Northport Awards $341K To Businesses For Facade Improvements

NORTHPORT, AL — The Northport Redevelopment Authority on Monday reported that it has approved hundreds of thousands in grant funding for several local businesses under the city's Facade Improvement Program.

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Steve Steele, the board president for the authority, informed the Council during its regular meeting that 45 total applications had been received, with 27 approved and 10 businesses signing formal agreements.

"The initial applications numbers were low," he said. "I think we had 10 by several weeks prior to the initial date and that picked up as we got closer."

In total, S677,359.35 has been requested applicants, while $341,061.06 has been awarded to date. The ultimate goal of the program is geared toward improving the exterior facades of businesses along the Highway 82 corridor as the city hopes to attract more growth.

The program was first announced in April, as Patch previously reported, with an allocation of $350,000 from the city's Northport First Funds — revenue generated by the city's 1-cent sales tax. The application deadline was August 1, but Steele pointed out three key issues that has proven hurdles in the NRDA's first attempt at administering the program.

Chief among these was when the NRDA received news that Max Snyder was leaving his role with the City of Northport earlier this year to become director of business development with the Tuscaloosa County Economic Development Authority.

This happened early in the process of the program getting off the ground, but Steele said this saw each of the board members take a more active role it evolving their approach.

Other issues, he said, related to publicity for the program and the reliance on paper applications, both of which likely impacted the number of responses, in addition to numerous follow ups by the NRDA due to incomplete applications from prospective businesses.

"We found that most of the applications we received were incomplete or we didn't have sufficient information for us to make a decision," Steele said. "So, the vast majority required us to reach back out to the applicant and ask for more information, and we gave an additional 30-day period of time to accomplish that."

Steele did however, say that the public is much more aware of the program compared to the first few months after it was announced. With this in mind, he said there have already been potential applicants inquiring about a second round of funding.

Among the businesses benefiting from the funding is the Cost Kutter grocery store — the former location of Save A Lot.

"The board elected to go with a grant structure that provides a 10,000 grant and the potential for another 10,000 matching grant," Steele explained.

For example, the total project cost for the grocery store renovations came out to $85,000 for renovations, with $20,000 coming from the Northport Facade Improvement Program. The funds covered repairs to the masonry of the facade of the building, in addition to a new color scheme.

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