Motor City Re-Store Round 4 winners announced

Motor City Re-Store awards $350K in grants to 28 businesses to assist with façade improvements

DETROIT, August 14, 2018 – The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation’s (DEGC) Motor City Re-Store (MCR-S) program continues its mission to beautify Detroit’s commercial corridors by providing essential resources including, construction and design assistance, education workshops, and cash grant awards to existing Detroit businesses. Now in Round Four of funding, the program announced 28 businesses will receive a total of $358,000 in grants to provide construction and design assistance for façade and other exterior improvements.

The Motor City Re-Store program was created last year by the City of Detroit and DEGC to help existing businesses become more competitive and remain a vital part of Detroit’s growing small-business ecosystem.

Motor City Re-Store Round Four winners span 24 Detroit neighborhoods and cover a wide range of services including a performance venue, child care center, clothing stores, and a plumbing supply store.

Among the Round Four awardees:

“Motor City Re-Store is helping to create beautiful, walkable spaces for the businesses that have sustained Detroit’s neighborhood commerce,” said Pierre Batton, senior business development manager, DEGC. “These businesses provide their communities with the goods and services residents demand, and they deserve spaces that reflect their passion for their community. We’re creating density in all of Detroit’s neighborhoods in hopes of bringing spending back into the city.”

Four of the seven construction awardees are previous Round One design winners, thereby utilizing the full benefits of the Motor City Re-Store resource pipeline. In addition to receiving grant awards, Round Four design awardees will participate in a workshop connecting them with architects, lenders and community partners to discuss their projects and assist in creating design plans. This is one more example of DEGC’s continuing effort to help entrepreneurs create sustainable businesses as well as increase retail density throughout the city’s neighborhoods.

“Motor City Re-Store has been vital in helping me make some much-needed improvements to my business including new signage, windows, fencing and a restored parking lot,” said Marc Wolf, owner, Atlas Plumbing Supply Co. “But these improvements are not just about my business— they’re about improving the neighborhood as a whole. When my business looks good, my community looks good, and people take pride in that.”

How Motor City Re-Store Works

Motor City Re-Store will provide approximately $2 million annually in matching grants to existing business owners and their landlords for façade and other exterior improvements.

Winners are named in two tracks:

Grant winners in the Construction Track are awarded matching funds of up to $25,000. The seven construction grants awarded in Round Four total $148,000. Design Track winners are eligible for grants of up to $10,000. Those 21 design grants awarded totaled $210,000. Grant amounts are estimates and may vary as each project proceeds.

About Motor City Re-Store

Motor City Re-Store is managed by the Small Business Team at the DEGC and is available to entrepreneurs who are currently open and operating a commercial storefront in the city of Detroit, including their landlords. The program is supported by a combination of Community Development Block Grant dollars and other funders. The Economic Development Corporation of the City of Detroit (EDC) has stewardship of the public funds and has approved funding to develop the program.

Motor City Re-Store is accepting applications for Round Six from August 31 through October 1, 2018. Business owners and landlords must apply jointly for 50 percent matching grants up to $25,000. Multiple businesses applying as a group are eligible for 75 percent matching grants. Applications can be submitted at www.motorcity-restore.com and paper applications are available upon request.

Seven businesses were awarded a total of $148,000 in construction grants in Round Four:

21 businesses were awarded a total of $210,000 in design grants in Round Four:

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