HTC renovation: passive vs. non-passive credits

[Jon Denton]

First post here. 

I currently own a property in a historic district and was planning on selling the HTC's to pay for renovations. I personally have no expertise with CRE, however I do have partners who were to handle the construction / financial aspects of the development while I was going to manage the property and also move a small business that I own and operate into one of the building's several retail spaces.

My partners have since decided that they are no longer interested in taking on the task of rehabbing the property, and I am currently pursuing buying them out and doing a pared down renovation of the property on my own. I am bullish on the property and have several interested investors, but am now having to learn a lot of the financial aspects on the fly.

My question pertains to the historic tax credits. My budget is a lot less than we had originally anticipated and I question I don't think the credits would be large enough to draw interest from anyone for purchase. Aside from the question of whether or not going the HTC route is even worth the trouble, I was interested in redeeming them personally rather than selling them to an investor. However, because I plan on operating my own business on the property, it is my understand that I cannot redeem the credits myself. I have read that there is a "material participation" exception here but am having difficulty wrapping my head around the concept of passive vs. non-passive tax credits. I am planning on operating my own business out of the property, which may allow me to qualify for non-passive credits, but also renting several commercial and residential units (which are by definition passive). 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.