City of Toledo proposes property readiness grant to incentivize investment
Posted By: Toledo Blade on April 21, 2026. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
The city of Toledo is planning to launch a new grant program that would incentivize private investment by identifying and reducing pre-development barriers.
The department of economic development is asking city council to authorize the expenditure of $80,000 to implement the Property Readiness Evaluation, or PRE, Grant Program that would address two barriers to real estate development: the lack of site readiness and pre-development due diligence.
“One of the challenges that we continuously encounter when we’re looking at rebuilding sites in our community, is that there’s chronic vacancy and underutilization of sites … and when we’re trying to attract investment, there’s either a perceived or real risk associated with redeveloping these sites,” said Brandon Sehlhorst, the city’s chief of growth.
The city has been financially assisting pre-development work for about four years through a $500,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant, but Toledo was not awarded the grant in 2025.
So city officials decided to implement a program that would provide funding for companies and developers to proactively assess properties and identify the challenges they may have before breaking ground.
The grant program is a part of the city’s Vibrancy Initiative, which supports physical site improvements and development through the Facade Improvement Grant and White Box Grant. While those programs focus on tenant-ready spaces, the PRE program will focus on early-stage work.
Some of the expenses eligible under the grant program include environmental site assessments, asbestos surveys, universal waste, geotechnical reports, archaeological surveys, wetland surveys, market studies, feasibility studies, and building condition assessments.
It would be a reimbursement-based grant program, so the developer would perform the assessment or study, and the city would reimburse the expense. The city would match the expense as a 50/50 partner, and also get a copy of the report, Mr. Sehlhorst said.
“This is a key for our strategy because, if for some reason, that property owner, developer is not able to move that project forward because maybe they don’t have the financial wherewithal or the interest in doing it, but someone else can step in their place and do it … These reports are timeless,” he said. “We can use this information to help inform that next project, that next strategy.”
The program would be funded at $80,000 for the first year. Mr. Sehlhorst expects to do about four projects at that funding level. The maximum amount a developer could apply for is $40,000.
Projects will be prioritized based on shovel-ready sites, project plans, job creation, and investment in certain areas of the city.
Mr. Sehlhorst said he is not aware of any other cities with a similar program, making Toledo’s one of a kind.
“We’re going to learn a lot like we have with our vibrancy programs and adjust and modify as needed,” he said.
Councilman Mac Driscoll said funding for pre-development projects is nearly impossible to find, so the city offering financial assistance “primes the pump” for investment.
“We’re trying to bridge that gap because you can’t find a lender to give you money to do pre-development work,” he said. “Nobody’s going to give you money to do your environmental, architectural work or your feasibility study.”
Mr. Driscoll is supportive of the fund but said he hopes in the future the city will be able to obtain federal or state funding to cover the costs, due to the city’s tight budget.
“We’d love to see this be step one in a multi-step process for seeking eventual private sector investment in some of these really challenging sites,” he said.
The earliest council could vote on authorizing the grant program’s funding is at its April 28 meeting.
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