12.21.12

Hoeven: EDA Approves $1.6 Million Grant for $2 Million Minot Market at North Hill Project

With Marketplace Project, New Commercial Complex Will Support City's Growth

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today announced that the city of Minot will receive a $1.6 million Economic Development Administration (EDA) Disaster Grant for the city’s Market at North Hill project, a new commercial and retail complex north of the city’s main commercial center. Combined with $400,000 in local funding, the grant will be used for a $2 million infrastructure enhancement effort needed to support an area in the growing community for new commercial development now and into the future.

The new 13-acre retail center will feature a large grocery store, hardware store, fitness club, 15 retail outlets and an additional three lots for a restaurant and other commercial outlets. The $1.6 million EDA grant will help to leverage $30 million in private investment. The new infrastructure will also support the future construction of an additional 13 acre plot for commercial and mixed use development, leveraging an additional $40 million in private investment for long-term recovery and future commercial growth. The total investment over time will be approximately $70 million.

“This EDA grant, combined with the larger Marketplace development plan in the city’s central commercial district, will help to accommodate Minot’s growing community,” Hoeven said. “It will not only provide 315 jobs in a range of fields, but will also support the development of 90 new apartment units, nine twin homes and a half acre neighborhood park to help address the community’s growing need for housing. The result for residents will be more options for shopping, more and better housing and additional job opportunities for the people of Minot and the surrounding area.”

Hoeven has met and spoken with EDA Regional Director Robert E. Olson a number of times this year to secure EDA Disaster Recovery Funding for Minot following last year’s historic flooding.

Last month, Hoeven announced that Minot’s $18 million grant request to the EDA for the city’s Imagine Downtown reconstruction project had been approved by the agency’s Investment Review Committee. The senator said there is additional work to do before the grant is awarded, but the funds have now been set aside for Minot and represent a big part of the ambitious Imagine Downtown project.

The $140 million Imagine Downtown project is a complex of business and residential renewal projects that will help restore and enhance the city’s downtown following last year’s severe flooding. The $18 million, which is from 2012 EDA disaster recovery funding, will improve and expand Minot’s downtown infrastructure in support of the city’s larger reconstruction effort. The grant will be combined with approximately $4.5 million in city match, for a total of $22.8 million. Half of the Imagine Downtown project will consist of low and moderate income housing.

EDA awards disaster grants to cities and other eligible entities working on strategic planning, infrastructure development or capital for alternative financing projects. EDA investments are awarded competitively and evaluated against other regional applications. Grants must support long-term economic recovery projects in an area that is recovering from a natural disaster.