The Wu administration on Wednesday unveiled the first businesses to win grants to help fill Boston’s empty retail storefronts, though most recipients are looking for space somewhere other than downtown, the neighborhood rocked hardest by the pandemic’s economic shakeup.
City officials announced the initiative in October as part of a plan to revitalize downtown Boston. Named SPACE, short for Supporting Pandemic Affected Community Enterprises, the program offers grants of up to $200,000 to small businesses to defray rent and other costs to open a retail location. The new grants total $2.8 million, paid with the city’s federal stimulus funds.
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While the program is open to neighborhoods citywide, officials pitched it as a way to create more reasons for people to come downtown, while giving women and minority business owners who might not otherwise consider expanding downtown a chance to do so. The neighborhood certainly has plenty of room for retailers, as 73 of its roughly 400 storefronts are vacant, according to the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District.
But of the 24 recipients this funding round, just a third want to open a location downtown, according to information provided by the city. None of those eight have yet signed a lease, though two are listed by the city as in negotiations. The other six are still actively looking for a space, in some case in other neighborhoods in addition to downtown.
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The Downtown Boston BID defines downtown as including Downtown Crossing and parts of the Financial and Theater districts.
By contrast, most of the businesses looking to open a location elsewhere, in neighborhoods like Dorchester and Hyde Park, have already signed leases, according to the city.
