Downtown businesses receive $119K for renovations
Multiple businesses received funding Wednesday, June 18, to renovate Downtown buildings for commercial use.
The Downtown Memphis Commission Center City Development Corp. awarded three Downtown projects a total of $119,000 in tenant-improvement grants.
Rahim Sivji, owner of 321 S. Main St., received a $60,000 Exterior Improvement Grant to turn a vacant 11,800-square-foot warehouse into a commercial mixed-use building.
Sivji said he will divide the building interior into three commercial spaces for lease along Main Street with one space for a liquor store. The owner said he hopes the exterior renovations will attract tenants.
The total project costs about $140,000, and the grant will help cover the demolition of a wall, lighting, painting, replacing a garage door, paving, landscaping and signage.
The first unit, a 3,330-square-foot space, will be outfitted to hold Sivji’s liquor store, and the second unit, a 2,700-square-foot side, could become a fitness studio, restaurant or retail space, according to the application. The third space will be used for storage.
Cnct Design, an architecture firm, worked with Sivji to revitalize the empty building.