Complex Landscape of Federal and Missouri Tax Credits, Along With Looming Changes, Made Easier to Navigate by Tax Credit Experts Lisart Capital, LLC.

CHESTERFIELD, MO, January 06, 2011 (Press-News.org) If you want to rehab a historic building, there are a few must haves for your team. One good example would be a historic preservation consultant, someone who can help qualify buildings for the National Register of Historic Places and make sure the rehab meets historic standards.

And what about valuable tax credits, who can assist you with those? That's where a tax credit syndicator comes in, someone like Art Weiss of Lisart Capital, LLC. Tax credit syndicators buy credits from developers and banks and sell them to high net worth individuals and others with big tax bills to pay down.

Lisart Capital has a long history of making landmark tax credit deals for renovations of historical buildings. And on some deals, many in both St. Louis and Kansas City, it' s hard to say if the historical renovations would have even been possible without Lisart' s help.

Art Weiss is the managing member of Lisart Capital, and a CPA with over 25 years of financial experience. Art is one of the select few in the state of Missouri who specializes in the business of swapping tax credits. He has a Master of Accounting Science degree from the University of Illinois and a BSBA degree in Accountancy from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He started his career in the tax department of Arthur Andersen in St. Louis. He then founded the accounting and consulting firm of Weiss, Yess and Co., which he later sold to CBIZ. Prior to founding Lisart Capital, he served as an Executive Vice-President at Allegiant Bank, founding their tax credit program. Art has been directly involved in over $200 million of tax credit transactions.

And experts such as Weiss are becoming more vital these days. Looming potential changes to Missouri tax credits are of a concern to Lisart Capital and many in the Missouri House of Representatives. A committee appointed by Democratic governor Jay Nixon has recommended eliminating nearly half of the state's tax credit programs. House Speaker-elect Steven Tilley (R, Perryville) is one of many with doubts about the accuracy of the tax credit committee's report.

"My preliminary evaluation is that they used false data and incorrect conclusions to come up with the recommendations," Tilley has told reporters. Art Weiss agrees.

"I think you have to look at the cost-benefit analysis of each tax credit," says Weiss. "To my knowledge, the commission didn' t even come to agreement on what the actual cost benefit analysis of each tax credit is. And it' s important to note this is just a commission, not a body that can pass actual legislation. Cutting these tax credits would unilaterally harm Missouri's ability to create new jobs."

And Art's findings are borne out in the numbers. One of the deals on Lisart Capital's impressive list of recent clients is the long-vacant Beaux Arts complex in the heart of the St. Louis city's arts district, Grand Center. The complex is being transformed through a $21.4 million rehab/conversion into the first charter school for Visual and Performing Arts in Missouri.

The $12 million in labor and materials costs to renovate the 115,000 square feet of space in the Beaux Arts complex will generate more than 100 construction jobs, a welcome shot in the arm as many other construction projects have stalled throughout the region in 2010. And beyond the new charter school for community residents, the project also creates future tax revenues and the encouragement of additional development in the Grand Center district as other key benefits to both local and State governments. So any coming changes to tax credit programs could adversely affect the citizens of Missouri, and make the tax credit process more complicated to navigate, making Art's extensive knowledge and expertise that much more critical.

It may come as no surprise that finding a broker for the largest Federal tax credit deals is typically not a challenge. Lisart Capital, however, noting an unmet need in the marketplace, focuses their attention to mid-sized and smaller tax credit deals. They understand the unique financial needs of real estate development projects involving both Federal and Missouri tax credits. Through the use of a strong network of professionals, Lisart Capital can help structure these projects in an expedient manner that makes the most economic sense to a developer.

And while their experience lies with smaller tax credit deals, Lisart Capital's expertise should not be underestimated. They have over 3 decades of combined experience in complicated niche markets such as new market tax credits, brownfield developments, low income tax credits and neighborhood preservation projects. Principal Art Weiss has spent over 25 years working tax credit deals, first working at large area banks and now Lisart Capital. He originally focused primarily on large deals, but noting an underserved niche he founded Lisart to provide his expertise and service to clients with smaller Federal and State tax credit projects.

Lisart Capital, LLC is a convenient, one-stop shop for developers. They syndicate Federal historic credits, and specialize in handling those under $2 million. Their services also go well beyond providing Federal and Missouri tax credit equity. Lisart also helps arrange bridge loans for the tax credit equity state tax credit partners, construction loans, mini perms and permanent loans. In this way, developers deal with one financial institution and one law firm, both which have significant tax credit experience. This provides greater speed and significantly reduces transaction costs. Lisart's flexibility allows them to inspect a project and, if appropriate, quickly issue a commitment letter.

Lisart Capital, LLC also buys and sells Missouri state tax credits. These credits are often obtained in conjunction with Federal tax credit syndications, but can also be purchased independently. Anyone with a current renovation project in mind for a historical building should get in touch with the professionals at Lisart Capital for more information.

Although based in St. Louis, the firm offers their services all across the state of Missouri. Visit them at www.MissouriTaxCredits.com, or give them a call at (636) 733-0677. You can also reach Art Weiss directly at: Art@LisartCapital.com.

Website: http://www.missouritaxcredits.com/