Another downtown business has qualified for funding from the City of Jefferson.

Greene Bean Coffee, located at 200 and 202 North Wilson Avenue, recently had a $70,000 forgivable loan approved by the Jefferson City Council. The funds will be used for replacing the roof, eight upper story windows, replacing a door and some storefront glass, along with adding a new HVAC system. City Administrator Scott Peterson talks about another part of the project that the owner, Rich Osborne, is doing on his own.“And one of the things that he spoke about was the second story, and the second story’s been completely un-utilized for many decades. So he has the opportunity to make that into some usable space, which is the supplemental part of the project. Really the city is not involved with, but we do look at this really has a fantastic opportunity, again it’s going to put the final touches on some of this improvement that’s been done to the building.”     

Peterson points out these grant funds come from a facade grant program that the City Council has allocated up to $600,000 per year in tax increment financing to do these kinds of building improvements.

“It is getting to the point now where many, many of the buildings in the downtown area have been addressed. There are still a few of them that may still have some opportunities and we still want to of course be willing to be a good partner on those opportunities when they arise.” 

The total cost of the Greene Bean Coffee project is $85,000. Peterson adds a development agreement will also be established for the project.