Northport Begins Latest Round Of Grants For Facade Improvement Program

NORTHPORT, AL — The Northport Redevelopment Authority on Monday announced to the City Council that it has officially kicked off its second round of grants from the city's Facade Improvement Program.

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As Patch previously reported, the Northport City Council funded this program earlier in the year with an allocation of $400,000 of Northport First funds — revenue generated from the city's additional 1-cent sales tax implemented earlier this council term.

Of the recent changes to the program, the grant amount has increased to $100,000 per project and requires a 50% match.

Since the program's inception, 47 applications have been received, totaling $677,359.35 in requests, with 29 approved.

"This round will be a much more targeted program providing grants up to $100,000 per applicant with a 50% match required," Northport Redevelopment Authority General Counsel Jay Stuck told Patch. "All of the funds must go to the improvement of the façade of the applicant’s business or property. Meaning, if an applicant has a project where $200,000 of the project was going towards the façade of the building, upon approval that applicant would be eligible for a reimbursable grant of $100,000."

Stuck said the Northport Redevelopment Authority has also identified two priority areas where applicants will receive additional points in the scoring of their applications.

He explained that those areas are the Highway 69 corridor from the bridges to the Highway 82 intersection, and the Highway 82 corridor from the eastern city limits to the intersection with Highway 43.

"Any business or commercial property in the City of Northport is eligible to apply for the grant," Stuck said. "The program does allow for new construction, but again, the funds are only available for expenditures on the façade of the project. There are some other eligibility requirements contained in the materials."

Stuck went on to say that the Northport Redevelopment Authority is planning on accepting applications through the city website until Dec. 1, before the board will score the applications.

A number of the applicants will then be invited to present their projects in person.

Following the presentations, the board will go through another round of scoring and will contact those applicants who were approved.

"They will need to enter into a contract with the Redevelopment Authority to ensure that all aspects of the project as presented on the application will be completed," Stuck said.

The Northport Redevelopment Authority Board is made up of seven members on a volunteer basis: Board President Steve Steele, Vice President Jaime Conger, Kevin Almond, Jheovanny Gomez, Ricky Sherrod, Bruce Higginbotham and Kayla Griffin.

Click here to learn more about the program.

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