CRA commercial façade grant program aims to fortify U.S. 1 business community in NSB

New Smyrna Beach’s two main business districts, Flagler Avenue and Canal Street, are a big part of the city’s charm and iconic status.

But businesses along U.S. 1 (or Dixie Freeway), a popular part of the city as well, have started to see a change in aesthetics and infrastructure that owners hope will draw more locals and visitors.

For almost three years, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency has led a grant reimbursement program called the CRA Commercial Facade/Property Improvement Grant, in which the city helps businesses cover costs related to external work on their properties with grants of up to $250,000.

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Improving facades along the corridor will hopefully change the look of U.S. 1, from a “passthrough to an important gateway to the city,” CRA Director Christopher Edwards said in an interview.

To date, the city has awarded $781,329.01 to eight local businesses, seven of which are located on the U.S. 1 corridor. The city has spent $101,000 of that amount; the businesses receive the grant once the work is complete.

How does the CRA grant program work?

The program is divided into three grant categories: Small-scale, large-scale, and adaptive reuse opportunity (also referred to as ARO).

Eligible small-scale projects can receive up to $20,000, as long as the business provides “documented proof of payment of at least $40,000 on completed CRA grant-related commercial façade/property improvement work items,” according to the CRA.

The same goes for large-scale projects, which could receive up to $100,000 for projects that cost at least $200,000.

For adaptive reuse opportunity grants, however, the city encourages “innovative and value-added changes of use for underutilized commercial or industrial properties that are listed for sale or lease.”

For example: “A current underutilized commercial building/property is listed for sale or lease. The previous business use was a gas station or convenience store. A new commercial owner or business tenant desires to redevelop the building or property as a new professional office. This would be an example of a change of use for the property,” according to the city.

If business owners apply for that part of the grant, they can receive up to $250,000 for projects in which they will spend at least $500,000.

The city allocated $1,550,000 for the 2023-24 fiscal year budget: $200,000 to the small-scale grant, $600,000 for the large-scale grant, and $750,000 for the adaptive reuse opportunity grant.

Which businesses have received the grant so far?

Businesses that have received the grant since its inception include retail, corporate offices and more.

According to Edwards, the eight businesses that have been awarded so far are:

• Due East Marine, LLC, at 1180 N. Dixie Freeway.

• SSE & Associates, Inc., at 569 Canal St.

• JARS Holding New Smyrna, Inc., at 646 N. Dixie Freeway.

• Orchard Holdings, LLC, at 720 S. Dixie Freeway.

• Cristal Clear Properties, LLC, at 501 S. Dixie Freeway.

• V Park, LLC, at 310 and 318 N. Dixie Freeway.

• Delegal LTD, Inc., at 1311 N. Dixie Freeway.

• Air Specialist of Volusia, Inc., D/B/A Davis Bros. at 708 N. Dixie Freeway.

Edwards used Cristal Clear Properties as an example to illustrate how the program can be successful.

The city awarded an ARO grant of $250,000 to the company in February 2023 for the property, which the owner bought for over $1 million, and put in another $1 million or so for external improvements.

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“That dominoed over the property next door, which is an old car dealership, which she was able to purchase,” Edwards said. “That has allowed her to create executive office space for her company and also provide flex space for seven different companies in New Smyrna Beach who otherwise may have decided they want to go elsewhere.

“That’s an example of how successful the program can be. As it can be seen as a way to save an amount of money that is maybe reinvested back in the company, reinvested back in the community in the form of creating jobs.”

‘Makes me want to reinvest even more’

Clay Davis, co-owner of Davis Bros, an air conditioning and heating services business at 708 N. Dixie Freeway, and a lifelong New Smyrna Beach resident, said he was “excited” to see a CRA program dedicated to improving the U.S. 1 corridor after years of improvements on Canal Street.

“We want to build a nice building so when you come into New Smyrna (people) will notice,” Davis said in an interview. “We felt like that grant was able to make us, make that, possible, make a nice building the city and the CRA would be proud of. And in return we lift up the property values of surrounding properties.”

The city awarded an ARO grant to Davis Bros.’ $624,000 project, which will involve, in part, an expansion of its business. It purchased a former auto sales building adjacent to its current store and plans to demolish it to build a new 6,267-quare-foot warehouse facility.

The plan also involves renovations to its current 4,162-square-foot building’s façade, including “roof replacement, awning/canopy, exterior wall (stucco/paint), decorative exterior façades, signage, exterior doors/windows, lighting, irrigation, exterior lighting, and landscaping improvements,” according to the city.

The idea is for both buildings to have matching external façades at the end of the project.

While Davis Bros.’ project has yet to begin, JC Smoot’s property at 720 S. Dixie Freeway has already finished its improvements.

The property is a shopping center where Smoot rents several retail spaces, including to Perrine’s Produce.

Smoot, owner of Orchard Holdings, LLC, said when he first purchased the center in 2022, he was not aware of the CRA incentives.

“I always applaud municipalities that put something like this in place,” Smoot said in an interview. “Because you do have some of these older, kind of forgotten-about centers that need a little TLC.

“It always is a major help for owners of these buildings to reinvest money back into it.”

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The project involved “exterior painting, decorative exterior façades, landscaping, irrigation, exterior lighting, and exterior wall repair improvements,” according to the city, all of which cost the company just over $100,000. The city awarded Orchard Holdings $50,000 as part of a large-scale grant.

Smoot, who owns similar types of centers across the state, said that programs like this makes him want to “reinvest even more into an area like that.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NSB's commercial façade grant aims to help U.S. 1 business district