The City of Ames Planning Division is accepting applications for the Downtown Façade Grant.
Donor Name: City of Ames
State: Iowa
City: Ames
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/01/2023
Size of the Grant: up to $15,000
Details:
Businesses and building owners within the Downtown Façade Grant Area could qualify for a dollar-for-dollar matching grant of up to $15,000 for façade improvements. In addition, businesses and building owners who improve their façades and are within the Downtown Urban Revitalization Area may be eligible for abatement of property taxes on the assessed value of new improvements.
There are two façade grants:
- Modifications to bring façades into compliance with the Downtown Design Guidelines.
- Rehabilitation of historically significant, character-defining features.
Eligibility Requirements
- Eligible participants include the owners and/or tenants of buildings located inside the boundaries of the project area for the Downtown Design Guidelines, which contain Office Uses or Trade Uses as defined by the Ames zoning ordinance.
- Ineligible participants include the owners and/or tenants of residential structures and buildings owned by the government, churches and other religious institutions, to the extent prohibited by State and Federal guidelines.
- Concurrence of the property owner is required, in writing, before improvements proposed by the tenant can be considered for approval.
- Improvements must be made to one or more of the façades of a building and the design of such improvements must comply with the current Downtown Design Guidelines.
- For Historic Façades, grant money will be provided for replacing existing compliant elements only when the proposed project also includes replacing non-compliant elements with compliant elements. This is distinguished from Rehabilitation Grants.
- For other existing buildings whose design is not consistent with the Historic Façades as described in the Downtown Design Guidelines, grant money may be provided for additions or alterations that comply with the section “Other Buildings” in the current Downtown Design Guidelines.
- Grants may be offered if all non-compliant elements of the entire façade or of all façades intended to be improved are not to be improved under one grant project. However, the improvements must contribute to a project that, when complete, will be generally consistent with all design standards. To determine this, an application must include elevation plans for all façades intended to be improved showing how they are intended to look when complete.
- For all projects for which all improvements will not be completed under the grant, the scope of proposed improvements for the grant shall be visually significant in the context of how the whole building is intended to look when all improvements to the façade are complete. The City may approve a grant based upon a proposed improvement’s contribution to the finished product, and may deny a grant for improvements that, while compliant in part, are not visually significant in terms of how the overall building is intended to ultimately look when all improvements to the façade are complete.
- If a project is phased, a grant shall be offered only to those improvements that are done in correct sequence of construction. For example, a finished project may require installing or changing windows, in some cases siding is installed after windows are in place. In such cases the windows would need to be replaced before grant monies may be expended on siding materials.
For more information, visit Downtown Façade Grant.
