🔒Windsor proposes storefront grant program to fill downtown vacancies

Windsor officials are considering a new grant program to help cover the cost of opening new ground-floor businesses in an effort to fill vacant downtown storefronts. The proposed Storefront Activation Program would provide grants covering up to half of eligible costs to prepare vacant retail spaces in the town center for new retail or restaurant tenants. Awards would be capped at $50,000 for typical storefront improvements and $75,000 for projects requiring more extensive infrastructure or code-compliance work. The Town Council's three-member Finance Committee voted Tuesday to endorse the proposal. The full council is expected to consider it in September. Ojala Naeem, a Finance Committee member, said the proposal could help businesses overcome rising construction and startup costs. “We have been looking at different ways to incentivize folks getting in and investing,” Naeem said. “We also recognize that in a post-pandemic world, there’s been there’s been a proportional increase in cost to even renovate, rehab and really invest in some of these businesses.” Naeem said the proposal is modeled in part on Hartford's Hart Lift program, which used federal COVID-19 relief funding to help offset startup costs for ground-floor retail and restaurant businesses. “We liked what we saw with that,” Naeem said. “We like how — especially with Pratt Street — you saw a lot of activation that didn’t necessarily exist before.” Funding for Windsor’s grant program would come from the Windsor Center Tax Increment Financing District. Eligible projects would include interior build-outs, building system upgrades and improvements. Windsor Economic Development Director Patrick McMahon said downtown already has a healthy mix of restaurants and arts-related businesses. The grant program is intended to attract tenants to a handful of prominent vacant storefronts, some as large as 3,000 square feet, that have remained empty for some time. McMahon said he hopes the program will attract additional restaurants. The grant program is also intended to build on momentum created by new housing in the town center, McMahon said. About 200 apartments and 50 condominiums have been added downtown over the past decade, with another 137 multifamily units under construction or expected to be built soon. Applicants would receive reimbursements only after completing eligible work and documenting payment. The proposal also requires minimum occupancy periods and includes repayment provisions if businesses vacate too soon or fail to meet program requirements. The proposal would launch with a $389,640 allocation already included in the fiscal 2027 Windsor Center TIF budget, which also funds the town's façade improvement program.