Granby eateries devour city grants
PHILIP NEWSWANGER – Senior Staff Writer
Norfolk City Council adopted the policy April 21. In a show of urgency, city staff posted a Web site the next day on the Internet highlighting the plan to help businesses during major construction.
In the ensuing four months, the city’s department of development, which is administering the program, has received 20 applications for some form of aid from the city, be it a loan or a grant, because of all the construction.
Though the plan is dubbed the mouth-wrenching Major Urban Construction Impact Policy and Program, it is simple and straightforward.
The plan assists firms that have felt the brunt of construction of four major projects – utility replacement in Freemason, light rail construction, the Brooke Avenue streetscape project and the widening of Virginia Beach Boulevard at Jet Street.
Rod Woolard, Norfolk’s Department of Development director, supplied Inside Business with a copy of the presentation he was supposed to deliver to City Council Sept. 1 but hasn’t yet because of the schedules of council members.
“I have gotten bumped from actually presenting to City Council because of the very full dockets they have been dealing with since they got back from vacation,” Woolard said in an e-mail.
The presentation provides a brief but substantial overview of the program, conceived and developed by City Manager Regina Williams and development department staff over an eight-month period.
The city approved $1.3 million to underwrite the grants, loans and the marketing of the plan.
A loan review committee made up of Henry Harris III, chair of the Norfolk Economic Development Authority, and Yvonne Allmond, senior vice president of TowneBank, reviews the loans.
After a review, the committee makes its recommendations to the authority, which approves the loan and enters into an agreement with the business.
The grants are for the loss of assets and for remodeling store- fronts. The no-interest loans are for five years.
An outreach program was launched simultaneously and includes up-to-date news on construction activity, special events and a campaign to build awareness of businesses hurt by the construction. Development staff is also meeting with businesses in person.
The goals of the program, according to Woolard’s presentation, include retaining existing businesses and jobs, mitigating negative impacts, creating as much good will as possible and maximizing communications to businesses.
To also qualify for a grant, businesses must be located next to the construction projects and in business for two years.
To qualify for a loan, the business must have existed for two years and it must provide either audited financial statements or Internal Revenue Service tax filings or commissioner of revenue tax filings.
Businesses must provide proof that their revenue declined more than 20 percent from the quarter prior to construction to the quarter just after construction began.
Of the 20 applications the city received for some form of assistance, three were for grants for loss of assets, five were for grants to remodel and seven were for loans.
So far, the city has approved a total of seven grants and one loan, totaling $152,012, many to owners of well-known Granby Street restaurants.
Three firms – Baxter’s Sports Lounge, Gene’s Transmission and 456 Fish on Granby – received a total of $29,996 for grants for loss of assets.
Four companies – Bowden Gas Co., Baxter’s Sports Lounge, Bodega on Granby and Byrd & Baldwin Bros. Steakhouse – received remodeling grants totaling $47,016.
One loan was for $75,000 for a company that offers business interiors and moving services. The company’s name wasn’t mentioned in the presentation.
Five other loan requests are pending. One was rejected.