Site Development Grant

With funding approved through the legislature for the Rural Economic Opportunity Fund, TNECD is investing in site development grants. This grant opportunity will improve many of TNECD’s nationally recognized Select Tennessee certified sites and prepare other sites to achieve certification.

Eligible Applicants

  • Applicant must be a governmental entity (City, County, Industrial Development Board, etc.)
  • One application per governmental entity may be submitted
  • One application per site may be submitted
  • Site must be publicly-owned at the time of application, unless the grant request is to purchase the property  or for Due Diligence Studies
  • County where site is located must meet all ThreeStar annual requirements
  • Sites must  be at least 20 acres and have gone through at a minimum the site visit by Austin Consulting (Foote) for the Select TN certification program, the site visit and evaluation by Austin Consulting for PEP or the site visit by KPMG for the Invest Prep program. Entities in Tier 3 and 4 counties may submit sites that are at least 10 acres and meet all other requirements.
  • Sites with open SDG projects are not eligible to apply

Eligible Activities

  • Construction Activities
    Access roadways, acceleration/deceleration/turn lanes, traffic signalization, rail lines/signalization/switching, utility line construction/relocation including electricity, water, sewer, gas and telecommunications
  • Property-Related Activities
    Purchase of property, right-of-way, easements, legal fees, tree/vegetation clearing, grubbing, grading, drainage improvements, detention/retention ponds, due diligence studies
  • Due Diligence Grants 
    • Due diligence grant amounts are limited to $100,000 (maximum).
    • Site must be under option for a minimum of three years prior to grant being awarded.
    • Funding for site due diligence may not be awarded if there are other problems with the site that cause concern for development.
    • Though TNECD prefers that the options be secured at no charge, if option costs are necessary, they can be used as local match.
  • Rehabilitation of publicly-owned industrial buildings
    •  Certification requirement would be waived if funded.
  • Minimum acreage requirement for Tier 3 and Tier 4 Counties to 10 acres
    • Certification requirement would be waived if funded.
  • Property Purchase Additions include:
    • Expansion of a business or industrial park adjacent to an area that has been certified.
    • Neighboring (adjacent) property in cases where the demolition of structures would make the site more marketable; structures must be vacant or vacated voluntarily to prevent displacement of residents.    
  • Brownfield  remediation
    • Application must be accompanied by an industrial clean-up plan approved by TDEC Division of Remediation.
    • ECD reserves the right to only fund a limited number of remediation applications.
    • Properties must still meet normal eligibility requirements for the Site Development Grant Program.

Funding

High Impact Site Development Grant Maximum: $2,000,000

Site Development Grant Maximum: $1,000,000

Due Diligence Site Development Grant Maximum: $100,000

Community Match

  • Tier 1 50/50
  • Tier 2 70/30
  • Tier 3 90/10
  • Tier 4 95/5

Timetable

2023 Round 1

  • Application Webinar - January 26, 2023
  • Letters of Intent due - February 17, 2023
  • Final invoice and close-out for previous grants - February 17, 2023
  • Applications due - March 17, 2023
  • Presentations - May 2023
  • Announcements  - June 2023
  • Contract Start - July 2023

2023 Round 2

  • Application Webinar - August 1, 2023
  • Letters of Intent due - August 25, 2023
  • Final invoice and close-out for previous grants - August 25, 2023
  • Applications due - September 29, 2023
  • Presentations - November 2023
  • Announcements - December 2023
  • Contract Start - January 2024

Scoring

Projects will be scored in the following categories in order to determine short-listed projects:

Public Benefit/Impact
Performance Measures
Leveraged Resources
Implementation

Sites short-listed will be asked to give a presentation. This presentation will be evaluated and assist in determining final scoring and award.