The Stamford Downtown Special Services District has given new life to its
retail advancement program and is offering grants of $50,000 to qualified applicants. The new version of the program stipulates that landlords must match the grant amount.
“We have so many restaurants and galleries downtown, but straight retail anywhere is tough,” said Sandy Goldstein, president of the Downtown Special Services District (DSSD), a nonprofit organization responsible for managing and promoting the downtown. “We are very aware of how difficult it is to attract hard retail.”
Goldstein said the downtown has had great success as an entertainment center, but there is still a strong need for goods-based retail.
“For the hard goods retailers this is really supposed to be a shot in the arm,” Goldstein said. “To have a $50,000 grant from the DSSD and a matched grant from their landlord is something that really makes a business owner take a second look at Stamford.”
Jacqueline Wetenhall, director of retail development for the DSSD, said the grant program was available to businesses from 2006 to 2008. Awardees were Artistic Hand Blown Glass and Downtown Golf on Bedford Street, and Broadway Kitchens & Bath on Summer Street.
“It was a great program, but we”™re not a bank,” Wetenhall said. Though the recession put a pause on the program, DSSD felt it was a good time to bring it back.
The only recipient not to be in business today is Artistic Handblown Glass, which closed after the death of its owner this past year.
In regard to the size of the grant program, Laure Aubuchon, director of economic development for the City of Stamford said, “I subscribe to the theory that if any incentive is a make or break for your businesses plan, then you have the wrong business plan. These grants from the DSSD are a great tool for a new business and allow you to get to profitability a bit faster; they”™re not meant to be the go or no-go for our new businesses.”
Aubuchon said Broadway Kitchens would most likely have set up shop in Westport without the initial reinforcement that the DSSD grant provided.
In the coming year, Stamford will also have an influx of about 474 families through residential housing additions to the downtown. Between the 124 units at the 1340 Washington Boulevard project which Stamford developers RMS Construction recently began building, and the former Stamford Advocate building project which is being developed into 350 units of housing by Norwalk-based Greenfield partners, Aubuchon said the downtown will need an influx of retail.
“The downtown is an incredibly important part of the Stamford environment,” said Aubuchon. “As we move toward more residential our retail environment will be of larger and larger importance.”
Aubuchon said she is impressed with the addition of the ”˜landlord match”™ element of the grant program.
“It”™s a great way to scrub a business before they are in place,” said Aubuchon. “It also shows the landlord has confidence in the business.” She said the new landlord portion would also encourage landlords to think about profit and loss of their tenants.
“We”™ve had an amazing response,” said Wetenhall. “Brokers and prospects both have been calling and we are definitely in a position to achieve our aim.”
Wetenhall said DSSD hopes to award the grants to several retail stores this year. She said landlords could match the $50,000 in whichever way they decide, such as offering it as paid rent or location improvements. Applications are being accepted through Dec. 31 and reviewed by the organization”™s committee of bankers, retailers and a marketing professional.
“A lot of the landlords provide some cash for remodeling to new tenants but to see a large sum up front is great,” Aubuchon said.
