Incentives

1. Open it from a workspace location record

The tool is part of the private workspace layer. Open a workspace location record and use the Tax Credits + Incentives tab when you want a quick preservation-funding screen tied to the same mapped place, notes, and record history you are already working in.

It is designed for place-by-place screening rather than for portfolio reporting, exports, or batch dashboards.

2. Fill in the screening profile first

• Set the designation status as accurately as you can. That field heavily affects whether historic tax credits surface as strong, possible, or not shown.
• Choose the project type so the tool can distinguish rehabilitation work from planning or survey-only work.
• Set owner type and whether the property is income-producing, planned to become income-producing, or non-income-producing.
• Save the screening profile so the tab can refresh the best-fit incentive cards without leaving the location record.

3. Read Best Fit Incentives as a screening layer

Best Fit Incentives uses the saved screening profile plus the location address to surface curated preservation incentives that are likely relevant for that state and use case. It includes the federal historic tax credit and the current state-level incentives supported inside the workspace tool.

A Strong Fit means the saved screening fields line up well with the core program shape. A Possible Fit means the place may still qualify, but the record still needs more confirmation around designation, ownership, use, census tract, financing gap, or similar program-specific gates.

4. Use Live Grants for current federal opportunities

• Live Grants is separate from the curated state incentive cards.
• It pulls current open opportunities from Grants.gov based on preservation-oriented search terms such as historic preservation, cultural resources, historic rehabilitation, and survey-related work.
• Because it is a live federal feed, it can return useful results even when the curated Best Fit list is narrow for a given state or project type.
• If Grants.gov is temporarily unavailable, the curated Best Fit Incentives section can still keep working on its own.

5. Understand what the current state coverage means

The current state-level list is aligned to the states Urban Lithograph is already covering through dedicated state research seed sets: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Some state programs are broader and can screen both commercial and residential rehabilitation. Others stay more conservative and remain in the Possible Fit bucket because the workspace does not yet screen every rule the state requires, such as qualifying census tracts or financing-gap review.

6. Know the current limits

The tool is location-specific and internal. It does not create filing packets, tax applications, or certification forms, and it does not replace confirmation with the State Historic Preservation Office, tax counsel, or the administering agency.

Use the tool to narrow the field, then verify the relevant program rules, deadlines, tract requirements, designation standards, and application steps before relying on a result.