GRAND BOULEVARD — New businesses coming to the Rosenwald Court Apartments got a $200,000 financial boost Thursday, pushing up their openings to August.
Sip and Savor and Shawn Michelle’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream were both among the recipients of $100,000 Neighborhood Opportunity Fund grants announced Thursday.
Both business owners said the grant money will help push forward their construction in the building at Michigan Avenue and 47th Street. They hope to be open in August.
“That money is going to come in handy,” said Trez Pugh III, owner of Sip and Savor.
The coffee shop that started in Hyde Park has expanded quickly and now includes four locations on the South Side, with the Rosenwald location expected to be the fifth when it opens.
“I want to start service in August, September at the latest,” Pugh said.
Yahya Muhammad said he’s also hoping to open in August with his ice cream shop.
“It’s a blessing,” Muhammad said of the grant, which he said will help pay for renovations of the coffee shop.
Pugh also has plans for a small grocery store for the building, but said it will not open until after the coffee shop is complete.
The Neighborhood Opportunity Fund was created in May 2016 and charges developers additional fees in return for allowing them to build bigger and taller buildings Downtown. About a dozen developments have already paid into the fund.
Some 700 businesses applied for the grants, which will cover as much as 65 percent of a project's costs, according to the Mayor's Office.
The projects must be in areas identified by the Census Bureau as the home of low-to-moderate income residents. Priority will be given to projects that bring new stores to struggling commercial corridors, grocery stores to areas defined as food deserts, and cultural establishments in areas where there are none.
