As you are already aware, the Zen Forest restaurant, which is currently located on Rowan Road at the SR 54 intersection, will be moving to the city and locating in the former Gatsby’s Hideaway and Cafe. Their plans for the renovation property are very comprehensive and if all goes well they plan to open in March of 2022.
The total expenditure of project costs by the applicants will exceed $1,000,000 qualifying them for participation in the Commercial Real Estate Redevelopment Grant Program which provides greater latitude for assistance based on the value of the project to the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).
There are two forms of assistance being recommended for your consideration in respect to this project and they are as follows:
- Lease Subsidy- a subsidy in the amount of $3,350.00 to be applied to the lease payment on the property for a two-year period of time.
- Rehabilitation Grant- a $200,000.00 grant to be administered on a project expenditure reimbursement basis and to be made payable in four equal installments of $50,000.00.
The economic development package as described above is financially consistent with the economic development incentive packages that have been offered on other large scale redevelopment projects in the city and it is in alignment with the broader economic development objectives of the CRA.
RECOMMENDATION:
The recommendation is to approve the sum of $80,400.00 of CRA program funds to be applied towards the lease payments on the building over a two-year period of time. Additionally, to approve the sum of $200,000.00 of CRA program funds to be payable as building renovation expenditure reimbursements, payable in equal installments of $50,000.00.
BUDGET / FISCAL IMPACT:
The funding to cover this expenditure is available in the FY 2021-2022 CRA Program Budget.