$250K now available to businesses wanting to move into downtown Edmonton as revitalization efforts continue

More than $2 million will be spent this year trying to increase business activity in downtown Edmonton.

The biggest chunk of the money – $1.5 million, split into six grants of up to $250,000 – is up for grabs by entrepreneurs wanting to move into the downtown core. The successful applicants will receive help finding a storefront and negotiating their lease, three months of free rent, and other support opening.

According to Puneeta McBryan, Edmonton Downtown Business Association's (EDBA) executive director, the money will address the top factors fuelling entrepreneur hesitancy about relocating: uncertainty and risk.

"Not knowing because return to the office has been a slow build, not being able to get a clear gauge on how much walk-by foot traffic they can expect on a typical day, just that uncertainty makes it really tough to make the big investment," she explained.

"It really does cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, to open up a new retail store, and so businesses need a lot of certainty to make that jump – and frankly banks need a lot of certainty to make that jump."

Commercial real estate advisor Avison Young will help the EDBA choose the successful applicants then lead them through the start-up steps.

According to the company's vice president of retail, in order to move the businesses in by November, the process will give special consideration to "second-generation space," such as the building that used to house the Three Bananas Cafe, where the Monday news conference was held.

"It's a very exciting opportunity. It's a great hospitality opportunity for somebody downtown. It's partially fixtured… where it minimizes the time that's required for construction and can get somebody open for business more quickly," Chris Killingsworth said of the empty building.

CORE OFFICE VACANCY RATE AT 23.5%

According to McBryan, the cafe closed in the midst of a pandemic and LRT construction, highlighting the need for a plan to support businesses impacted by infrastructure development.

But she and government officials on Monday also stressed the importance of increasing downtown foot traffic and workers.

"Right now, it's Monday morning and look around us. How many people are here?" asked jobs and economy minister Brian Jean. "Very few. The truth is we need to make sure that people get back to the office and people interact in their downtowns."

According to an April report by commercial real estate firm CBRE, Edmonton's downtown office vacancy rate in the first quarter of 2023 continued to rise to 23.5 per cent.

CBRE reported physical occupancy is trending upward, but companies continue to drop unused office space.

Delux Burger Bar shift lead Nadia Funaro said the decline has been noticeable.

"To get more of not only people who are working but just the general public to come downtown, get more of that traffic, would definitely help us," she said of the grants. "And I think retail stores and those kinds of things give people a reason to be in the area."

But Funaro noted there are other issues to address, such as restricted patio space, lack of parking, and safety.

"It's just going to take some time and understanding businesses have a new model of the way they're going to work, so how are we going to work to adapt to make it work for us? How are we going to change to get that business back in here?" she added

Jean acknowledged that restoring downtown vibrancy is also dependent on increasing safety and security and expanding public transit, pointing to millions of dollars the provincial government is spending in Alberta's largest cities on law enforcement and mental health resources.

"These are things that work together and I think if you look at the overall investment by the Alberta government and the investments by both the City of Calgary and City of Edmonton, you'll find that the numbers that we're investing are more significant than anybody has ever done in the past."

PATIO, MARKETING FUNDING

Applications for the big grant opened May 31. The applicants will be selected June 15.

Also available is up to $5,000 per business for building or renovating a patio and up to $5,000 per business for marketing and strategy help from the University of Alberta School of Business Student Consulting Group.

The patio funding – $240,000 in total – is available until the end of September or until the money is spent.

The U of A School of Business Student Consulting Group will work with a maximum of six businesses on the latter initiative.

More information about the grants and application process is available online.

The funding is provincial money being administered through the City of Edmonton.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk