Lyn Ward and Joseph Violette, both directors of the Waterbury Regional Chamber, are promoting a redevelopment proposal that intends to rejuvenate Grant Street in Waterbury.
Their proposal plans to make it easier for property owners to fill up the many vacant ground-floor stores located all over the downtown area. Eligible stores would receive grants worth $50 for every square foot of business space they have, with a maximum of $100,000 per property owner.
The grants come with certain conditions. Each grant awarded would have to be matched 100% by the property owner or tenants, or a combination of both.
According to officials from the Chamber of Alderman, the property owners must also have a good reputation with the city and be able to show how the Covid pandemic had a negative effect on their businesses. Banner printing can be used to promote stores that are reopening.
Almost 35 of the 100 or so storefronts in the downtown area are currently vacant. Special considerations will be made for property owners who have restaurant spaces and stores that are adjacent to other vacant properties. Considerations will also be made for spaces that were leased to women and minority-owned businesses.
Ward, who is president of the Chamber, believes that the program will spark growth in the number of small businesses that operate in the central business district.
