Occupancy Grants
Mini Façade Grant Program
Community Improvement Grants
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q8_CasFYkjB-OHuhiWnixXdcPiS40NVONwbk3JWlSsY/edit?usp=sharing
Click here for full program guidelines
CharlotteRising, with the mission to cultivate a vibrant and enduring downtown, has dedicated resources to create more space for the growth of retail and food establishments. In alignment with the organization’s steadfast belief in placemaking, this Occupancy Grant Program will facilitate the needed growth and progress that is integral in creating a place in which people want to live, work, and experience.
Creating a welcoming space for new businesses and entrepreneurs plays a major role in the success of the business district. As Kelsey Meyers, Forbes Entrepreneurships Journalists, summarizes:
“physical space is about creating a structure in which innovation can naturally occur.”
Eligibility
Owners of:
Real property in the CharlotteRising Main Street district.
Conditions of Eligibility:
Property taxes must be current.
Project components must have a useful life of at least 10 years.
Property must be creating street frontage on Cochran, Lawrence, or Lovett streets
Property must be creating space for retail or food establishments with a square footage of no less than 700 square feet
Property must have a private entrance--no shared entrances will be considered
Property development CANNOT be used for development of offices. These funds are to create space for retail and dining locations only.
Eligible Costs:
Interior walls to subdivide a space
Doors, windows, and other facade improvements to create new space
Bathroom installation
Electrical, plumbing, and heating systems
Staircases to access upper or lower floors
Other associated costs (must make a case for in application)
Ineligible Costs:
Property furnishings
Property acquisition
Site plan, building permit fees
New construction
Appraiser, attorney, interior decorating fees
Exterior paint or upgrades
Trade fixtures, display cases, counters, or other personal property
Reusable or removable items
Refurbishing existing flooring or walls
Historic preservation
CharlotteRising is hopeful that our local downtown business owners will take advantage of this mini-grant program (the companion program to our larger façade grants) for improvements such as updating window, painting doors, new exterior signage, sidewalk improvements, and other similar small projects. We know that 2020 was an extremely difficult year for many of our business owners and we hope that smaller projects like this will continue to move the façade improvement program forward while we begin to recover from the pandemic.
After five years of supporting downtown renovations through large facade grant improvements, CharlotteRising has decided to switch things up for the 2021 year. This year, instead of funding 3-4 large projects, we’re spreading the wealth and supporting 12 small $500 improvement projects.
Online applications are simple and easy to fill out. Click the Mini Façade Grant button on the left to get started.
Grants open July 1st and close on August 15th.
The Community Improvement Grant is to encourage improvements to downtown visible from the public right-of-way. The grant money is intended to provide volunteer opportunities and financial incentives for quality and permanent downtown development. With quality developments, the economic vitality of downtown grows and increases potential for cultivating a vibrant and enduring downtown Charlotte.
Gather a team of 5 people, these could be friends, family, or people you know from other organizations, and come up with a great downtown improvement project. This grant can support projects up to $500. Make memories while making an impact!