DBDA agrees on loan program guidelines
The Downtown Uniontown Business District Authority (DBDA) tentatively agreed Thursday on guidelines for a new commercial building improvement loan program. Working with Uniontown Redevelopment Authority Executive Director William Long, the DBDA set the terms and conditions for businesses to borrow from $100,000 in state money left over from previous loan programs.
The DBDA will vote on the guidelines after Long prepares them in a formal document. DBDA Chairman Mark Rafail said he will schedule a special meeting or poll members over the phone to vote on the guidelines.
The redevelopment authority board also will have to approve the program because Long and rehabilitation specialist Mark Yauger will be involved.
If approved, downtown business owners could borrow $10,000 to $15,000 per building but would have to provide a match equal to the amount they borrow.
The interest rate is 2 percent for the five-year loans.
A $300 application fee is attached, and any business that obtains a loan must join the DBDA, paying a $125 annual membership fee.
Matching funds can be obtained from bank loans. Long said he has contacted banks in the city and believes some will participate in the program. Participants must have cash equity of 20 percent of the loan amount, but that can come from the bank loan.
The money must be used for building or facade improvements.
The DBDA’s former loan programs went dormant several years ago when the loan guidelines expired. The state program that funded those programs no longer exists, Long said.
The state has other commercial loan programs, and the authority or the DBDA might apply to them if this program is successful, he said, adding that he senses a renewed interest in downtown development.
“There’s a lot of interest,” Long said. “The money has been there. We just needed the time and the will.”
If the program is approved, Yauger would oversee and inspect the work much like he does in the authority’s home rehabilitation program to make sure it complies with the city building code and meets Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
If banks agree to participate and the DBDA and redevelopment authority approve the program, the DBDA could start loaning money next month.
In unrelated business, the DBDA needs $708 to fund the Storey Square Summer Lunch Series for the rest of the summer. It has lined up only five of the 10 needed sponsors.