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Are you interested in learning how to use façade easements to protect and preserve historic properties? Façade easements have long been a tool used by preservationists to protect historic community landmarks in cities throughout the United States and quite often in the City of Atlanta. The Georgia Main Street Program offers a 50 min. webinar with guest presenter Ms. Angela Threadgill, Executive Director of Easements Atlanta, Inc.

During this presentation Angela will guide those who are unfamiliar with the façade easement process through the legal requirements as well as the preservation benefits to your community. During this webinar Angela will also […]

Invest Atlanta will award nearly $2 million dollars to 20 grant recipients whose proposals have been accepted as part of the Downtown Façade Improvement Program. The process, launched earlier this year, called for applicants located within the Westside and Eastside Tax Allocation Districts (TADs) to submit projects for consideration that had the potential to visually enhance the Atlanta Streetcar corridor. Among those recipients is the Glenn Building at 110-120 Marietta Street (owned by Legacy Property Group), which are historic buildings protected by preservation easements held by Easements Atlanta, Inc.

Awards range from $20,000 to $400,000 and individual projects will be launched […]

In Part 1 of CSI we discussed the deterioration of both steel windows and wood windows, which is one of the five most common findings during Easements Atlanta’s Conservation Site Inspections.  There isn’t necessarily an order to the “Big 5,” but the topic of windows inspired the next installment of two more common findings: lintels and masonry mortar.
Lintels
Just above every window and door opening is a header, or in masonry buildings, a lintel.  For buildings constructed in the 1890s to present, the lintel is usually fabricated of steel, wrought iron or cast iron that stretches across the top of a […]

A bill before the U.S. House of Representatives would make permanent the enhanced federal tax deductions related to conservation easements, which includes qualified donations of historically and architecturally significant properties.  The Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2014, H.R. 2807,  will encourage more property owners of certified historic structures to protect their investment through the donation of a preservation easement.

When property owners voluntarily agree to protect their historic properties from demolition or further development, the federal government gives them a deduction on their income taxes to recognize the charitable gift they’re making for Georgians and all Americans.  Entrepreneurs and expanding […]

Thirty years ago Easements Atlanta, Inc. (EAI) was a newcomer to Atlanta’s preservation community, but incredible support launched us quickly as a facilitator within the local preservation movement.  When EAI was established in 1984, Atlanta had a strong preservation voice.  Yet there were limited incentives to encourage historic preservation.  EAI was created to bring awareness to the benefits of historic preservation easements at a local level (a preservation tool created by the Federal government in 1976) and accept this type of charitable donation.   Within days of opening our doors, EAI began to accept donations of historic preservation easements.  Today […]