Saving History, Saving Money: The Economic Benefits of Historic Preservation The rehabilitation of existing buildings does more than preserve our history and communities, limit sprawl development, and preserve natural resources. Investing in New Jersey's heritage saves money and makes money. Particularly in our older communities, historic preservation contributes to the community revitalization by increasing property values - both for the restored property and neighboring properties - and by stimulating "heritage tourism" that capitalizes on the area's historic and cultural assets, according to many studies including a 1998 study commissioned by the New Jersey Historic Trust and conducted by the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers. Historic preservation is also a potentially powerful contributor to the economic engine of the state as a whole. State investment is key. The Rutgers study mentioned above found that each $1 million spent on nonresidential historic rehabilitation creates 2 jobs more than the same money spent on new construction. It also generates $79,000 more in income, $13,000 more in taxes and $111,000 more in wealth. Increased income and wealth result not only from money spent on the actual labor, materials, and supporting services involved in the rehabilitation, but also from property appreciation and tourism. The study also found that the New Jersey Historic Trust's $55 million grants and loans awarded by the end of 1997, together with private and other funds used to match the grants, leveraged approximately $403 million in total historic rehabilitation efforts, 6,200 jobs, $222 million in income and $307 million in gross domestic product for New Jersey residents. In addition, the study determined that historic rehabilitation compares favorably to new construction: every $1 million spent on nonresidential historic rehabilitation creates 38.3 jobs, while nonresidential new construction yields only 36.1 jobs for the same expenditure. For More Information on the Economic Benefits of Historic Preservation New Jersey The New Jersey Historic Trust and the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers quantified the impacts of historic preservation in New Jersey in their study, "Partners in Prosperity: The Economic Benefits of Historic Preservation in New Jersey." The full report can be found on the New Jersey Historic Trust website: http://www.njht.org/pdf/ec_impct.pdf Other State Studies A number of other states have undertaken studies that quantify the economic impacts of historic preservation. Links to them can be found at the website of the National Council of State Historic Preservation Officers: http://www.ncshpo.org/HPFPreservation/EconomicImpacts.htm Other Studies The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has compiled links to additional online studies that address the economic impacts of historic preservation: http://www.achp.gov/economicstudies.html Historic Rehabilitation: A Look at the Numbers Historic preservation in New Jersey is not just important culturally and aesthetically, but also fosters significant economic activity and benefits in its own right. Of the $2.0 billion spent on rehabilitation of existing properties in New Jersey in 1994, an estimated $123 million, or about 6 percent of the total, was used on historic properties (properties designated on national, state, and/or local registers of historic sites). This estimate of historic rehabilitation volume is quite conservative; it does not include construction occurring in properties eligible for, but not yet on, a register. Historic rehabilitation is especially important in New Jersey's cities and older suburbs. Almost $80 million of historic rehabilitation (out of the $123 million statewide total) was used in older communities. That's about 9 percent of all the rehabilitation in New Jersey's cities and older suburbs. The total economic impacts from the $123 million spent on statewide historic rehabilitation included: 4,607 new jobs; $156 million in income; $207 million in gross domestic product; and $65 million in taxes. New Jersey garnered about half of these economic benefits, and as a result, captured $93 million in in-state wealth. During the 1993-1995 period, an estimated 9.1 million trips were made annually in New Jersey that had some heritage linkage (5 million daytrips and 4 million overnight trips). The 9.1 million trips made up 1 in 20 of all 1993-1995 annual travel trips in New Jersey. The total yearly economic impacts from the $432 million in spending by New Jersey heritage travelers included, at the national level: 15,530 jobs, $383 million in income, $559 million in gross domestic product, and $216 million in taxes. New Jersey received roughly half of these gains and realized annual in-state wealth creation of about $230 million. From "Partners in Prosperity: The Economic Benefits of Historic Preservation in New Jersey," a report by the New Jersey Historic Trust and the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers.