Downtown Facade Improvement Program

The City of Ames offers several types of support for improving non-residential buildings in a portion of the downtown:

  • Facade grants
  • Urban Revitalization Tax Abatement
FACADE GRANTS

The properties with the Eligibility Area(PDF, 2MB) are able to apply for grant funding. There are two rounds of grant funding: fall and spring. In the fall, there two areas of eligibility, based on the adopted Downtown Design Guidelines:

  • Street-facing facades
  • The restoration of historically significant, character-defining features (such as original windows)
Qualifying improvements for either improvement program must follow the Downtown Design Guidelines(PDF, 2MB). One section of the guidelines applies to non-residential buildings that are generally more than 50 years old and were built with the historic retail commercial storefront. Another section of the guidelines applies to all other non-residential buildings in the eligibility area.
In the spring, there are two additional areas of eligibility for those buildings that are contributing resources to the Downtown Ames Main Street National Register Historic District (see map):
  • Facades that do no face a street (alleys and the municipal parking lot north of the railroad tracks)
  • Maintenance for:
    • exterior walls
    • foundations
    • roofs

Funding is a matching grant of up to $23,000 with professional design assistance of up to $2,000.
Applications:


URBAN REVITALIZATION

Properties within Downtown are also eligible for Urban Revitalization tax abatement for certain improvements.

If interested, please contact Benjamin Campbell at 515-239-5400or benjamin.campbell@cityofames.org.

 

Further information:

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