Congress Kills Office Conversion Tax Credit

A federal tax incentive for energy efficiency upgrades is going away, reports Robert Freedman in Smart Cities Dive.

The Republican domestic policy bill eliminates the energy efficient commercial buildings deduction, which helped building owners finance the replacement of HVAC systems, lights, and building envelopes and facilitated the adaptive reuse of office buildings and other commercial buildings.

According to Paul Williams, who covers the distressed property industry, “In many foreclosure scenarios involving office buildings, warehouses, or mixed-use commercial properties, energy efficiency upgrades were not just green virtue-signaling — they were crucial to stabilizing occupancy, increasing market valuation, and meeting compliance thresholds required by insurance carriers or municipalities.”

As Freedman explains, “Private financial institutions and municipalities aren’t well-positioned to replace the deduction because only a federal program can create the standardization owners rely on to make changes that could expose them to compliance risk.” The loss of the credit could dampen enthusiasm for office conversions.