. 16, 2017, Senate Finance Committee hearings.

Please view the video: www.HTCisnotHistory.com

As many of you know, the HTC encourages private sector investments but more importantly we are able to transform communities together, and many of you have been part of those projects.

Senator Scott told Senate Finance Committee member, “I had the good pleasure and privilege of taking Sec. Ben Carson to Drayton Mills in Spartanburg, S.C., an old factory that has benefited from historic preservation dollars and vision that has brought new life back into an old community, a dilapidated part of the community.”

Tara Sherbert, CEO of The Sherbert Group, stated, “Senator Scott’s support of the HTC program has been instrumental in ensuring that this program will be sustained for continued redevelopment throughout the state of South Carolina and nationwide.”

Senator Scott’s (R-S.C.) bipartisan legislation, Investing in Opportunity Act (IIOA), passed out of the Finance Committee as a part of the tax reform bill that will be voted on by the full Senate in the coming weeks. IIOA incentivizes investment in economically distressed areas by allowing billions of dollars in private capital to be used to encourage small businesses and to develop at-risk communities most in need of a resurgence.

Using Drayton Mills as an example, Governor Henry McMaster (R-S.C.) lauded efforts by congressional members and encouraged their support in economic growth initiatives stimulated by HTC, such as Drayton Mills.

During recent remarks at Knowledge Park, a large redevelopment effort that The Sherbert Group is working on in Rock Hill, S.C., Gov. McMaster again acknowledged community revitalization efforts through historic tax credits and commended the transformation taking place at Knowledge Park, where a once-thriving textile manufacturing operation spanning city blocks had sat blighted and abandoned. Because of HTC, the more than 1,000,000-square-foot redevelopment will host jobs in the knowledge-based economy through a variety of business tenants, new hotels, an athletic center and the largest recreational sports arena in the Carolinas.

Drayton Mills and Knowledge Park are just two examples of tax credit industry leaders championed by The Sherbert Group. We strive to continually build communities through excellence and are thankful for your partnership and friendship.