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Read the press release here.

Myrtle Avenue to Get $50K to Attract New Business

By Janet Upadhye | July 9, 2014 4:51pm
 A $50,000 grant will help to spruce up existing storefronts and draw new business to the avenue.
A $50,000 grant will help to spruce up existing storefronts and draw new business to the avenue.
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DNAinfo.com/Janet Upadhye

FORT GREENE — The Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership was recently awarded $50,000 to improve storefronts and attract new business to the thoroughfare between Flatbush and Classon Avenues — part of a series of grants from the city's Department of Small Business Services.

Since the beginning of the year, MARP has helped more than 13 new businesses settle on the stretch and provided 11 properties — including HUMO Smokehouse, Corkscrew Brooklyn, El Cofre and Peck's Specialty Food Shop — with upgraded storefronts.

The vacancy rate on the avenue — that was more than 25 percent when the organization was founded in 1999 — has now dropped to less than 10 percent, according to the partnership.

But there are still more spaces to fill.

Myrtle Avenue's incoming developments, including Silverstone Property Group's buildings from 504 to 524 Myrtle Ave., will generate up to 25 new storefronts, the partnership said.

"We’ll be working to pair prospective businesses with these new spaces by connecting them to property owners and brokers," a spokeswoman for the partnership said in a statement.

"Our ultimate goal is to see these spaces become filled with businesses that serve local residents and complement the existing retail mix on Myrtle Avenue."

MARP was not the only local organization to receive a grant, among 13 in the borough.

Fulton Area Business Alliance was awarded $35,000 to host 18 "FAB FRIDAYS" events on Fulton Street. 

Last year's FAB FRIDAYS events included Greenlight Bookstore's book-themed arts and crafts activities, Fort Greene Garden Center's plant demonstrations, restaurant food fairs and Young Minds Day Care Center's bike safety classes.