Martha W. Jordan (Duquesne) has published Repairing Facade Easements: Is this the Gift that Launched a Thousand Deductions?, 22 Akron Tax J. 101 (2007).  Here is the Conclusion:

To the extent a charity is obligated to maintain property subject to a facade easement, a donor’s assumption of such obligation benefits the charity and furthers the conservation purposes of the easement. There are several persuasive arguments that current law considers the discharge of the charity’s obligation to be an additional charitable contribution by the donor. The difficulty exists in determining the extent of the charity’s obligation to maintain the facade and in assuring consistent treatment of all taxpayers. That problem is easily resolved by adopting a federal rule that determines the donor’s charitable contribution without regard to the extent to which state law imposes the obligation to maintain on the charitable easement holder. The solution suggested by this article, using the Charitable Percentage to determine the amount of the charitable contribution, is easy and fair to both taxpayers and the government.