West Virginia towns can be prosperous places where people want to work, live, visit, and invest. The Natural Capital Investment Fund and the Brownfields Assistance Center at West Virginia University have teamed up to create the Downtown Appalachia Redevelopment Initiative (the “Initiative”) because we see tremendous opportunities – and the entrepreneurs, developers and property owners with the creativity, energy, and commitment to capitalize on them. If you are working to transform vacant, decaying, and/or underutilized properties into thriving business centers, mixed-use retail and housing complexes, community facilities, and other cultural assets, we want to hear from you.
Let us help you
Redevelopment can be challenging. Grand historic buildings often suffer from structural issues. Older apartment buildings may have outdated floor plans and insufficient safety systems. Some sites are plagued with environmental contaminants. The required clean-up, upgrades, and retrofitting can be costly and difficult to finance, due to low appraisals or rents. The planning process can also be difficult and cost-prohibitive.
Our goal is to make certain that the needed resources are available to support the transformation of vacant, rundown, or underperforming properties into community assets. The Initiative seeks to support downtown developers and to make sure they have the financing, skills, and expertise to capitalize on opportunities by (1) offering financing solutions to facilitate redevelopment projects that revitalize West Virginia towns and (2) providing technical assistance to strengthen and advance projects and increase developers’ skills and expertise.
Targeted assistance that makes sense for you and your project
Technical assistance services will be tailored to meet the needs of the developer and project and may be provided by the Initiative team; a qualified local, state, federally funded, or non-profit program; and/or a qualified consultant(s).
These services will be delivered in several ways:
- One-on-one or group project meetings with a Technical Assistance provider, coach, or consultant
- A Property Redevelopment handbook including templates and a resource guide
- Downtown redevelopment training events
- Sponsorships to attend trainings and conferences that will advance a project
- Grants or loans to reduce the expense of project development activities
Eligible applicants can access technical assistance on a wide variety of topics including:
- Site selection, evaluation, and assessment to meet the intended reuse
- Project development concept planning
- Feasibility analysis, cash flow financial projections, and business planning
- Building condition evaluation and development of architectural specifications
- Environmental assessments and energy efficiency and renewable energy feasibility and planning
- Financing and capital structuring options
- Assistance in identifying necessary components of the project development team
- Market analysis
- Asset and property management
How to apply
Contact the Downtown Appalachia Program Lead Ray Moeller at raymond.moeller@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-0390. You and an Initiative team member will confirm basic eligibility and explore whether the program may be a good fit for you and your project. For more information about the application process, you can download the Downtown Appalachia Program Description.