Takoma Park Businesses Eligible for Facade Improvement Grants

Businesses located in Old Town Takoma Park and at the Takoma Junction are eligible for grants totaling $11,000 to make improvements to the façade where commerce occurs, said a city official.

The City’s Housing and Community Development Department is accepting applications on the grants until April 29, 2011, said Carman Lam, associate planner for the city, who advised those interested to obtain an application and start processing it, because “the money will go fast.”

The department has sent a letter on the program to “Main Street Business & Property Owners”. It said:

“The grant may be used to improve commercial properties located within the Maryland Main Street Takoma, including the Old Town and Takoma Junction commercial areas. Eligible activities include visible improvements to building façade and surrounding areas, such as painting, window replacement, awnings, lighting, and signage, and permanent landscaping features such as outdoor benches, tables and chairs.

“The program will provide up to a $1,000 grant plus an additional dollar for dollar matching grant up to 50 percent of the overall improvement cost, not exceeding $10,000, for eligible improvement expenses. The total grant shall not exceed $11,000 total per storefront or business.”

Under the program, grantees will receive “a straight out $1,000 grant,” Lam said. After the $1,000 award, the department “will match 50 percent what the business or property owner is putting in, up to an additional $10,000,” she said.

“To get the extra $10,000, the grantee would have to spend $10,000 in “out of pocket expenses” on building improvements, and the total cost of the project would have to be $21,000,” she said.

There are few things applicants can do to increase their chances of winning and award, Lam said. “Anyone looking to conduct renovation work in the Historic District, will have to get a historic-area work permit,” she said. Those permits are obtained from the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission.

“If we see someone who already has that permit, we see that applicant as more desirable, because they are more likely to follow through with the work,” she said. “Their chances of winning an improvement project award are higher.”

In addition, “with the actual application form, they (applicants) have to submit their designs; applicants who seek to renovate areas that are “very visible” from the street are desirable, she added. They also need to provide information on materials, color samples, and two cost estimates from two contractors, she said. “We have a lot of people who only come in with one estimate, and of course we can’t process applications like that,” she added.

The department will also “need written permission from the property owner if the applicant is renting the space,” she said.

The department has scheduled a public meeting on the grant program for March 7, 2011 at 11 a.m. at Roscoe’s Pizzeria, 7040 Carroll Ave., Takoma Park. The meeting will cover “how to apply and review criteria.”

For more information, contact Lam at (301) 891-7219.