City seeking grant for facade revitalization projects

Published on November 19, 2024

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The City of Grand Rapids is seeking façade revitalization projects to include in a regional grant application for the Michigan Economic Development’s Revitalization and Placemaking (RAP) program.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) will soon be accepting applications for the Revitalization and Placemaking (RAP) program which will distribute $100 million to qualifying projects throughout the entire State of Michigan. Applications for grant funds may be made for individual projects, or as part of a Regional Subgrant Program application that will contain various projects in a single application. Projects that will be competitive for this program will meet the project considerations as listed on the MEDC’s program website.

The City of Grand Rapids will submit a Regional Subgrant Program application for the MEDC’s Revitalization and Placemaking program. The City intends to submit a Façade Improvement Subgrant application for façade projects located in the City of Grand Rapids and NOT placemaking projects. Project proposals for placemaking projects can be submitted to Tim Mroz, senior vice president of community development at The Right Place at mrozt@rightplace.org.  Placemaking projects must be accessible to the public and not for the benefit of a specific private development.

Sarah Rainero, economic development director, said “Eligible applicants for facade revitalization projects are individuals or entities working to improve or restore an existing building's façade - portions of the building that impact the public realm or the streetscape. These projects will be privately owned development projects, and the RAP grant can fund up to $500,000 or 50% of the project’s eligible costs and require a minimum 50% match from each sub-applicant. Proposals will be evaluated based on the requirements of the corresponding City of Grand Rapids Corridor Improvement Authority (CIA) Façade Improvement Program guidelines, RAP program application, and scoring criteria of the project.”

For a project to be considered for in the City's application, this initial proposal form must be submitted before the deadline of 5 p.m. December 13. Due to the tight timeline for submissions to the MEDC, please note that projects submitted after 5 p.m. December 13 will not be considered.

Submitting a facade revitalization project does not guarantee a project is eligible and/or will be selected based on the grant application criteria. However, this is a required step for a project to be considered for inclusion in the City’s regional subgrant application.

For inquiries or additional information, please contact staff in the Economic Development Department via email: econdevshrd@grand-rapids.mi.us.