Gov. John Carney and the Delaware State Housing Authority announced 10 new projects selected for Downtown Development District funding Monday.
The Downtown Development program gives building projects in eight eligible districts up to a 20 percent rebate on the construction costs. The projects can be new construction, expansion or rehabilitation of existing buildings.
Carney says the state will spend about $4.3 million on these projects to spur $53 million in economic activity.
“It gives an incentive to the private sector to reinvest, revitalize the towns, create economic opportunity, gonna rebuild our state and encourage development in areas where we have infrastructure, which is in the cities and towns,” he said.
The 10 projects currently selected are located in Laurel, Georgetown, Dover and Wilmington. One is a townhouse development in Laurel. Developer Mike Meoli said the funding is allowing he and his partners to finish the townhomes they started building before the housing crisis started in 2008.
“Finally, we had a vehicle that made this economically feasible to move forward," he said. "And without the Downtown Development District program, quite frankly I think we’d still be sitting here scratching our heads trying to figure out how we finish this project.”
Carney has allocated $8.5 million for the downtown development program in his recommended budget for the next fiscal year.
The other selected projects include a new office building in Dover and redevelopment of several properties in Wilmington.The program started three years ago under former Gov. Jack Markell.
