Invest Medicine Hat shifting grants to spur more development downtown

By COLLIN GALLANT on June 11, 2021.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

The city’s economic development office is shifting more cash to entice development in the downtown core, officials said Thursday.

The “Waterfront District Vibrancy Incentive” was among a raft of new grants launched this spring to spur construction and property investment in the city.

It specifically set $400,000 aside to reimburse property owners in the general downtown area for up to half the value of new improvement projects.

It was launched in mid-March, but in mid-May the city’s Invest Medicine Hat office announced it was fully subscribed.

On Thursday, officials announced another $400,000 would be dedicated to the program that pays as much as $50,000 per address. To pay for it however, a second year of general homebuilding grants will not be offered in 2022. It paid $10,000 for each new home start in new communities throughout the city.

“We’ve had really strong uptake on all the grants, but the overwhelming response has been for the vibrancy program,” said Erik van Enk, director of investments and strategic planning with Invest Medicine Hat.

“We found we were over subscribed and with a few in the queue. This gives us more room to run it out.”

With now $800,000 dedicated to the program this year, that translates to at least $1.6 million in construction activity considering the matching aspects that would proceed within one year of approval by city officials.

It reimburses commercial property owners up to half the cost, up to $50,000, to improve their buildings, either with general renovations, redoing facades, adding patios or generally bringing locations up to code.

The homebuilding incentive offered $10,000 to the first 40 home starts this year, and was an expansion of a similar 2020 program brought in to help calm uncertainty during the pandemic.

Van Enk said that was to continue with an additional $400,000 next year, but it appears the new home construction sector is performing well, and likely won’t need additional support as COVID concerns ease.

“It was generally geared toward a COVID response, which we’re expecting to be as much of a factor going forward,” said Van Enk. “The vibrancy grant more specifically aligns with council’s goals.”

The vibrancy grant replaced the $200,000 total downtown development incentive in place since 2010 for a variety of specific projects.

It was also laid out among a number of new enticements, such as tax deferral for site cleanup and new commercial or industrial projects throughout the city.

The package was first outlined at the State of the City Address in late January and the program criteria was approved by council ahead of application period opening March 15.

Two others are aimed at spurring development downtown in the newly defined “Waterfront District” – areas of downtown east of Third Avenue and south of Fifth Street, S. Railway Street (north of Hill Road) and areas west of N. Railway Street north of Rotary Park as well as the Medicine Hat Arena site.

Another $700,000 would provide up to $20,000 or $15,000 per civic address for either mixed-use or residential projects, respectively, within the boundaries of the district.

Van Enk says his office is now considering applications for grants toward three large housing projects in those areas.

“We’re confident they will change the look and feel of downtown,” he said.