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Redevelopment agency reviews $250,000 Honeysuckle Coffee Co. loan proposal for Main Street site
Summary
Midvale RDA discussed a $250,000 loan request to convert an existing house and garage on Main Street into a café, bakery and Carolina-style smokehouse; loan committee recommended an interest‑free seven‑year term but final approval will return to the board after collateral details are finalized.
The Redevelopment Agency (RDA) of Midvale City reviewed a loan proposal on April 15 from Honeysuckle Coffee Co. to convert an existing Main Street house into a third café and bakery location with an attached Carolina‑style smokehouse. The RDA loan committee recommended term‑sheet elements and asked the agency board to take the item to a final vote after collateral verification.
Loan proposal and public‑benefit scoring: The borrower requested $250,000 for build‑out, kitchen equipment and café fixtures. Per the RDA’s business loan program, loans over $25,000 must meet minimum scoring and public‑benefit thresholds; the committee report given to the RDA states the application met the required minimum (60 points) and scored full points in economic impact, adaptive reuse, permanent job creation and street activation.
Projected economic and community impacts: The applicant projects roughly $1 million in first‑year gross revenue across coffee, bakery and barbecue revenue streams and said it will supply baked goods to its other sites and wholesale customers. The proposal anticipates creating multiple jobs: committee materials list a mix of full‑time and part‑time front‑of‑house, bakery and smokehouse staff (the committee’s count included roughly seven full‑time front‑of‑house staff plus bakery and smokehouse positions; exact hires will be contingent on final operations).
Loan terms recommended by the committee: an interest‑free loan of $250,000 for seven years with equal monthly payments beginning on the earlier of the first full month the business opens or Aug. 1, 2025; RDA would require evidence that proceeds were spent for permitted uses and would take collateral. Proposed collateral would include a first lien on specified café and bakery equipment (RDA would accept 40% of equipment’s current market value for collateral calculation after depreciation) and a second position on the borrower’s personal residence for the remaining collateral amount.
Discussion and next steps: RDA staff said they will return with a finalized term sheet after they verify equipment valuation and the amount of equity to take as a second‑position home lien. Honeysuckle’s owners, who operate two existing locations in Sandy and Salt Lake, described their brand as community‑oriented, said they intend to activate an outdoor courtyard with seating, games and a small stage for live music, and emphasized adaptive reuse of the existing building rather than demolition.
Action requested: No final loan approval or disbursement occurred at the April 15 RDA meeting; the board asked staff to return with a final recommendation and a concrete term sheet for vote at a later meeting.
