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
- 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
- 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.
- Brownfield remediation
- Application must be accompanied by an industrial clean-up plan approved by TDEC Division of Remediation.
- Properties must meet normal eligibility requirements for the Site Development Grant Program.
- Speculative Building Construction
- Site and building must be publicly owned. Site must meet eligibility requirements for the Site Development Grant Program.
- Minimum building size is 100,000 square feet expandable to 200,000 square feet. Additional requirements will be included in the application.
Funding
Site Development Grant Maximum: $5,000,000
Due Diligence Site Development Grant Maximum: $100,000
Community Match
The community match is based on the county tier. This information is updated on an annual basis and can be found here.
- Tier 1: 50/50
- Tier 2: 70/30
- Tier 3: 90/10
- Tier 4: 95/5
If the site has received a site visit from Austin Consulting through the Select Tennessee Certified Sites Program, the community match rate will be reduced by 50%.
Timetable
2023 Round 2
- Application Webinar - August 2, 2023
- Letters of Intent due - August 25, 2023
- Final Invoice and Close-Out for Previous Grants - August 25, 2023
- Application Launch - September 1, 2023
- Applications due - October 13, 2023
- Presentations - November 2023
- Announcements - December 2023
- Contract Start - January 2024
2024 Round 1
- Application Webinar - January 31, 2024
- Letters of Intent due - February 28, 2024
- Final invoice and close-out for previous grants - February 28, 2024
- Applications due - April 4, 2024
- Presentations - May 2024
- Announcements - June 2024
- Contract Start - July 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.