Award Winners of the Neighborhood Catalytic Capital Investment Program Announced – Budget Ordinance Forthcoming

The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) received 27 applications totaling $8,869,240 in funding requests for the Neighborhood Catalytic Capital Investment Program (NCCIP). The Review Committee is recommending 13 projects totaling $1,840,200 (7 early action, 6 project implementation) with the balance being utilized for project delivery costs by the Administration. A budget ordinance is forthcoming, and we wanted to make City Council aware of the proposed awards in advance of the forthcoming budget ordinance.

The funding recommendations are as follows:

Project Information	Neighborhood	Use of Funds
Imperial Theatre $100,000 early action	OTR-Mohawk Area	Pre-development hard and soft costs, including stabilization, design, security, rough plumbing, and interior alterations.
Price Hill Will 3509 Warsaw Ave $100,000 early action	East Price Hill	Pre-development hard and soft costs, including stabilization, Phase I/II ESA, structural engineering assessment and appraisal, conceptual architectural plans, National Historic Register of Historic Places eligibility and feasibility determination.
ROMAC+Katalyst at The Regal $100,000 early action	West End	Architectural & Engineering services for building renovation
American Sign Museum $100,000 early action	Camp Washington	Food Service Equipment (part of Phase II of facility expansion)
Village Development Corporation $20,200 project implementation	Spring Grove Village	Pocket park
Uptown Consortium Inc MLK and Reading (NE quadrant) $100,000 early action	Avondale	Schematic design for Innovation Greenway (public greenspace), which will connect with the CROWN bike network and provide passive and programmed open space.
Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses $100,000 early action	West End	Pre-development hard and soft costs, including rehab, stabilization, and architectural drawings for the First German Reformed Church to prepare it for future development.
West End Sports Bar & Grill $320,000 project implementation	West End	Redevelopment for bar/dine-in restaurant.
Camp Washington Urban Redevelopment Corporation $100,000 early action	Camp Washington	Pre-development hard and soft costs, including architectural drawings and first floor demo and stabilization.
ArtWorks $150,000 project implementation	Walnut Hills	Renovation of Race Refrigeration building in Peebles Corner for a permanent, centralized location for ArtWorks.
YWCA $500,000 project implementation	Avondale	Renovation for a new shelter. Project includes office spaces for case managers and staff and 21 residential units (private and semi-private living spaces).
Clifton Heights CURC $100,000 early action	CUF	New construction soft costs, including design, survey, MEP and structural engineers, lead consultant, community engagement, interior design, site visits).
OTR A.D.O.P.T. $50,000 project implementation	OTR	Renovation for co-working space, community center and office space for Action Tank.

Background
The NCCIP Program was created through the FY23 Carryover Budget. Funding for this program totals $1.9M with the goal of supporting transformative neighborhood projects through two categories: Early Action and Project Implementation. Through DCED, the City issued an RFP for each program category.

• Early Action: Evaluated based on likelihood that proposed uses advance project to next phase in development process or determine economic viability of project vision.
  • Applicant must have site control of proposed project site.
  • $100,000 maximum dollar request.
  • Eligible uses: pre-development and stabilization costs including, but not limited to, third-party market and feasibility studies, environmental assessments, design and engineering studies, preliminary construction cost verifications, and site and security capital improvements.
  • Ineligible uses: staff salaries, fundraising activities, property holding costs, and other similar activities, costs incurred prior to an agreement with the City.
• Project Implementation: Evaluated based on project’s ability to significantly impact efforts to stabilize and revitalize neighborhoods. Projects that demonstrate construction can commence in the 18 months following a City contract are priorities.
  • No minimum or maximum dollar request limit; however, it was explained that a total of $1.9M was available in this program.
  • Eligible uses: hard or soft costs associated with construction activities.
  • Awardees permitted to use City’s funding commitment to secure additional loans, grants, tax credits, and solicit other forms of investment. It was explained that City funds will only be disbursed with an executed funding agreement and when all financing and due diligence materials have been secured.

NCCIP Application Review Committee
The applications for the NCCIP program were reviewed by a 7-person committee comprised of City staff from DCED, Real Estate, and City Planning & Engagement, as well as representatives from Invest in Neighborhoods and Homebase. The committee met remotely on two occasions. Each NCCIP application was evaluated based on 1) neighborhood impact, 2) benefit to strategic investment areas, 3) community support, 4) project scope & budget, 5) private leverage, 6) organization’s capacity, and 7) completeness of application.