MHA welcomes Charles “Chuck” Fisher as a senior advisor to the firm. Chuck has extensive experience with the federal historic tax credit program and until 2017 worked in the Washington office of the National Park Service (NPS) with Technical Preservation Services. There he was a central figure in administering the historic tax credit program and was involved in developing national policy and guidance on rehabilitating historic buildings. A member of the small team that originally created the tax credit certification program, regulations, and the appeals process, he directed a move from regional offices to the current Washington office and represented the historic tax credit program in various studies including ones by the Government Accounting Office.

Chuck has developed numerous policy papers on the federal historic tax credit, including the evaluation of structurally deteriorated buildings and functionally-related properties. This intimate knowledge of the issues and nuances of the program make him a valuable contributor to project advisement in our practice.

“I’ve known Chuck since my time at NPS in the early 1980s, so his joining our firm is particularly gratifying for me. He has been our go-to person for answering policy and procedure-related questions. Having that expertise in-house will be a great asset for us and our clients.” - Bill MacRostie

Throughout his career, Chuck has taken a special interest in both promoting the historic tax credit and implementing ways to improve it. In particular, he initiated a long-term effort to improve the quality of windows in historic rehabilitation projects, working directly with the window industry, architects, contractors, and property owners. This led to the advancement of many treatments that became commonly accepted best practices in historic building rehabilitations. He has authored numerous articles on appropriate window treatments for historic buildings and was responsible for the early landmark work entitled Window Handbook for Historic Buildings.

Besides his work over the years in developing and updating NPS policy on appropriate rehabilitation treatments and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, Chuck has directed over 15 national conferences on such topics as window rehabilitation, historic interiors, roofing, and modern historic buildings including the 2019 Los Angeles Conference on Challenges in Developing Mid-Century Modern Historic Buildings.