Gov. Jack Markell and the Delaware State Housing Authority announced on Tuesday announced new downtown revitalization projects in Harrington, Milford, Dover, Smyrna, and Wilmington will receive $3.56 million in grant funding through Delaware’s Downtown Development Districts program.
The announcement was made in Milford.
Since the first grant awards in April 2015, the DDD program has been a catalyst for private investment in Delaware’s downtowns. With the most recent awards, $17.7 million in grants through the program leveraged $329 million in private investment in designated downtown districts in all three counties.
“The DDD program has been a central part of our efforts to revitalize Delaware’s downtown business districts and drive private investment in our towns and cities. In just two years, the DDD program has leveraged dramatic private investment in a wide variety of projects.” said Markell. “Encouraging private investment that also revitalizes our downtown business districts and surrounding neighborhoods is the goal of the DDD program, and we’re thrilled that it has been so successful.”
(See full release and background information on projects:
[pdf-embedder url=”http://delawarebusinessnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/DDD-Press-Release-January-2017.pdf” title=”DDD Press Release January 2017″]
In January 2015, Governor Markell designated the downtown areas of Seaford, Dover, and Wilmington as Delaware’s first three Downtown Development Districts. To incentivize development, applicants receiving DDD grants are eligible for up to 20 percent of their construction costs in the form of a rebate. Grants are awarded only when projects are complete.
Local incentives are also available. In August 2016, Governor Markell officially designated five new Downtown Development Districts – in Smyrna, Harrington, Milford, Georgetown and Laurel.”
Milford Mayor Bryan Shupe said, “We were excited to be designated as a Downtown Development District and it is wonderful to see transformative projects like these funded in Milford already taking shape just a few months later. Projects like these are returning historic and vacant buildings to active use, and bringing new private investment, workers and jobs to downtown – exactly what we need to continue our efforts in strengthening our local economy.”
The program has seen strong support among legislators from both parties.
