June 25, 2026

By Lisa Abelar

According to the most recent census, Tighe Bullock’s hometown of Thurmond in West Virginia has a population of just five people. Although he’s moved about an hour away to Charleston, he still serves on Thurmond’s town council, making decisions about stop signs and pot holes in what is now officially a ghost town. 

What was once a turn-of-the-century boomtown, supported by a thriving coal industry and bustling railroad, has aged into a historic landmark offering a window into the past. When those industries declined without viable opportunities to replace them, Thurmond residents went elsewhere to find work and raise families. 

Watching Thurmond disappear before his eyes made Bullock feel frustrated and confused, but also inspired.

“What I saw growing up in a small coal town in West Virginia, just sort of saw my town evaporate around me…I was like, ‘What is happening?” he said. “More importantly, how can it be stopped and maybe reversed?”

During Bullock’s childhood, Thurmond was home to about 80 people, offering each of Bullock’s parents the opportunity to serve as mayor, even pitting them against each other once in a friendly race for the position. But, growing up in a town that no longer exists in the same way it once did fuels him now. It’s the driving force behind the investment he has made in Charleston’s Elk City Historic District over the past decade, a West Virginia neighborhood of aging but architecturally rich buildings that reminded him of what Thurmond used to be. 

He set out on a redevelopment mission, using his background in construction and his experience as an attorney to invest in projects that will bring about economic renewal. He’s rehabilitated 20 historic buildings in Charleston now, creating reimagined spaces for locally-owned businesses to call home, from barbers to print shops to a children’s theater. Most recently, he applied his approach to redevelopment to a long-vacant historic building known as the Staats Building. 

The Staats Hospital Building was built in 1922. The original, four-story structure was designed by West Virginia’s first registered black architect John C. Norman. It housed several businesses and served different purposes throughout the years before falling into disrepair.

Photo courtesy of Tighe Bullock

“Nobody had a plan for it, but everyone recognized we didn’t need another parking lot,” Bullock said. 

Confident he could find the right tenants for the 31,000 square-foot building, Bullock bought the property, saved it from demolition and continued his investment in the Elk City area. Funding the $10 million redevelopment project required creativity. He worked with Opportunity Appalachia, a collective of financial and community development institutions, which specializes in helping community-minded redevelopers navigate exactly this kind of complex financing. Together, they came up with a strategy. 

“I don’t have $50,000 in a sock drawer,” Bullock said. “I just needed help to make this come to fruition and Opportunity Appalachia really stepped up to make that happen.” 

In the end, funding involved some traditional financing from a bank, and included grants from economic development organizations like the Urban Renewal Authority. The project also utilized Historic Tax Credits and New Market Tax credits, each offering unique federal income tax incentives. 

Photo courtesy of Tighe Bullock

The Historic Tax Credit offers a 20% incentive for historic rehabilitation projects that will generate income, while the New Market Tax Credit offers up to a 39% credit to encourage private investment in projects that will bring jobs or services to low-income areas. Bullock said the New Market Tax Credit includes a requirement that the rehabilitation project would not be financially possible without the credit. 

The very idea behind the credit is to create “new markets,” including a requirement that for every $1 million borrowed, 10 middle-income jobs accessible to community members should be created. 

“I want these buildings to have new life in them and not be empty, but we’re not a philanthropic venture. I have to show a bank how it will get paid back,” Bullock said. “I’m not the smartest guy in the room, but I am persistent.”

Photo courtesy of Tighe Bullock

The Historic Tax Credit offers a 20% incentive for historic rehabilitation projects that will generate income, while the New Market Tax Credit offers up to a 39% credit to encourage private investment in projects that will bring jobs or services to low-income areas. Bullock said the New Market Tax Credit includes a requirement that the rehabilitation project would not be financially possible without the credit. 

The very idea behind the credit is to create “new markets,” including a requirement that for every $1 million borrowed, 10 middle-income jobs accessible to community members should be created. 

“I want these buildings to have new life in them and not be empty, but we’re not a philanthropic venture. I have to show a bank how it will get paid back,” Bullock said. “I’m not the smartest guy in the room, but I am persistent.”

Photo courtesy of Tighe Bullock

Bullock’s persistence resulted in finding the ideal anchor tenant for the renovated building. Legal Aid of West Virginia, a pro bono practice serving the entire state, not only needed more space, it needed a space that was thoughtful and convenient. Specifically, the renovated Staats Building would allow clients to bring their children and keep an eye on them while consulting with their attorneys. And with the added space, the practice could see twice as many clients.

“It was a real marriage of incentives and ethics and values,” Bullock said.

Photo courtesy of Tighe Bullock

An engineering firm also moved into the building, as did a locally-owned cafe offering healthy menu options. Between the three tenants, 30 new jobs were added to the market just as Bullock had planned. The building makes a modest profit, but beyond that, it is actively contributing to the community in a way it hasn’t for quite some time.

Similar investment may have aided Thurmond as the industries supporting it began to decline.

Photo courtesy of Tighe Bullock

“It was a community liability. Now, it’s a community asset,” Bullock said for the Staats Building. “These aren’t handouts. I liken it to turning a hand back on a clock. These older buildings preserve history and tell a story and they need a new life breathed into them. These programs offset those costs in recognition of a society that wants to preserve the buildings and history but how do we do it economically and sustainably?”

Photo courtesy of Tighe Bullock