DC’s corridor grants are designed for the business owners who need them most: the corner cafe on Georgia Avenue, the barber on Minnesota Avenue, the bookstore on H Street. The catch is timing. Grant rounds open once a year, awards take months, and funds disburse under a grant agreement after paperwork is complete. Contractors want to be paid now.
This guide explains how DC business and building owners combine Great Streets retail grants and Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) programs with private financing. It covers bridge loans for property owners, unsecured loans for tenant-operators, and DSCR refinances for landlords. Jaken Finance Group lends in DC from our headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Illinois (Cook County), with the same underwriting standards we use across all 50 states. Call (833) 264-7776.
Great Streets — the FY26 program in plain terms
The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) runs Great Streets. The FY26 Retail Grant round looked like this:
| Feature | FY26 Great Streets Retail Grant |
|---|---|
| Maximum award | Up to $90,000 ($70,000 standard plus up to $20,000 innovation top-up) |
| Total pool | $2,000,000 |
| Eligible businesses | Retail, restaurant, retail service, childcare centers, and arts and humanities nonprofits |
| Location | Street-facing, first or second floor, in or abutting a Great Streets corridor |
| Site control | Executed lease or deed |
| Revenue limit | Average annual revenue below $3 million |
| Performance period | 18 months from conditional award |
| Required documents | DLCP business license, Certificate of Good Standing, OTR Clean Hands certificate |
The FY26 application window closed in January 2026. Future rounds may change amounts and rules. Watch the Great Streets program page and DMPED’s grant opportunities list. Check your address on the city’s Great Streets lookup map before you plan around a grant.
Corridors named in D.C. Code include Georgia Avenue NW, H Street / Bladensburg Road NE, Minnesota Avenue / Benning Road NE, Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Rhode Island Avenue NE, North Capitol Street, 7th Street NW, 14th and U Streets NW, Barracks Row, Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE, and New York Avenue NE, among others.
DSLBD — certification, Main Streets, and targeted grants
The Department of Small and Local Business Development supports DC small businesses in three main ways:
- Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) certification. CBE status gives DC-based businesses preference on District government contracts and projects. For contractors and suppliers, CBE certification can open steady contract revenue that lenders count.
- DC Main Streets. DSLBD funds nonprofit Main Streets programs across roughly 29 corridors serving about 4,000 brick-and-mortar businesses. Main Streets staff often run storefront improvement programs and connect owners to grants.
- Targeted grant rounds. DSLBD posts rounds on its current funding opportunities page. Many go to nonprofits and Main Streets organizations rather than individual businesses. Read each round’s eligibility carefully.
DSLBD grants rarely fund a full build-out on their own. They are best treated as a piece of the stack.
Why private capital still carries the project
Grant money is real but limited. A $90,000 Great Streets award covers part of a restaurant build-out that may cost $250,000 to $500,000. It also comes with a performance period and documentation steps. Plan as if grant cash arrives after you spend, and size private financing to carry the full project until it does.
| Who you are | What you need | Private capital that fits |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant-operator on a lease | Build-out, equipment, opening payroll | Unsecured term loan: about 6%–18%, $50,000–$500,000, 3/5/7 years |
| Owner-operator buying the building | Purchase plus renovation | Bridge at 8.99%–13.5% interest-only, then SBA 504 or 7(a) |
| Investor landlord leasing to a grant winner | Purchase plus tenant improvements | Bridge, then DSCR at 5.75%–10.5% on signed leases |
Owner-users can compare options on owner-occupied commercial loans Washington DC. Landlords should read the Washington DC mixed-use investor financing guide.
Worked example 1 — H Street NE cafe, tenant-operator
Composite file, not a live quote. A cafe owner signs a 10-year lease on a 1,600-square-foot ground-floor space on H Street NE. Her current location in Maryland does $1.1 million a year. The landlord provides $40,000 in tenant improvement allowance.
| Build-out budget | Amount |
|---|---|
| Plumbing, electrical, HVAC | $118,000 |
| Counter, seating, finishes | $72,000 |
| Espresso and kitchen equipment | $64,000 |
| Signage, storefront, permits | $26,000 |
| Total | $280,000 |
| Sources | Amount |
|---|---|
| Landlord tenant improvement allowance | $40,000 |
| Owner cash | $50,000 |
| Unsecured term loan, 5 years, illustrative 12% | $190,000 |
| Total up front | $280,000 |
| Great Streets award (arrives later) | $85,000 |
The unsecured loan’s monthly payment is about $4,230. Construction and DOB permits take five months. When the Great Streets funds arrive, she uses $85,000 to pay down the loan. After five months of payments plus the prepayment, the balance drops to roughly $93,000. Re-amortized over the remaining 55 months, the payment falls to about $2,200. If she keeps paying the original amount instead, the loan pays off years early. Confirm prepayment terms before you sign. Apply for an unsecured term loan.
Worked example 2 — Georgia Avenue mixed-use, investor landlord
Composite file. An investor buys a three-story rowhouse-style mixed-use building on Georgia Avenue NW in Petworth. The ground floor was a vacant dry cleaner. Two apartments sit above. A local bakery signs a seven-year lease on the ground floor and plans to apply for Great Streets.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Purchase price | $1,150,000 |
| Ground-floor shell work, storefront, grease line | $210,000 |
| Apartment refresh | $90,000 |
| Phase I environmental (former dry cleaner) | $5,500 |
| All-in | $1,455,500 |
| Bridge at 70% of cost, 11.0% interest-only | $1,018,850 |
| Monthly interest when fully drawn | ~$9,340 |
The landlord builds the shell. The tenant finishes the interior, using a Great Streets award for equipment and finishes. That keeps the landlord’s cost down and the tenant committed.
Stabilized income:
| Line | Annual |
|---|---|
| Bakery lease, NNN | $54,000 |
| Two apartments | $57,600 |
| Vacancy and credit loss | −$6,600 |
| Operating expenses (landlord share) | −$21,000 |
| NOI | $84,000 |
At a 6.25% blended cap rate, value is about $1,344,000. A DSCR refinance at 75% of value, about $1,008,000, retires most of the bridge. At an illustrative 7.5% rate over 30 years, debt service is about $84,600 a year, for coverage right at 1.0x. That is tight, and even the full-size loan leaves about $11,000 of bridge to pay off in cash. The investor can take a smaller loan and bring more cash for better coverage, or wait for the first rent step before refinancing. Honest math up front beats a surprise at refinance.
DC-specific risks to plan around
Permits and inspections. DC split the old DCRA into the Department of Buildings (DOB) and the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP). Build-outs need DOB permits, and business licenses come from DLCP. Food service needs DC Health approval. Delays in any one push back grant reimbursement. See the DC permits and building code guide.
Clean Hands. The Office of Tax and Revenue issues the Certificate of Clean Hands. Any unpaid DC tax or fine blocks it, and without it you cannot receive a grant. Clear old balances early.
Historic districts. Parts of Barracks Row, 14th and U, and other corridors fall in historic districts. Storefront and signage changes may need historic review. Read the DC historic preservation guide.
Transfer and recordation taxes. DC charges both, and commercial rates are higher on larger deals. Review the DC recordation and transfer tax guide before you size cash to close.
Commercial property tax. DC’s commercial class carries much higher rates than residential. Mixed-use buildings can be split between classes. See the DC property tax guide.
Rent control on the apartments. Mixed-use buildings with apartments may fall under DC rent control. Model rents under the DC rent control investor guide.
Grant-stack checklist
- Confirm the address on the Great Streets lookup map
- Executed lease or deed
- Active DLCP business license and Certificate of Good Standing
- Current OTR Certificate of Clean Hands
- Contractor bids with line items the grant can reimburse
- Private financing lined up before the grant agreement is signed
- Prepayment terms confirmed so grant funds can pay down debt
- Exit plan: SBA for owner-users, DSCR for landlords, payoff for tenants
Related: commercial lending Washington DC · bridge loans Washington DC mixed-use · DSCR loans Washington DC · unsecured term loans
Chicago owner? The same approach works with city grants there. See the Chicago TIF, SBIF, and NOF stacking guide.
Call (833) 264-7776 or submit your DC project.
Rates and terms are offered only to qualified borrowers and may change without notice. All loans are subject to full underwriting. Unsecured term loans are arranged through funding partners and are not Jaken Finance Group-originated real estate loans. Grant details reflect DMPED and DSLBD materials as of 2026 and may change by round. Examples are composites for education.