The City of Fort Wayne created the Commercial Façade Grant Program (CFG) to help businesses transform their buildings’ facades and revitalize the City’s corridors.
Donor Name: City of Fort Wayne
State: Indiana
City: Fort Wayne
Type of Grant: Grant
Type of Entity: Businesses
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): Ongoing
Size of the Grant: $100,000
Grant Duration: 5 years
Details:
The program provides a 50% matching grant to eligible businesses that are located within an Economic Development Target Area (EDTA).
The purpose is to improve the appearance of their building and the surrounding site. By visually enhancing the exterior of buildings, businesses increase their property values, maintain their marketability, and demonstrate confidence. The CFG program works to assist those owners to promote reinvestment, strengthen Fort Wayne’s commercial activity and enhance economic vitality in the City’s heart.
Program Objectives
- Maintain vibrancy of core commercial areas by encouraging investments that enhance the visual aesthetics of commercial properties and lead to increased property values.
- Stimulate economic development by providing incentives to increase existing business investment, ensure business sustainability and create aesthetically pleasing areas that attract new business and consumers.
- Complement other revitalization efforts to ensure the maximum leverage of resources.
- Support local businesses and encourage local entrepreneurship, to further enhance the spirit of Fort Wayne
Funding Information
- The CFG program provides a 50% matching grant eligible as a reimbursement.
- Single tenant properties are eligible to receive up to a maximum of $20,000 ($40,000+ projects) and multi- tenant properties are eligible up to $40,000 ($80,000+ projects) per grant year. If the size of the project or level of private investment is similar to a multi-tenant building, a project may be considered for the same amount of funding as a multi-tenant property.
- Each building on a parcel and each business in a multi-tenant commercial building is allowed to be a separate project and apply for an individual grant. They do not have to apply as one entity.
- A property can receive multiple awards but single-tenant buildings are limited to $60,000 per property over five years. Multi-tenants are limited to $100,000 per site.
Eligible Applicants
- Businesses must be located within the Economic Development Target Area (EDTA).
- Buildings proposed for façade improvements must have commercial activity as their primary purpose such as retail and specialty stores, services, restaurants, bars, cultural venues, professional offices, manufacturing business/industrial use.
- Mixed use buildings are eligible as long as the ground floor is predominately used for commercial activity. Primarily residential properties, including assisted living centers, ARE NOT eligible.
- Vacant buildings are eligible as long as owners intend to reactive the building with predominately commercial use. The owner must provide proof that the property is in occupiable condition as defined by the Building Code or made occupiable via the façade grant project.
- Not-for-profits are eligible as long as they include commercial uses and services.
For more information, visit City of Fort Wayne.
