Facade, Signage, Fire Safety Grants (sample guidelines & applications)

Amarillo

Center City facade grants can be used for signage, windows, streetscapes or exterior design elements. The grants are matching reimbursement grants with a maximum of $20,000 per project from Center City of Amarillo, the Main Street organization in Amarillo. (The business has to spend $40,000 to receive $20,000). In addition, facade grant recipients are eligible for up to an additional $50,000 from the Center City Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone for streetscape elements including pedestrian lights, sidewalks, landscaping and benches. The TIRZ grant is not a matching grant, but the funds only cover materials and not installation or labor costs.

Potential applicants for Center City Facade Grants must schedule an in-person interview to discuss the project with the executive director and review the application process.

Center City Facade Grant Application Packet

Brownsville

Brownsville has the Downtown Business Improvement & Growth (BIG) grants for facade and interior improvements, signage, and rent subsidies. It is a partnership between BCIC (our Type B EDC) and Main Street. We offer 50/50 grants for facade and interior improvements, up to $15,000; 50/50 sign grants, up to $2,000; and rent subsidies for up to 12 months. The amount is phased out but businesses can qualify for up to $9,600. The applications are submitted online through the BCIC portal. Below are the guidelines.

Corsicana

The City of Corsicana offers 2 tax incentives for properties in our downtown historic district:

5 Year Tax Abatement
Yearly Reinvestment Tax Credit

The City also offers a Tax Incentive program for residential/non-residential properties outside the downtown district that are designated with a Landmark Status from National Register of Historic Places, designated as a Texas Historic Landmark or State Archaeological Landmark by the THC or is designated as a local Landmark. Please feel free to reference our ordinances that detail what the incentives allow: https://library.municode.com/tx/corsicana/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CH1GEPR_ART1.3500HIPR_S1.3524TAIN

Cuero

Business Retention and Expansion Program FY 2020-2021

Main Street Historical District Facade Program FY 2020-2021

Denison

Dension Commercial Historic Overlay District Facade Grant Program

Elgin

Advertising grant

Paint the Town Program

Dumpster Programs

Georgetown

Facade grants are available on a 50/50 matching basis with a cap of $20,000 per grant ($40,000+ total project). Facade grant funds focus on exterior work on storefronts (visible to the traveling public), as well as roof and foundation work on commercial buildings and Upper Story Residential buildings (as defined in Section 5.02.020 of the City’s Unified Development Code), as well as fire suppression improvements, located in the Downtown Overlay District. Sign grants are available on a 50/50 matching basis with a cap of $500 per grant ($1,000+ total project cost). Grant funds focus on signs which may include signboards, projecting signs and pedestrian signage (includes window sign, hanging sign and awning/canopy sign) for commercial buildings located in the Downtown Overlay District.

Granger

Granger MDD does offer a façade/signage grant. It’s a matching 50/50 grant. Maximum funds available per awarded grant recipient are $5,000 – very generous for a town our size! See the attached façade application for reference. It can also be found on the City of Granger’s Website www.grangertx.us under the MDD documents section.

Harlingen

Incentive Program for Facade, Sign, Security Enhancement and Fire Safety

Huntsville

Huntsville offers a $1,000 matching grant for "Historic Restorations & Improvements" and a $1,000 matching grant for "Life Safety Improvements". More information available here.

Downtown Historic Restoration Improvements Grant Guidelines

Downtown Life Safety Grant Guidelines

Kilgore

Building Improvement Grants (Fire & Safety, Sign, Facade)

La Grange

La Grange offers a number of initiatives for grants in the Historic District including Façade. Here’s a link, in an effort to maintain and enhance the features of our city, the City of La Grange offers a variety of incentives for development in the City and downtown.

Longview

Our DARE grant program - this is a micro-grant program that is in addition to the facade grant program in Longview. We noticed that our city's facade grant program is much better suited for large scale/more expensive projects - if someone is needing to do a quick awning update, a mural, update signage - the process to go through (since it is CBDG funded) is not necessarily worth the wait for something that is a $5000 project or less. We created this program to help. It is funded through the efforts of One Hundred Acres of Heritage, the not for profit affiliated with our Main Street program. We started this program in 2020 with $10,000 and have awarded $7000 in grants to 3 different projects. New awnings/recovered awnings make a HUGE difference and we are so glad that we are able to help.

Dare Improvement Grant

Marshall

https://www.marshalltexas.net/DocumentCenter/View/1070/Small-Business-Grant-Fund-Application-2020-2021

Mesquite

The Mesquite Downtown Façade Improvement Grant Program provides a 50% matching grant for approved projects, with the maximum grant being $20,000 per address (this provides for multiple grants for larger buildings that bear more than one address). Provides for façade work, signage, lighting, architectural and engineering fees.

https://www.downtownmesquitetx.com/p/getconnected/dining

https://d38trduahtodj3.cloudfront.net/files.ashx?t=fg&rid=DowntownMesquiteTX&f=FINAL_2019_Facade_Improvement_Grant_Document.pdf

Pittsburg