Commercial Property Funding

There are a variety of commercial grants available to construct and renovate buildings and develop land. Commercial building grants can be used to retrofit buildings to meet building codes or rebuild after natural disasters, renovate historic commercial buildings, for energy efficiency and green building renovations of commercial buildings and for green job creation. Property managers and owners of apartment buildings can obtain government grants to cover the expenses of renovating and repairing housing for their tenants. Primarily, federal, state and local governments provide commercial grants. Recipients may be non-profit or for profit businesses and tribal government agencies.

FEMA

For instance, The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) is a grant program that is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Grants can be used for retrofitting buildings, rebuilding and renovations to covert properties to either open space or help ensure buildings are to current building code standards.

Community Grants

Community facilities grant are given by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to construct and renovate buildings that are used by the general community and for public services. Funds are available to municipalities and tribal agencies as well as non-profit organizations. Also, communities with less than 20,000 residents are eligible to apply for these grants. The great thing about these grants is up to 75% of the costs are covered by the grant. For more information, you can contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides a community entitlement program that gives grant monies to cities and counties to renovate and expand their residential and non-residential buildings and to improve public facilities. Funds can also be given to support activates by non-profit businesses that help create jobs. Counties with fewer than 200,000 and 50,000 residents are eligible. Monies cannot be used to build government buildings or for political purposes. Funders include government agencies as well as private organizations and real estate associations of investors.

Inherited Property Grants

Property owners of inherited property that is used commercially for shopping malls, apartment buildings, rental homes, stores, offices may receive grants for renovation and energy efficiency and green building. The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program gives grants to owners of commercial property that inherit or purchase privately historic buildings for rehabbing them. The grants can also be used for low-income housing projects in historic buildings for rental housing, office space, retail stores and other purposes. Grant monies cannot be used to renovate a historic home that you live in though. Building that are included in the National Register of Historic Places or determined to be historic by the State Historic Preservation Office are eligible.

There are also energy conservation grants available for commercial property that is inherited and non-inherited commercial property from the Federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant for energy efficiency and green job creation. The agency provides half of the funding for energy efficiency projects. Also available is the Assisted Housing Stability and Energy and Green Retrofit Grant program. Grant information can be accessed at the grants.gov website.

Public Housing Grants

Communities that have less than 50,000 residents and 100 physical public housing units may receive grants under the Main Street Program from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which covers the costs of renovating office and commercial buildings into affordable housing. Historical buildings and structures must be preserved and remain in intact after renovating.

When applying for commercial property grants, you should make sure you meet the funder’s requirements and criteria by reading the eligibility requirements carefully. Grant monies are popular, and there is a lot of competition so it is a good idea to apply to multiple grants to increase your chances of receiving commercial grant funding.