Small business owners eyeing empty storefronts across Portland can now apply for up to $100,000 in city-funded grants to cover buildout costs, under a new program Mayor Keith Wilson announced Thursday, Aug. 20.

The Vacant Storefront Grant, administered by Prosper Portland, will reimburse up to 75% of eligible tenant improvement costs at three tiers: grocery stores can receive up to $100,000, restaurants up to $50,000 and retail businesses up to $25,000.

The program draws on $800,000 in one-time General Fund money provided through an intergovernmental agreement between the city and Prosper Portland.

The money is finite. Applications opened Thursday and will be accepted on a rolling basis, with grants awarded first come, first served until funds are exhausted. Businesses can apply at prosperportland.us/Grants.

To qualify, a business must have signed a lease with at least a three-year term to occupy a vacant street-level storefront within the past six months.

"Tenant buildout costs are one of the biggest expenses that new business owners face," Wilson said in the announcement. "That's why my office has worked with Prosper Portland to launch the Vacant Storefront Grant program."

Wilson credited District 2 Councilor Dan Ryan's earlier Storefront Support Program with helping identify the need. Ryan championed that initiative at City Council earlier this year, and the new grant builds on Prosper Portland's existing commercial tenanting work, including a 2025 pilot called No Vacancy that targeted empty storefronts in Old Town.

Cornell Wesley, executive director of Prosper Portland, said the grant will complement the agency's other programs for commercial tenants. Prosper Portland also administers the Lloyd-Holladay Relocation Grant, a separate program offering up to $25,000 for Lloyd Center tenants moving into ground-floor space in the Lloyd-Holladay TIF District, with a Sept. 1 deadline.

Ian Williams, owner of Deadstock Coffee, captured the challenge facing Portland entrepreneurs in a Jan. 14 OPB report on the vacancy crisis: "We say Portland is a place where small businesses can thrive but really it's where small businesses can start. The thrive part is a really tough one."

The $800,000 pot is first come, first served, and Wilson's office has not said how long it expects the funds to last.