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HOME > ABOUT > PRESS > SUPES OK COMMERCIAL REHAB PLAN
Article published - August 21, 2009
Credit: SONOMA NEWS
Supes OK commercial rehab plan
By Bill Hoban
Now that the first phase of the Highway 12 project in the Springs is almost complete and the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center is hoping to buy property for a new 20,000-square-foot facility in the heart of the redevelopment district, more changes - albeit cosmetic changes - should be coming to the corridor.
Last week, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved a commercial rehabilitation loan program that provides low-interest loans for façade and other commercial rehabilitation improvement. The Springs Redevelopment Advisory Committee OK'd the program at its June 4 meeting.
The Supervisors approved $575,000 to pay for the project. The RAC had requested $500,000 and the Redevelopment Agency added $75,000 for administrative costs. "Our housing rehabilitation team will walk applicants through the process and help with the permits and applications," said Cas Ellena, the county's redevelopment manager.
But while the money is there, the county still has to set up procedures to implement the program. Ellena said the county will prepare a request for proposal (RFP) for a design consultant.
And Ellena said that there's a list of about a half-dozen businesses that want to participate in the program.
The program has three levels of loans:
• A three-year forgivable loan of up to $5,000 for small-scale façade improvement projects such as paint, signage and awnings
• A five-year forgivable loan of up to $15,000 for larger façade projects
• Non-forgivable loans of up to $100,000 for commercial rehabilitation or renovation for commercial buildings, with pay-back periods of up to 20 years
Under the program, there is a sliding, low-cost interest rate to qualified businesses.
In all three tiers, the interest rate would be 2 percent if the business owner or tenant doesn't supply matching funds, a 1-percent interest rate if the applicant provides a 50-percent match, and the applicant would pay no interest with a 100-percent cash match.
The three-year, up-to-$5,000 loans would also be eligible for up to $1,000 in professional design services and the loan could be forgiven after three years if the applicant maintains the property.
In the five-year, up-to-$15,000 loan category, the applicant would be eligible for up to $3,500 in professional design services and the loan could be forgiven after five years if the property is maintained.
In the commercial rehabilitation loan program, the loans could be for up to $100,000, but additional funds could be made available if the building has been vacant for three or more years. The applicant would also be eligible for up to $3,500 in design services.
Ellena said the Community Development Commission staff would decide whether or not a project is eligible for the funding, and that a separate funding committee will look at the feasibility and viability of each application.
Applicants would also have to hire licensed contractors and pay prevailing wages.
It could take a month or so to get projects into the pipeline.
When the Supervisors approved the Springs program, they also approved an almost identical one for the Roseland Redevelopment Area that is based on the work the Springs RAC did. And Ellena said that the county is also using the basis of the Springs verbage in crafting a similar program for the Russian River Redeveloment Area.
"We spent a lot of time on this," Ellena said. "It's got good nuts and bolts."
Ellena said the county will start marketing the program in about a month.
For details, or to make an application, call Al Lerma, redevelopment associate, at 565-7523.
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