Revitalization Project Proposals

Published on March 17, 2022

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The City of Grand Rapids will submit a Regional Subgrant Program application for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s (MEDC) Revitalization and Placemaking (RAP) program. The City intends to submit a Regional Real Estate Rehabilitation Subgrant Program application for real estate revitalization projects and not placemaking projects located within the City. If you have a project proposal for a Placemaking project, please contact Tim Mroz, Sr. 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.

Submit a Proposal

We'll only accept proposals through the online form until Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at 5 PM. Proposals submitted after the deadline will not be considered. Before submitting your proposal, you may want to review the application questions in advance using this Proposal Questions for Reference(PDF, 176KB)

Submit a Proposal

Background

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. On this website, you will also find a program factsheet, guidelines, FAQ’s and a draft application. Links to each of these documents are also provided below.

Regional Real Estate Rehabilitation Subgrant Application

The City intends to submit a Regional Real Estate Subgrant Program application for only real estate revitalization projects (i.e. not placemaking projects) located within the City. Eligible applicants for real estate revitalization projects are individuals or entities working primarily to rehabilitate vacant, underutilized, blighted, or historic structures, although new construction projects may qualify under certain circumstances. These projects will be privately owned development projects and the MEDC grant requires a minimum 50 percent match of the project’s eligible costs

The application will include a to-be-determined number of individual project applications that together comprise the most competitive application for funding for Grand Rapids projects. Based on our review of the program and conversations with representatives from the MEDC, we believe this approach provides the greatest likelihood of success for the most competitive Grand Rapids projects. Exact dates have not been provided, but completed applications are likely to be due sometime between early-June and mid-July.

Proposal Process

In order to prepare the most competitive application that furthers the goals and strategies of the City and achieves the priorities of the RAP program, we must gather a significant amount of information on each project that could be considered for inclusion in the City’s application.

If you have a project that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the City’s application, you must submit the initial proposal form no later than Tuesday April 5, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. Proposals received after that deadline will not be considered. A pdf version of the proposal form is attached so you can review the questions and understand what attachments will be required to complete a submission. The process and tentative timeline for preparing the Regional Subgrant Application is below. 

If your project is selected to be included in the City’s Regional Real Estate Revitalization Application, you will work closely with the City beginning in May 2022 to ensure that your project’s component of the application is as complete and competitive as possible.

Timeline

  • March 16, 2022 - Proposal portal opens
  • April 5, 2022 - Proposals due by 5 PM
  • April 2022 - Project selections finalized
  • May 2022 -  Continue developing regional subgrant application with selected projects
  • June/Mid-July, 2022 - Application will be submitted to the MEDC

Resources

To complete the online form, you'll need the following resources.

Section 4

  • Final Rule Overview – Overview of the rules provided by U.S. Treasury for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. 
  • Final Rule – The final rules provided by the U.S. Treasury for ARPA funds. 

Section 5

  • Qualified Census Tract Map – Click the link and search for the address of your property.  On the left hand side of the map, click “Color QCT Qualified Tracts”.  Required for Section 5.

Other Relevant Program Documentation

Contact Us

If you have any questions, please contact Jono Klooster (jklooster@grcity.us). We're happy to help!