Gate City Bank to invest $4 million in Grand Forks home improvement program

Matthew Voigt, Grand Forks Herald
·2 min read

Mar. 19—GRAND FORKS — Gate City Bank is investing $4 million into a low-interest home improvement program in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.

Grand Forks and East Grand Forks each will have $2 million invested in the program, which helps homeowners make repairs and upgrades to their homes with low-interest credit. The goal of the program is to help revitalize older neighborhoods and help homeowners make repairs that they may otherwise be reluctant to do because of costs.

This is the program's fifth year in Grand Forks and second year in East Grand Forks. Becky Mindeman, senior vice president for northeastern North Dakota at Gate City said a wide variety of projects are eligible.

"Everything from the foundation, siding, addition of a room, maybe converting a rental property to a single family, owner-occupied housing (is eligible)," Mindeman said. "Both cities have different applications and they talk about what projects (are eligible)."

The program has different home value eligibility requirements for Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. In Grand Forks, the maximum home value is $300,000 and in East Grand Forks the maximum home value is $400,000.

The application window is open from March 18 to October 31 this year. In Grand Forks, the program is administered through the Community Development Department, and once the city approves the application, Gate City helps connect the applicant to credit. In East Grand Forks, the program is administered through the Economic Development Authority and follows the same process as in Grand Forks.

"We're living in a time where obviously inflation is a factor, higher interest rates and the market value are a factor," said Dain Sullivan, of Gate City. "What's unique about this is (these lines of credit) are below market rate so a lot of folks who have been on the fence about making the updates ... it's actually a saving grace for them because they've been waiting for rates to be at a certain level."

Last year, Grand Forks received 21 applications, the most ever received, said Andy Conlon with Community Development.

"Last year was our highest year for applications since we started this in 2020," Conlon said "(We're) excited about the about the program and encourage people to apply."

Conlon said Grand Forks is hoping to surpass last year's numbers, and that the program is becoming increasingly popular over time.

"We're looking forward to receiving applications from folks. Anyone who's got questions on it can give a call here at City Hall," Conlon said.

In Grand Forks, those with questions or want to apply can contact Community Development at 701-746-2661. In East Grand Forks, those with questions or want to apply can contact the Economic Development Authority at 218-773-8939.