Dozens of Buffalo's tarnished gems have been restored in recent years because of historic tax credits that came out of Washington.

The Hotel @ the Lafayette. The Guaranty Building. And the Richardson Olmsted Campus to name just a few.

Now the federal historic tax credit looks in danger of being eliminated.

That worries developers and preservationists, who credit part of Buffalo's comeback to reusing these old buildings as loft apartments, retail establishments and office space.

"Without that historic tax credit, nothing would have been done in Buffalo," said Rocco Termini, who has used federal and state tax credits on 15 projects in the city.

But the federal credit that helped subsidize renovations of the historic buildings was not included in the Republican leadership's House and Senate tax reform bills.

"Every building downtown and on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus that has been redone all used the historic tax credit," Termini said. "If this passes, everything will stop like a locomotive that's been struck by lightning. Nothing can go on without them."