Historical Commission Tax Credit

The Florentine Building on 2nd Avenue North. Nine Birmingham area historic buildings have applied for tax credits administered from the Alabama Historical Commission. (Frank Couch/fcouch@al.com/al.com)

(Frank Couch)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Efforts to renovate a historic Italianate downtown building received major support this morning with city approval of $625,000 in incentives.

The City Council unanimously approved incentives to transform the Florentine Building at Second Avenue North into an event center, restaurant and bar.

Under the agreement, the city will rebate up to $350,000 in sales tax generated by the Florentine Building LLC over seven years. In addition, the city agreed to provide $275,000 in cash for building renovations.

The entire project is expected to cost about $2.5 million and would move Corretti Catering in the building.

Rebecca Corretti and Ken Effinger, owners and operators of Corretti Catering, have owned the building since 2008. The structure dates back to the late 1920s.