City to get grant for Victoria Place renovation

Funds awarded through JobsOhio Vibrant Community Grant Program are valued up to $2M

“I was supportive of the City of Painesville’s application to JobsOhio for this significant funding.” — State Rep. Daniel P. Troy

State Rep. Daniel P. Troy announced Aug. 20 that the city of Painesville is receiving a grant to renovate Victoria Place.

The funds awarded through the JobsOhio Vibrant Community Grant Program is valued up to $2 million.

The 191,000-square-foot building in downtown Painesville will be renovated for future mixed use corporate office and retail development, according to a release from Troy’s office.

“I was supportive of the City of Painesville’s application to JobsOhio for this significant funding,” Troy said in a statement.

“I worked right across the street from Victoria Place for a long time as a (Lake) County Commissioner, and

stressed to the JobsOhio folks how this core piece of real estate, with the proper investment to achieve revitalization, could be a gamechanger in bringing about much needed economic activity and small business development in the heart of our Lake County seat. I am so glad that JobsOhio has agreed with this belief through their approval of this grant.”

Troy also stated in the release that he is hopeful the renovation will serve as a “catalyst for increased community investment and job creation for that area.”

The engineering and architecture firm Burgess & Niple will serve as the anchor tenant, according to a JobsOhio news release.

The Victoria Place project was one of four receiving grants from JobsOhio. The state agency received applications from eligible applicants that include businesses, non-profits, developers, port authorities or local governments.

As part of the Vibrant Community Grant Program, JobsOhio has identified 98 communities with populations between 5,000 and 75,000 and poverty rates that are at or above the state’s average poverty rate of 14.6% as eligible to submit proposals for JobsOhio consideration.

“This program recognizes that distressed communities often do not have adequate resources to develop and implement economic development projects that can attract private investment and create new jobs in the community,” JobsOhio stated in the news release.

“The Vibrant Community Grant Program was established to assist distressed communities implement catalytic development projects that fulfill a market need and represent a significant reinvestment in areas that have struggled to attract new investment.”