Reminder: Meeting on H Street Retail Grants tonight, 6:30 pm at 11th & H

Want to open a retail business on H Street?  Be sure to attend tonight's meeting on the grant program that is awarding up to $85,000 to bring new retail small businesses to the corridor.

Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development

Notice of Pre-application Information Session

 

H Street, NE, Retail Priority Area Grant Program

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) will hold a Pre-Application Informational Session on Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 6:30pm at the Douglas Memorial United Methodist Church at 800 11^th Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.

The purpose of the Pre-Application Information Session is to answer questions about the H Street, NE Retail Priority Area Grant Program, authorized by the “H Street, N.E., Retail Priority Area Incentive Act of 2010 effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-354; D.C. Official Code § 1-325.171 et seq.).

Applicants must submit a completed application to DMPED by Wednesday, January 4^th, 2012 at 5:00 p.m.

Applications are available at the DMPED website: dcbiz.dc.gov.

To obtain a hard copy of the application and for all other inquiries, please contact LaToyia Hampton, Grants Manager, at (202) 724-7648 or latoyia.hampton@dc.gov.

Grant funds purpose and availability:

The purpose of the H Street, N.E., Retail Priority Area Grant (H Street RPAG) is to support small business development, increase the tax base and create new jobs for District Residents along the H Street corridor. DMPED is allocated $1,250,000 and will be awarding individual grants up to a maximum of $85,000 each to support and foster growth amongst small businesses along the corridor. Grant funds may be utilized to reimburse the grantee for the purposes of improving the subject property or purchasing equipment that will be used onsite.

A Notice of Funding Availability (“NOFA”) was published in the D.C. Register on August 18, 2011 and the Request for Applications was released on Monday, September 12^th, 2011. The initial deadline for applications was October 26, 2011. A second opportunity to submit applications is currently underway, with a deadline of January 4, 2012 at 5:00pm. 

Eligible organizations and entities:

Eligible applicants include retail businesses engaged in the sale of home furnishings, apparel, books, art, groceries, and general merchandise goods to specialized customers. Special consideration shall be given to retail developments that include entrepreneurial and innovative retail elements. Eligible retail development projects shall not include liquor stores, restaurants, nightclubs, hair salons, barber shops, and phone stores.

Eligible applicants must possess all of the following prior to an award being made:

1. Site control of the property either through fee simple ownership of the site or through an executed contract or lease with the property owner;
2. Direct frontage on the H Street, N.E., corridor from 3^rd  Street, N.E., to 15^th  Street, N.E.;
3. Total retail space which is not less than 1,200 square feet;
4. Adherence to design, construction, and rehabilitation requirements as defined by DMPED per the Great Streets Initiative.