Revitalizing St. Louis: Attracting Businesses with Incentives Amidst the Pandemic

St. Louis Business Leaders Announce $350,000 in Grants and Incentives to Attract Businesses to Downtown

St. Louis is experiencing a surge in residents with a 30% increase between 2010 and 2020, according to Kurt Weigle, chief downtown officer of Greater St. Louis Inc. Despite its vibrancy, the city needs more retail activity in its heart. To attract high-quality businesses, four initiatives were announced by Greater St. Louis Inc. and the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC). These include offering up to $15,000 per storefront for pop-up retail shops in vacant storefronts, up to $5,000 per restaurant to build outdoor seating or retail displays, up to $50,000 in grants for new retail businesses for improvements, and ways to help property owners rent space to retail shops.

The SLDC has been working tirelessly to revitalize downtown St. Louis with the recent approval of $15.3 million in federal coronavirus relief funds by the Board of Aldermen for America’s Center. Efforts have also been made towards improving public safety resulting in lower crime rates. The funding from Greater St. Louis Inc., which comes at a time when many downtown businesses have seen a decrease in workers due to remote work during the pandemic, will be used towards supporting businesses that may not directly benefit from resources like the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Neil Richardson, CEO of SLDC stated that COVID-19 had a negative impact on retail in downtown St