DOWNTOWN - The federal government designated another part of downtown historically significant enough to qualify for tax credits that could help restore dilapidated buildings.

The Upper North Franklin Street Commercial District, a narrow strip of about 20 buildings stretching from Kay Street to Oak Avenue, was unanimously accepted to the National Register of Historic Places last month.

The designation allows property owners of qualifying buildings to recoup 20 percent of renovation costs in federal income tax breaks.

"I'm hopeful it will spur some additional rehabilitation," said Stephanie Ferrell, an architect who put the historic nomination together for two property owners in the district.

The stretch was born an industrial area filled with auto garages built between 1910 and 1945 that served as a transition between the bustling downtown core and the residential Tampa Heights neighborhood to the north.

These days, many of the district's buildings remain boarded up or walled off, notably the Rialto theater built in 1925. But the district also includes recently renovated spaces and buildings such as the independent coffee shop Cafe Hey, the Old Tampa Carnegie Free Library and Franklin Street Fine Woodwork, which is housed in a vintage auto shop.

A portion of Franklin Street south of the district was put on the national register in 2002. Other Tampa neighborhoods already nationally recognized include Tampa Heights, Seminole Heights, Ybor City, Hyde Park, Hampton Terrace, West Tampa and several properties on Davis Islands.

Justin George can be reached at (813) 226-3368 or jgeorge@sptimes.com.