The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 142

J. The Indianapolis Star i Sunday, February 22, 1938 DREAM HOME 4 GEORGE KARVEL 10 MORTGAGES 12 PAMELA REEVES 7 U-BUILD-IT 13 Classified Advertising Real estate classified ads are in this section. Pages 22-32 InfoLine: 624-4636 Online: www.staniews.com REFURBISHING AN OLD GEM TAX TIPS Tax breaks are limited nn ue inanffie 01' Jot TBI 4 a -A, for realty ets a VP i i ia i f11 1 "''II mm i ii mi i i i I- "if -tit Si Bass THE LOUNGE: The first-floor residents of the Blue Triangle 5 Staff Photo Frank Espich TEDIOUS WORK: Construction superintendent Ron Grimes stands in the lounge, looking over antique window sashes, which will be refinished and replaced as part of the building's restoration into 96 low-income apartments. I II i 'f f.f I Vl Ill VfI-J 'j I lVri rIV If LI fen lq PrHft iV 4 i 1 1 Nonprofit Partners in Housing is heading up a $5.3 million restoration of the historic Blue Triangle Hall in Downtown's St. Joseph neighborhood.

By T.J. Banes SPECIAL WRITER ore than seven decades after it opened Its doors as a YWCA dormitory, the Blue Triangle Hall is reaffirming its prominence among its landmark peers in the historic St. Joseph neighborhood. Lusted on the National Register of Historic Places, the Neoclassical Revival-style building at 725 N. Pennsylvania St.

has been vacant since 1971, when the YWCA relocated to 4460 N. Guion Road. Three years ago, the building was facing the wrecking ball. All of itmr wfii itin Photo Collection Indiana Historical Society lounge was a focal point for Hall in the mid-1 920s. all 1 lrtiill Indiana Histoncal Society AS IT WAS: The Blue Triangle Hall, circa 1925.

from north to south. History: First homes built 1939-1940. Style of homes: A wide mix, ranging from small clapboard houses on little lots north of le Street to ranch-style homes and an occasional colonial on larger tots farther north, "7t' 1 i. Iff I investments Before the 1986 Tax Act, real estate investments in rental houses, apartments, offices, shopping centers, warehouses and other depreciable rental or Robert Bruss business properties allowed virtually unlimited tax shelter deductions to offset the investor's ordinary income, such as from job salary. The 1986 Tax Act greatly curtailed the tax benefits of investing in real estate.

Realty Investors are now limited to just $25,000 of realty tax loss deductions from ordinary income. Investors earning more than $100,000 annual adjusted gross income have their loss deductions phased out, until no deductions are allowed for taxpayers earning more than $150,000. The lone exception is for low-income housing. In other words, realty investments are no longer the great tax shelters they once were. Material management participation is required.

Since 1986, realty investments have been classified as "passive activity." To be entitled to loss deductions up to the $25,000 annual maximum, the investor must "materially participate" in property management. That doesn't mean the owner must clean the toilets. But he or she must be consulted by the property manager on the major decisions, such as setting rents, approving tenants and making expense decisions. Investors who pass this first test must under the second test, own at least 10 percent of the property to be entitled to any deductions. Since limited partners do not participate in property management, nor do they usually own more than 10 percent of the property, they can't qualify for loss deductions from the partnership property.

The result has been a huge decline since 1986 in limited partnership realty investments. Realty professionals have unlimited investment loss deductions. A major exception to the $25,000 annual loss deduction rule for realty investors applies to real estate professionals. Examples include real estate brokers, salespeople, rental agents, developers, builders, contractors, managers and leasing agents. (Real estate attorneys and mortgage brokers, however, can't qualify for these unlimited passive activity loss deductions.) Real estate professionals who spend at least 750 hours per year, or 50 percent of their working time, in real estate activities can take unlimited tax deductions from real estate investments in which they materially participate.

The 1997 tax act creates new tax-free principal residence incentives. As most homeowners know, the 1997 Tax Act created an exemption of $250,000 per qualified home seller. Principal residence sellers can how sell and not owe any tax on the first See TAX TIPS Page 4 Restrain yourself Home shoppers should check their finances before buying a home. Page 7 down payment Some home buyers qualify for 100 percent financing of their house. Page 12 mniM rr i 1 I Staff Photo Frank Espich Pennsylvania, is a with marble floors, homes Staff Map n4 HOSPITAL.

IXP 5r v-' i. COLLEGE poM -4 30th St M. I i Pi MORELAOtO I i 1 ill in motor mi Sri-o i SPEtD1-AY II i cfi i -jxjj nTii i6tn st. '0 14 A that changed when Partners in Housing, a not-for-profit organization that restores historic property into affordable housing, stepped forward to assume ownership from the Indiana State Armory Board. With a successful financial development partnership, the organization broke ground on a $5.3 million restoration project last month.

Tax credit equity was sold to fund the renovation. Partners hopes to reopen the building by December, offering 96 apartments to adults who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. "For so long, this building has been like the gap tooth on one of Indiartapolis' main streets," said Kipp Normand, project director. "We want to change all that." In its World War I heyday, the Blue Triangle Hall was recognized as a See LANDMARK Page 2 CHANGES AFOOT: The building's main entrance, at 725 N. centerpiece of the renovation.

It will open into a main lobby reproduction light fixtures and expansive windows. iy i' of families, Neighborhood event: An annual picnic for children at the Seventh and Eighth United Christian Church. Neighborhood issues: Flackville Neighborhood Association President Francis Maynard would like to see traffic problems addressed where Guion Road dead-ends at 30m Street and Lafayette Road. The association won the Mayor's Choice Award last year for its waterway beaulification project at Little Eagle Creek. Demographics: Wide mix in income, age and race.

Quote: 'We try to be good neighbors and we've got good neighbors," says Francis Maynard, president of the neighborhood association. Contact: Francis Maynard, (317) 925-6929 Compiled by Doug Sword Is there a neighborhood you'd like to see featured? Send the name, location, a neighborhood contact and phone number, to Neighborhoods, The Indianapolis Star, Business Department, P.O. Box 145, Indianapolis Ind. 46206-0299. Venerable Flackville has nice mix Neighborhood: Flackville Location: Northwest of Downtown, near Lafayette Square Mall.

Neighborhood is bounded on the north by Street, on the east by Kessler Boulevard, and on the west by Lafayette Road and Tibbs Avenue. The neighborhood is nearly 2 12 miles NEIGHBORHOODS Commute to Downtown: 15 minutes Schools: Flackville Grade School, which boasts Sen. Richard Lugafs four sons as alumni. Nearest shopping: Eagledale Plaza and Lafayette Place, is a busy commercial corridor in this area. I ft i J.

Staff Photo John Gentry HOME VARIETY: These brick homes are among the many styles that make up Flackville. This area of the neighborhood shows where Halifax Drive intersects with Crystal Drive..