The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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June 25, 2009

North Kato offers fix-up help

Belgrade Ave. business district targeted

By Mark Fischenich

NORTH MANKATO — Establishments on the North Mankato’s Belgrade Avenue business district will have access to $25,000 city grants and low-interest loans as part of the city’s multi-pronged effort to revitalize its downtown.

The grant and loan program was approved this week by the North Mankato Port Authority, the city’s economic development arm, and is modeled in part on a previous success story. The Port Authority provided an $18,650 grant to the owners of Christy’s Cafe, helping them cover the cost of renovating and upgrading a shuttered business.

“It kind of made it happen for us,” said Mark Levitt, co-owner of Christy’s.

The matching requirement for the Christy’s grant — that $2 in private money be spent for every $1 from the city — has been incorporated into the new grant program.

If businesses request the entire $25,000, the grant pool of $150,000 would cover six renovations and would leverage a total of $450,000 in upgrades to the small downtown area.

“It’s not a significant amount of money,” said Port Authority President Wade Hensel of the $25,000 grant limit. “But hopefully it’s an incentive to fix things up. ... We’re hoping that’s enough to get things moving.”

The grant money will be covered with existing Port Authority funds and proceeds from the new half-percent local sales tax, which is dedicated in part toward downtown revitalization. Loans of as much as $25,000 would be available at 4 percent interest rates for portions of a project above $75,000.

Along with the grant and loan program for small businesses, the Port Authority and the city are working to bring a major development to the former Marigold Dairy site on Belgrade at the foot of the Veterans Memorial Bridge. A developer is planning a four-story retail-office-condominium project for the long-vacant lot.

Levitt also has been recruiting local businesses to locate on Belgrade, and merchants have been discussing ideas for improving parking and slowing traffic. He expects other downtown business owners to take advantage of the grant program and to be impressed with the ease of working with city staff.

“We were just bowled over with the program,” Levitt said of himself and co-owner Carmen Christy. “They were really great to work with.”

Levitt and Christy were making their first foray into business ownership, and Levitt said they had to use their own savings to finance the complete replacement of the plumbing system, fire-suppression equipment in the kitchen, substantial upgrades to the electrical system and more.

The city money ultimately covered just 20 percent of the total cost of getting the cafe ready to open, but it was enough to make the difference, Levitt said.

“If it weren’t for that, honestly I’m not sure you and I would be talking,” he said.

Christy’s may be applying for another grant to do further renovations to the exterior of the building. And he’s confident owners of most other buildings along Belgrade will be making similar upgrades eventually.

“(It’s) going to happen,” he said. “But those of us down here are aiming at sooner rather than later.”

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