CRA staff report multiple project updates and rising grant participation; Wonder Wall art credited

CRA staff provided several project updates March 25, including procurement and development milestones and a snapshot of grant activity.

Staff said Love Park will go out to bid with an end-of-April deadline and that Bryant Commons is moving toward a sale that could result in townhouses or multifamily housing; demolition for the Belamare property near Lecon Park is being scheduled. The MLK site was noted as currently out to RFP. Staff cautioned that financing environment is tighter and developers are proceeding more cautiously.

Todd, speaking about the grants dashboard, said the CRA had 21 grant applications on file (including one submitted the previous day), on pace with last year’s total of 48. "We're not turning; we're at 21 grants," he said, noting robust participation from public-art applicants and downtown projects. Staff said art organizations had applied for public-art funding and that the artist guild provided social-media credit to the CRA; the board asked staff to place signage crediting CRA funding at permanent public-art installations.

Staff also described coordination with CDBG/SHIP resources to ease matching requirements for central-area applicants so lower-income homeowners can access repairs (roofs, impact windows). The CRA will partner with those federal/state programs to help applicants meet eligibility and matching requirements.

Next steps: staff will post bid schedules, continue applicant ranking for Bryant Commons, arrange demolition timing for Belamare property and work with the public art board to ensure CRA crediting on installations.