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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Mayor Nutter gives millions to restaurants, developers
Mayor Nutter and his commerce deputy, Andrew Altman, announced the latest round of handouts to city businesses, funded with borrowed money from bond issues under Mayor Street, as part of their anti-recession effort.
 
  Developers, selected with help from the Reinvestment Fund (TRF), got these "gap financing" grants to complement their bank borrowing:
- $1 million to Leonidas Addimando's 1201 Chestnut St. Partners LP, to convert a 15-story office buiding to one- and two-bedroom apartments.
- $670,000 to Weavers Way Cooperative Association for another store at 8424 Germantown Ave. up the hill from its old Germantown location
- $1 million to Grasso Holdings for 32 apartments and three retail stores at 2101 South St. (pending final bank financing.)

"Incentive grants" awarded by the 150-year-old Merchants Fund:
- $50,000 to 3P's Cafe & Palmer Park Produce in Fishtown
- $42,000 to DP Dough, on 40th St. near the Penn campus
- $50,000 to the Gold Standard Cafe, also near Penn
- $50,000 to Kaffa Crossing, a coffeehouse west of Penn
- $50,000 for the Lovers & Madmen Coffee Lounge, also near Penn. (Plus $114,000 in "gap financing.")
- $50,000 for Tiffin Pizza Etc. in the 700 block of Girard Ave.
- $50,000  for the Trolley Car Cafe, East Falls (plus $113,000 in gap financing)
- $46,000 for The Wine Thief, Mount Airy.
- $22,000 for Winnie's LeBus restaurant, Manayunk.
- $30,000 for Yards Brewing Co.'s Northern Liberties location
- $25,000 for The Village at 63rd St., Overbrook Farms.

Altman said the city had to turn down dozens of applicants, but "another round is in the works."

Separately, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. said it's starting a small-business loan guarantee fund long championed by City Councilman Wilson Good 3d but ignored by the city's dominant banks. Valley Green Bank and United Bank of Philadelphia said they'll participate in the "pilot phase" of the program.
Posted by Joseph N. DiStefano @ 4:35 PM  Permalink | 5 comments
Comments   
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:39 PM, 04/28/2009
    I don't see how this handout of money will help anyone else but the people who get it (how many donated to Nutter?). When the streets have not been cleaned in 2 years in and around some center city neighborhoods; I think a good old fashioned South Philly pole cleaning would have been a better use of the money. How about putting forth a strategy to boost green or high tech small businesses tht can expand nationally or internationally. We already have enough restaurants an developers tht get the 10 year tax abatement.
    — mjkfisher
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:17 PM, 04/28/2009
    but we don't have any money to keep the pools open
    — october9
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:22 AM, 04/29/2009
    don't you smart little cookies worry your pretty little heads, the high finance is beyond your no taxes and cut taxes and let's have a tea bag tax protest mentality. Since reality based solutions are back in power you can all just prayer to the invisible hand and say three Adam Smith made me do its.
    — Fernando08
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:02 AM, 04/29/2009
    22,000 for lebus in manayunk thats about what they will lose if bike race is cancelled
    — paulandmonster


5 comments
About Joseph N. DiStefano
Joseph N. DiStefano writes this blog to feed his PhillyDeals column in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Joe has been a member of Bloomberg LP’s New York Finance Team, wrote the book “Comcasted,” taught writing at St. Joseph’s University, and studied economics and history at Penn. Reach Joe at 215-854-5194 and JoeD@phillynews.com
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