The Façade Improvement Program
The Department of Economic Development & Tourism administers the Downtown Façade Improvement Program as one of its ever-increasing tools to stimulate economic development in the City. The goal of this program is to improve the overall attractiveness of the City’s Business Improvement Areas (BIA) as a shopping and business destination. This can assist in attracting and retaining businesses in the Downtowns by providing assistance to commercial property owners within the BIAs to improve building streetscapes.
All existing commercially zoned buildings within the BIA can potentially qualify for this grant provided that the property has not received money from this program in the previous two (2) calendar years and that the BIA levy associated with the property is up-to-date.
The application must be submitted by the property owner; however, the property owner does not have to be the owner of the business that occupies the property. Grant applications can be submitted at any time, however the budget for the program is limited and offered on a “first-come, first-served” basis. Applications will still be received and approved once the budgeted amount is depleted, however, they will be held in priority order until a new budget is allocated for the program.
It is important to note that an application must be approved prior to the commencement of any work related to the Façade Improvement Program related project. Information on the program can be obtained by contacting the Program Administrator: Paul McGraw.
Did you know?
City of Miramichi Housing Needs Assessment
The City of Miramichi has completed its 10-month study of the housing needs of the Miramichi region.
The study was commissioned to determine what housing needs existed in the Miramichi region and what tools were needed to not only satisfy those needs but manage the future development for housing affordable housing. Miramichi has historically had extraordinarily low vacancy rates, at times, among the lowest in the country. But addressing the low vacancy rate is more involved than just creating more housing rental units. To address the situation properly, there needs to be an inventory of the types of housing available that includes identifying the kinds of gaps that exist and how these gaps can be filled. This plan deals with these issues and much more and will be an asset to the Department as it strives to manage the housing developments in the City.