City rolls out third iteration of construction mitigation grants with pre/during/post pilots; council presses for faster projects and better communication

City staff presented the third iteration of San Antonio’s construction mitigation grant program on March 19, proposing a three-stage approach—pre-construction, active-construction and post-construction pilots—backed by $1.4 million in general-fund dollars and an administration contract recommendation with LiftFund.

Brenda Hicks Lawrence, Economic Development Director, told council the program builds on ARPA-funded rounds in FY23–FY24 that helped hundreds of businesses and that this year the city proposes to set $1,000,000 for active construction grants (awards up to $35,000), a pre-construction pilot (about $80,000 with small upfront awards to support marketing or delivery relationships) and a post-construction “spruce up” pilot ($120,000 total with awards around $5,000) to help businesses recover foot traffic. Brenda said the city recommends continuing a scored application for active-construction awards and using LiftFund for administration (LiftFund’s administration fee was cited as approximately $185,000 or 13% of program costs).

Program details and timeline

- Total allocation: $1,400,000 general fund (staff presentation). -…