Up to $750,000 in funding is being made available from a program designed to support retail space in downtown Albuquerque.
The Downtown Storefront Activation Grant Program is an initiative sponsored by the city’s Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency and is providing individual grants ranging in size from $50,000 to $250,000.
Those grants are specifically targeting businesses or non-profits, either currently occupying a ground-floor commercial space or making plans to rehabilitate such spaces.
The idea behind the program is to spur business and economic development partially through the creation of attractively designed and visually engaging storefronts.
Recipient storefronts must exist within the MRA’s boundary map, which sees Lomas Boulevard on the north side, 10th Street on the west, Broadway Boulevard on the east; and Coal Avenue at the south end.
A first round of Downtown Storefront Activation Grant funding announced earlier this summer saw up to $500,000 awarded to 15 local businesses, occupying more than 40,000 square feet of vacant space.
Initial recipients included a comedy club, flamenco dance company, and several restaurants.
By Garry Boulard
