2008.10.27
Blacksburg rolls out downtown revitalization programs
Photo by Justin Cook/New grant and loan programs could spur refurbishment of vacant and blighted buildings such as the old National Bank at Roanoke and Main streets.
Come January ongoing efforts to revitalize downtown may move from public sidewalks to private storefronts.
Two grant and loan programs currently under development by Blacksburg’s Downtown Revitalization Committee and the nonprofit Blacksburg Partnership Foundation could help fund improvements to deteriorating commercial buildings in the town’s core.
Next month the council will review and vote on a $50,000 matching grant program that could help pay for facade improvements to qualifying downtown commercial buildings. An additional $10,000 in funding would be available for project design. Funding for the grants would come from the town’s annual federal entitlement allotment — a pool of money also used to pay for affordable housing projects. Applications are already being accepted.
The nonprofit Blacksburg Partnership Foundation board has already approved a $25,000 low-interest revolving loan fund that would offer up to $5,000 to building owners or tenants who want to do either interior or exterior remodeling. Money for the loan fund came from the sale of Hokie bird statues sold through the partnership’s Gobble de Art program. The partnership will begin accepting applications in January, director Diane Akers said.
The development of public-private funding programs and incentives follows years of discussion of what to do about a downtown pockmarked with vacancies and blighted buildings.
A list of other town-sponsored incentives meant to spur private investment in the downtown are also under discussion and could go to the town council for approval sometime next year.
The town is also pursuing an expansion of the downtown historic district, which could qualify some property owners to use federal historic tax credits to remodel buildings.
-- Tonia Moxley
