The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), on behalf of the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) is accepting Part I Applications for new projects under the State of Michigan’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Downtown Development Planning Grant (DPG) program. As a community leader, you are encouraged to review the program criteria and determine if your community is eligible to apply for funding.

The CDBG Downtown Development Planning Grant program is designed to identify activities that the Unit of General Local Government (UGLG) could undertake to increase the viability/accessibility of economic opportunities that will revitalize and stimulate job creation within the downtown area.

Planning projects will only be considered if the UGLG can demonstrate that the planning grant will likely lead to an eligible implementation project.

The planning study must be building or area specific, with identified goals and outcomes. Planning studies must be completed within one year of grant agreement sign date. Ineligible activities for this initiative include activities that create, update, or provide information solely for an UGLG to meet legislatively mandated requirements (i.e. Downtown Development Authority (DDA), Tax Increment Financing (TIF), and Master Plans) and/or engineering and design for specific projects.

The maximum grant award will not exceed $100,000. The total amount of grant funds available is $500,000 for the Downtown Development Planning Grant program. Due to funding limitations, only one submission per UGLG is allowed.

Visit here for more details: http://www.michiganadvantage.org/Public-Notices-Requests-for-Proposals/Michigan-Community-Development-Block-Grant-Program-Downtown-Development-Planning-Grant/

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at [email protected] or 517-908-0305.