Broadway and Wilson Avenue, at the center of the Wilson Yard TIF district. Photo: Warren LeMay from Chicago, IL, United States / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Uptown business and property owners who have been putting off repairs have a source of help. Small Business Improvement Fund grants are available to eligible owners inside the Wilson Yard tax increment financing district.
The grants can cover remodeling of building exteriors and interiors and can support expansions. Business Partners, the Chamber for Uptown, is fielding questions from owners interested in applying.
How SBIF works
The Small Business Improvement Fund is a city program that uses money generated within a TIF district to help businesses and commercial property owners in that district pay for permanent building improvements. Grants typically reimburse a share of eligible costs, such as new storefronts, roofs, mechanical systems and accessibility upgrades, rather than covering a project in full. Owners usually must pay for the work up front and then submit documentation.
Because the money comes from a specific TIF, only properties within its boundaries qualify. Owners should confirm their address is inside the Wilson Yard district before starting an application.
The Wilson Yard district
The Wilson Yard TIF covers a stretch of central Uptown around the former CTA rail yard near Wilson Avenue and Broadway. The district was created to pay for redevelopment of the yard site and the surrounding area, and its plans have drawn heated debate in the neighborhood over the mix of retail and affordable housing.
Whatever residents think of the larger project, SBIF grants are one of the few parts of the TIF that go directly to small owners. For a family business facing a new facade or an aging heating system, a partial grant can make the difference between doing the work now and waiting years.
Owners considering a project should ask about application windows and the documents required before hiring contractors.
Marcus Hadley covers business, transit and real estate in Uptown.
