ODOD to Accept Applications for Funding Beginning October 31

The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) recently released further application details and information regarding its Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program (the Program), which recently received renewed funding through Amended Substitute House Bill 33, the state budget bill for State Fiscal Years (FY) 2024-2025. The Program includes a total of $150 million of funding, including  $500,000 set aside per county, and is designed to provide grants for the demolition of commercial and residential buildings and revitalization of surrounding properties on sites that are not brownfields. 

The funding and implementation structure of the Program closely mirrors the process that ODOD followed for grants awarded during 2021-2023 and the earlier iteration of the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization program,

The renewed funding for the Program brought along several notable requirements and some new features:

• Program awards sourced from the general (i.e., statewide, or non-set aside) fund will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis;
• The $500,000 set aside per county will expire on June 30, 2024, at which time any remaining funds will be added to the general (i.e., statewide) fund;
• Counties must now designate one “lead entity” to be the applicant and award recipient (which is, by default, a county land reutilization corporation (i.e., a county land bank), if one is established)[1];
• A sub-recipient agreement between the lead entity and other end users must be submitted as part of the application, as applicable;
• Match funds are not required for county set-aside funds (up to $500,000); however, for any project in excess of the county set-aside, match funding of 25% of the project total costs is required.

ODOD will begin accepting applications from lead entities on October 31, 2023. Given the first-come, first-served nature of the general (i.e., statewide, or non-set aside) funding, potential projects would be well-served to coordinate with their respective lead entities to submit applications to ODOD as soon as feasible.

Also included in the state budget bill was $350 million in funding for the Brownfield Remediation Program. ODOD has not yet opened up the application process for this funding. Stay tuned for further updates from Bricker Graydon as additional information becomes available regarding the Brownfield Remediation Program.