May 22, 2008 (MINNEAPOLIS) - A vibrant business district sends a positive message about the neighborhoods surrounding it, just as a poorly maintained or a vacant row of storefronts conveys a negative impression. To support neighborhood businesses, the City of Minneapolis has produced a Façade Design Guide for commercial property owners. The guide provides suggestions and ideas for storefront improvements and compliments the City’s Façade Improvement Matching Grant Program, a renewed city program administered by local organizations.

See Great Streets to view the guidebook and learn what locations within the city offer a Façade Improvement Matching Grant Program, or call (612) 673-5018 for more information.

Neighborhood business districts are essential elements of a great city. In 2007, the Minneapolis City Council approved the Great Streets Neighborhood Business District Program, a coordinated effort to help businesses develop and succeed along commercial corridors and at commercial nodes throughout the city.

In addition to the façade guide and Façade Improvement Program, the City also provides funding to business districts for other activities that support the economic vitality of the entire district, including business loans, real estate development gap financing and business district assistance such as market studies and retail recruitment efforts.