Small Business Tenant Improvement Fund

The Seattle Office of Economic Development (OED) is investing $1.9 million for tenant improvement grants that will support small businesses impacted by economic difficulties. Through an open application process, the Tenant Improvement Fund will grant small businesses up to $100,000 to build out commercial spaces and make commercial improvements more affordable. The lack of affordable commercial spaces across the city for small business owners, particularly for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities, is a result of ongoing systemic barriers such as lack of access to capital, displacement, discrimination, inequitable public policy, and more. The worldwide crisis exacerbated both the rise in commercial vacancies propelled by online retail and shifts to online and home-based work in some industries, as well as the continued challenges BIPOC communities face in acquiring affordable commercial spaces.