Portland Vacant Storefront Grant

The Portland Vacant Storefront Grant Program provides Portland grocery stores, restaurants, and retailers with matching reimbursement grants of up to $100,000 (reimbursing up to 75 percent of eligible project costs) to occupy vacant street-level storefronts within the City of Portland. Administered by Prosper Portland, the city's economic development agency, the program is funded through $800,000 in one-time general fund resources and is designed to foster a vibrant central city and commercial districts by reducing the barrier to entry for eligible businesses seeking to move into vacant commercial space. Applications are accepted on a rolling, first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted.

Maximum grant award amounts vary by business category. Grocery stores that occupy more than 5,000 rentable square feet and provide household products, packaged foods, bulk foods, produce, or meat for home consumption are eligible for up to $100,000. Restaurants are eligible for up to $50,000. Retailers, including grocery stores of 5,000 square feet or less, are eligible for up to $25,000. Awards provided under this program count toward the maximum awards available through Prosper Portland's Prosperity Investment Program (PIP) grant, so businesses that have already received the maximum PIP grant within the last five years are ineligible for this program.

Grant funds may be used for both hard costs and soft costs. Eligible hard costs include signage, painting, lighting, storefront work, mechanical systems, tenant improvements, roofs, security, landscaping, and other permanent fixtures. Eligible soft costs (capped at 20 percent of the total grant) include design, architectural and engineering services, permitting fees, and third-party project management. Ineligible expenses include costs incurred before grant agreement execution, inventory purchases or replacement, non-permanent fixtures and furnishings, equipment purchases, real property purchases, and operating expenses such as owner or employee wages, marketing, and rent.

To qualify, business owner applicants must own a grocery store, restaurant, or retail business located in the City of Portland, have secured a lease with at least three years remaining to occupy a vacant street-level storefront in a property zoned for commercial, mixed-use, employment, industrial, or multi-dwelling use, hold a City of Portland business license and State of Oregon registry, and be current on all financial obligations related to the property (including taxes, debt payments, and any obligations to Prosper Portland). Franchises or businesses with three or more locations regardless of location must be locally owned, with the owner residing in Portland. Property owners are also eligible if they are leasing to an eligible business owner. Nonprofits, national franchises that are not locally owned, businesses that exclude minors during all business hours, businesses that sell THC products, e-commerce businesses without a storefront, and food carts or food trucks are not eligible.