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December 12, 2023

Hartford added millions of dollars to Hart Lift grant program for fit-out of new restaurants, retailers

Luke Bronin
By Michael Puffer

A Hartford grant program promoting new and expanding first-floor retailers and restaurants that began with $6 million has been quietly beefed up with millions of additional dollars in recent months.

Mayor Luke Bronin, addressing an annual meeting of the MetroHartford Alliance Tuesday morning, said the “Hart Lift” program’s success prompted him to increase funding.

“We have nearly doubled the initial allocation to the Hart Lift to ensure the momentum and progress we have seen so far can continue to build in the years ahead,” Bronin told dozens of business leaders gathered at the Pratt & Whitney Hangar Museum in East Hartford.

After the event, Bronin said he had in recent months approved moving additional funds from the city’s federal COVID-19 relief package into the Hart Lift program, for a total of between $10 million and $11 million. Those funds had earlier been directed to other economic development programs, Bronin said.

Hart Lift provides matching grants of up to $150,000 to property owners to offset the costs of preparing first-floor retail spaces for new shops and restaurants. It began with a $6 million allocation from the city’s federal COVID-19 relief funds in late 2021. 

At Tuesday’s event, Hartford Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Julio Concepcion and MetroHartford Alliance CEO David Griggs touted Hart Lift’s impact so far. 

Aid has been allocated to help 63 new shops and restaurants, which will occupy 236,000 square feet of formerly vacant space throughout the city and employ an estimated 772 people. 

More than 70% of the new recipients are minority- or women-owned businesses.

“COVID gave us lemons, but we know how to squeeze them to get some pretty good lemonade,” Griggs said.

David Griggs

Conception said the program has a backlog of applications deep enough to absorb most, if not all of the additional city funding.

Bronin said the additional funding will be targeted at helping fill long-struggling neighborhood commercial corridors.

Bronin said the Hart Lift program is an important component of cementing progress Hartford is making with new apartment developments in the city center and beyond.

“As we continue the work of building as many residential units as we can, it’s important to keep up the momentum and energy when it comes to the experience on the street,” Bronin said. 
 

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