Bengal News reporters
The Grant Street business district has had its ups and downs over the years with storefronts closing and businesses moving to areas of better opportunity.
Now, Grant Street has been given a powerful tool to bring those businesses back with improved facades and more attractive interior design of buildings for potential merchants.
In late August, the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal announced a $500,000 Main Street grant to be used toward the revitalization of Grant Street.
The grant was awarded to People United for Sustainable Housing, a West Side non-profit group aiming to create strong neighborhoods through affordable housing, local employment expansion and economic justice.
“PUSH is proud to be partnering with the resurgent Grant Street business community to advance the revitalization efforts already underway,” said Aaron Bartley, executive director of PUSH Buffalo, in a statement after the award was announced.“Grant Street’s diverse character is its greatest strength and we expect these funds will assist businesses that have stuck with Grant Street for decades, through the thick and thin, as well as those who have jumpstarted the renaissance by starting businesses in the past few years.”
The grant comes from the New York Main Street Program that provides financial resources and technical assistance to communities to strengthen business districts and surrounding neighborhoods.
PUSH plans to use the award to help grow and develop small businesses, restore old storefronts, make streetscape improvements and give community organizations a financial boost to aid in the renewal.
Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, on PUSH Buffalo:
The organization has designated a portion of Grant Street between West Delavan and Auburn avenues to be the targeted area for upgrades. Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, said even though the three-block portion is a short stretch, it is in line with PUSH’s typical agenda: start small and grow from the inside out.
One potential business hoping to benefit from the grant is April Flowers, located at 214 Grant St. near the corner of Lafayette Avenue.
April Whalen, owner of the flower shop, said she talked with PUSH about improving the façade and planting trees on the sidewalk.
“We also talked about updates to the building to make it more efficient,” Whalen said. “I’m still learning about all the options and the possibilities, but it’s exciting.”
Hoyt was instrumental in helping PUSH get the grant and said he has complete faith in PUSH’s ability to make it a success.
“I have been involved with PUSH many times over the years and I told them I’d do everything I could to help them get it funded,” Hoyt said.“I spend a lot of time trying to improve the economy and the quality of life on the West Side. There’s a good foundation going on over there with Sweetness_7, Guercio’s and so on. I thought the application would do great things for the neighborhood, so I supported it.”
Though the grant was awarded in August, PUSH has not received any funds from the state to date. Hoyt expects PUSH to receive the money sometime around the first quarter of 2011.
In the meantime, PUSH is teaming up with businesses like Whalen’s and community-related organizations to determine how to allocate the resources.
A meeting was held on Nov. 9 to discuss the many issues related to the Main Street grant and according to Gary Welborn, vice president of Grant-Ferry Association, good progress was made and expectations were exceeded.
The meeting was designed to bring together representatives for public and private interest of the district being served.
Welborn said because of the positive developments that took place, representatives will be meeting on a regular basis.
The three major issues discussed were design guidelines, allocation criteria and developing a contractor’s list. Welborn said they broke down how they want to spend the money, who may be eligible to receive assistance and who is going to do the work on these projects.
Besides getting the money, Welborn said the next step is to get the community involved and excited about the possibilities a financial award of this magnitude could bring.
“There is momentum going on, on Grant Street,” he said. “This grant only continues that momentum. Grant Street is the gateway to the West Side and improving Grant Street will help the entire community and surrounding neighborhoods.”
Edited by Kevin Freiheit and Taylor Steinberg
The Main Street grant, as good as it might be, has its obstacles. The way the grant works is businesses will have to pay 25 percent of the cost of the project and the grant will pay 75 percent. Gary Welborn, vice president of the Grant-Ferry Association, said money from the grant is available, but for businesses just making enough money to make ends meet, it’s difficult. Another obstacle of the grant is businesses applying for it don’t just pay the 25 percent; businesses have to come up with the whole 100 percent and then are reimbursed. In order to solve these obstacles, Welborn said the committee PUSH created, which he is a part of, is trying to reach out to banks in the area to set up a revolving fund so the 75 percent could be taken out of that. The Small Business Association and the O’Shei Foundation are other organizations where funding could come from. -- Ken Obstarczyk
ReplyDeleteSam Hoyt, New York State Assemblyman, was an instrumental figure in People United for Sustainable Housing being awarded the $500,000 Main Street grant this August. Hoyt also has experienced a series of fortunate events lately.
ReplyDeleteHoyt is embarking on his tenth term in office thanks to a narrow victory in the Democratic Assembly primary race in the 144th District. He said he defeated Buffalo Common Council member Joseph Golombek by just 257 votes.
Hoyt said primary night was one of the highlights of his career, and drew the parallel to a sporting event going into overtime.
“My numbers came in strong, then he battled back, I was on top for awhile, then his camp declared victory,” Hoyt said. “But once everything came in and I was declared the winner, well, like they say – another two more years.”
This hotly contested primary was the capstone of his campaign Hoyt said, because he was easily able to defeat Republican challenger Brian Biggie in the general election.
Hoyt has served an Assemblyman since 1992. -- Mike Gambini