Historic Development Grant Program

ABOUT THE PROGRAM:

In April 2021 the Tennessee General Assembly developed the Historic Development Grant Program (HDGP) and allocated funds to renovate and preserve the State’s historic buildings. The legislators recognized that historic buildings and their preservation expand the state’s economy, create new employment opportunities, revitalize and renew communities, create an environment for investment, and promote tourism and rural economic development.

For the 2025/2026 Budget year, the Tennessee General Assembly allocated funding to provide grants to eligible historic courthouses across the state. Counites with eligible courthouses will be notified by TN ECD staff.

A new round of Historic Development Grants will open October 1, 2025.  This round of funding is only for eligible courthouses. The required match rate is dependent upon the current tax tier of the county where the project is located (Tier information located here).

County Match for 2025/2026 Courthouse Round only

• Tier 1: 50/50
• Tier 2: 70/30
• Tier 3: 90/10
• Tier 4: 95/5

The Historic Development Grant program requires that grants awarded $75,000 hire a third-party grant administrator. The grant administrator must work for or be an employee of an established grant administration entity that has 3 or more years of experience managing state or federal grants. More info can be provided by TNECD staff.

OVERVIEW AND ELIGIBLE PROPERTIES for 2025/2026 Courthouse Round

Certified historic Courthouses that are:

• listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places or are part of a National Register of Historic Places historic district as a contributing structure and certified by the secretary of the United States Department of the Interior as being of historic significance to the district (Additional information on the National Register can be obtained from the Tennessee Historical Commission);  and  are in a distressed or at-risk county as determined by TNECD; or federally qualified opportunity zone (see the TNECD Opportunity Zones directory for a map of opportunity zones in Tennessee); or state and nationally accredited Tennessee Main Street community or Tennessee Downtown community (Information can be found here); or Certified Local Governments (Information can be found here) approved by the National Parks Service in counties with a population of no more than 200,000 persons.

 The applicant must be the person or entity who holds legal fee or leasehold title to a certified historic structure or an identifiable portion of the certified historic structure.

Any expenditure for a structural component of a building is eligible for grant funds. Treasury Regulation 1.48-1(e)(2) defines structural components to include walls, partitions, floors, ceilings, permanent coverings such as paneling or tiling, windows and doors, components of central air conditioning or heating systems, plumbing and plumbing fixtures, electrical wiring and lighting fixtures, chimneys, stairs, escalators, elevators, sprinkling systems, fire escapes, and other components related to the operation or maintenance of the building.

In addition to the above named "hard costs," there are "soft costs" which also qualify. These include construction period interest and taxes, architect fees, engineering fees, construction management costs, reasonable developer fees, and any other fees paid that would normally be charged to a capital account. More information on soft costs can be found on the Technical Preservation Services website.

For questions about the program, please reach out to: 
Kim Parks, TN Main Street Program Director
kim.parks@tn.gov
615-339-1506