The City of Virginia Beach Façade Improvement Grants (FIG) program provides support to existing small business owners with less than 50 employees located on any commercially or industrially zoned property.
Donor Name: City of Virginia Beach
State: Virginia
City: Virginia Beach
Type of Grant: Grant | Reimbursement
Deadline: All Time
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
Façade improvement grants (FIG) are reimbursements for significant exterior improvements for small, locally owned, and operated businesses located in any commercial or industrial-zoned area within the City of Virginia Beach.
The program will match small business owners’, or those who lease to small businesses, investments up to $10,000, for exterior building, site, and outdoor dining improvements.
Eligible Improvements
Improvement projects must not have already occurred at the time of the application and must make a visible, demonstrable improvement to the exterior of a building or property. All improvements are required to meet applicable zoning, building codes, and design guidelines. Routine maintenance, indoor improvements, movable furnishing, consumable supplies, and other non-capital investments will not be considered.
Improvements eligible for grant funding are as follows:
- Façade Improvements
- Exterior improvements may include any highly visible windows, doors, awnings, parapets, canopies, accent or security lighting improvements, and building material upgrades. Building material specifications, imagery, and scaled drawings or elevations of the proposed improvements, as would be required by the City to obtain a permit, must be provided. Routine maintenance, such as roofing system repairs/ replacements and HVAC system repairs/replacements are not eligible.
- Fencing
- Example images or scaled drawings of proposed fencing, specifying height, length, color, and survey, as required to obtain a permit, must be provided.
- Signage
- Signage improvements may include new or replacement of commercial signage. A scaled drawing with measurements of proposed sign(s), description, proposed location, and other specifications, as would be required for zoning review, must be provided.
- Landscaping
- A landscape plan must be submitted, showing site location, size, plant types, and quantity.
- Parking Upgrades (Revised)
- Upgrading an unimproved parking area (e.g. gravel lot) with a paved or other approved surfacing material is eligible, as well as full repaving and re-striping, bicycle parking areas and bike racks. Site drawings, site work description, proposed surfacing materials, and other perimeter improvements, as required by the Zoning Ordinance, must be provided. Minor and routine parking maintenance, such as parking lot patching will not be eligible.
- Outdoor Café
- Upgrades to or establishment of an outdoor café space are eligible. A detailed scaled drawing of the outdoor café site, with the survey of the property, is required.
Who is Eligible?
- New or existing small businesses with fewer than 50 employees and those who lease to them
- Properties and applicants that are current on all City of Virginia Beach licenses, fees, and taxes
- Businesses located on any commercially or industrially zoned property (H, O, B, I, PD-H, OR, RT, and CBC Districts).
Who is not eligible?
- Chain businesses with more than three (3) locations
- National franchises
- Places of worship
- Residential buildings or complexes
- Nonprofit organizations
- Government-supported institutions
- Private clubs or social centers.
For more information, visit City of Virginia Beach.
