Tax credits promoting historic building rehab in Steubenville
- BEERBOWER — The Beerbower Building, located at 147 N. Fourth St., is one of two buildings in Steubenville that received state tax credits for rehabilitation work and historic preservation. — Christopher Dacanay
- COURTHOUSE — The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, located at 200 N. Fourth St., is one of two buildings in Steubenville that received state tax credits for rehabilitation work and historic preservation. — Christopher Dacanay

BEERBOWER — The Beerbower Building, located at 147 N. Fourth St., is one of two buildings in Steubenville that received state tax credits for rehabilitation work and historic preservation. -- Christopher Dacanay
STEUBENVILLE — Newly awarded tax credits from the state will promote the rehabilitation of two historic buildings in Steubenville.
The Ohio Department of Development announced on Wednesday that the Steubenville U.S. Post Office and Courthouse and Beerbower Building — both on North Fourth Street — will receive tax credits through the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program, which provides financial incentives for private developers to rehabilitate historic buildings.
Steubenville’s two projects are among the 37 awarded a total of $56,125,248 in tax credits to preserve 42 historic buildings across Ohio. Those projects are expected to leverage about $715 million in private investments.
“By preserving our historic buildings, we’re retaining the unique identity of Ohio’s communities,” said Gov. Mike DeWine in a release. “Through the tax credit program, we’re ensuring that future generations can experience the character and stories that shaped our state in the spaces where they happened.”
“Historic preservation is an economic driver in Ohio communities — it’s more than just saving old buildings,” said Lt. Gov. Jon Husted. “We’re preserving Ohio’s history while investing in its future through this program.”

COURTHOUSE — The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, located at 200 N. Fourth St., is one of two buildings in Steubenville that received state tax credits for rehabilitation work and historic preservation. -- Christopher Dacanay
The Historic Preservation Tax Credit program is administered in partnership with the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office, which determines whether a building qualifies as historic and ensures that developers’ rehabilitation plans align with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
Issued once construction is done and program requirements are verified, tax credits help offset tax liabilities associated with a rehabilitation project, making it more financially feasible for private developers. Since historic buildings are often vacant and produce little economic activity, the ODOD release states, their redevelopment into commercial, residential or manufacturing spaces “will drive further investment and interest in adjacent property.”
“Communities thrive where they honor their roots,” said Lydia Mihalik, ODOD director. “The awards we are making through the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program are helping communities in their efforts to connect their past with opportunities of the future.”
“Rehabilitation of historic buildings through the historic program and federal historic tax-credit programs revitalizes main streets, helps the environment by reusing a structure that is already built and creates jobs — with the added bonus of preserving local history,” said Mariangela Pfister, head of the State Historic Preservation Office.
On Dec. 21, the tax credit program awarded $130,192 in tax credits to a $400,434 rehabilitation of the McCauslen’s Florists Building at 171 and 173 N. Fourth Street in Steubenville. That project was Steubenville and Jefferson County’s first to be awarded through the program, paving the way for Wednesday’s awards — the second and third.
Located at 200 N. Fourth St., the Steubenville U.S. Post Office & Courthouse was completed in 1924. Its construction aligned with Steubenville’s population growth in the 1920s and “showcased the city as a regional center for commerce, industry and law,” the ODOD states, adding that the post office relocated to Third Street in the late 1980s.
The building was acquired in August by the College of Saint Joseph the Worker, a recently formed, Catholic “trade college” that combines bachelor of arts studies with trade education over a six-year program. Having begun its inaugural semester in the fall, the college now hopes to rehabilitate the post office and courthouse into its Jonas and Izolina Gylys Academic Building.
Scheduled to take place over the next year, rehabilitation work will see the building’s second floor — the courtroom, law offices and jail cells — repurposed as a library and classrooms. Restoration is planned for the building’s wood floor, plaster walls and other historic features, which will be preserved. At a total cost of $1.25 million, the project received $245,000 in tax credits.
Tri-State Security and World Radio Telecommunications will remain first-floor tenants in the building, which was purchased from the Hindman family.
Jacob Imam, provost at the college, said the tax credits are a “huge financial benefit to us to be able to do justice and beautify an important building of our city.”
“I have to say — and I mean this quite genuinely — we are honored to take over such a historic building of our city. The successors to the post office and the courthouse, the Hindman family, have preserved it through the years well. … (The tax credit award) is going to enable us to renovate the building to be as beautiful as the truths that we’ll be teaching within its walls.”
The college has funding commitments aligned to cover the entire project and will utilize a private partner to facilitate use of the tax credits. Outside contractors have already commenced work, and students who return in June will aid restoration work.
“I’m just so excited for people to walk in and be astounded with this building,” Imam said. “I really can’t wait for that, it’ll be a really fun moment — impactful for our students, impactful for the faculty and staff and I hope impactful for all the local Steubenvillites who will come and visit us as well.”
Located at 147 N. Fourth St., the three-story Beerbower Building sits in the Steubenville Commercial Historic District, which listed in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places. It was constructed in 1890 in the Italianate style and housed a novel and variety store until the 1920s, with the Mularcik family operating a vacuum retail and repair shop into the 1980s.
The building was purchases roughly four years ago by real estate holdings company HCS of Merchants Isle LLC, which is responsible for rehabilitating Fourth Street buildings currently occupied by Chesterton and Co. Cigars, Spyridon Studios and Martoni’s Pizza.
HCS of Merchants Isle now intends to return the Beerbower Building to its original mixed-use configuration, with commercial space on the first floor and residential spaces on the second and third floor. The project has a total cost of $350,000 and received $87,500 in tax credits.
“On behalf of my company, we’re very happy to have received the tax credits,” said manager Zeph Swope. “We had a great team set up with Andrew Morris as our consultant, who helped us get our application in successfully. The building has been vacant for a couple years now, and we’re really looking forward to getting it reoccupied …”
The first-floor commercial space is currently listed and available for rent after undergoing renovations to its plumbing and electrical systems in order to receive a certificate of occupancy. Thus, Swope said, tax credits will aid renovations to the second and third floors to restore them as apartments.
Special attention will be paid to maintaining the spaces’ historic integrity. “Anything we can preserve” will be preserved, Swope said, particularly regarding original the woodwork around doors and windows, wooden stair rail and ornate fireplaces.
HCS of Merchants Isle is financing the project itself and hopes to begin upstairs work as soon as possible, Swope said.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to bring another building back to a point of use and life. My real estate company has been a part of a number of different projects downtown. Some are more difficult, and some have come along really nice and efficiently. The general theme for us is we believe in bringing back a robust and thriving downtown Steubenville.”
Both the College of Saint Joseph the Worker and HCS of Merchants Isle intend to pursue available federal tax credits for their respective projects.