District of Columbia Code
Part R - H Street Retail Priority Area Fund
§ 1–325.173. H Street/Bladensburg Road/Benning Road, N.E., Corridor Retail Priority Area business development

(a) The Mayor shall publish no later than 120 days after April 8, 2011, and no less than annually after that date, a notice of funding availability to make grants to assist retail development projects which generate new jobs in new or improved existing retail space in the H Street/Bladensburg Road/Benning Road, N.E., Corridor Retail Priority Area.
(b)(1) Eligible development projects shall include businesses engaged in the sale of home furnishings, apparel, books, art, groceries, and general merchandise to specialized customers or service-oriented businesses providing a direct service to specialized customers or artistic endeavors, such as art galleries, theaters, or performing arts centers. Special consideration shall be given to businesses that include entrepreneurial and innovative retail elements.
(2) Eligible retail development projects shall not include liquor stores, restaurants whose annual alcohol sales exceed 20%, nightclubs, phone stores, or businesses with 20 or more locations in the United States.
(c) Eligibility for retail development projects shall include:
(1) Site control of the property either through fee simple ownership of the site or through an executed contract or lease with the property owner;
(2) Frontage on a commercial corridor within the H Street/Bladensburg Road/Benning Road, N.E., Corridor Retail Priority Area;
(3) Repealed;
(4) Execution of a First Source Agreement with the District’s Department of Employment Services; and
(5) Adherence to design, construction, and rehabilitation requirements as defined by DMPED.
(d)(1) A grant made available under this section shall be divided into thirds or fourths and disbursed accordingly in allotments to a grantee.
(2)(A) The Mayor shall request, and a grantee shall furnish, a receipt or receipts for the purpose of confirming that a grantee's expenditure of grant funds was allowable.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, unless the grantee fails to provide a receipt or receipts, the grantee's response shall not delay disbursement of the grantee's next allotment, except for the final allotment. Funds shall be made available to the grantee as quickly as possible.
(C) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to authorize the expenditure of grant funds inconsistent with their purpose.
(Apr. 8, 2011, D.C. Law 18-354, § 4, 58 DCR 754; Sept. 20, 2012, D.C. Law 19-168, § 2162(b), 59 DCR 8025; May 2, 2015, D.C. Law 20-262, § 4, 62 DCR 15116; Oct. 8, 2016, D.C. Law 21-160, § 2132(b), 63 DCR 10775; Dec. 13, 2017, D.C. Law 22-33, § 2153, 64 DCR 7652; June 5, 2018, D.C. Law 22-105, § 3(c), 65 DCR 3784.)
This section is referenced in § 1-325.172.
The 2012 amendment by D.C. Law 19-168 rewrote (b); and repealed (c)(3), which read: “Total retail space which is not less than 1,200 square feet.”
The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 20-262 added “whose annual alcohol sales exceed 20%” in (b).
For temporary (90-day) creation of this section, see § 2153 of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2017, effective October 24, 2017 (D.C. Act 22-167; 64 DCR 10802).
For temporary (90-day) creation of this section, see § 2153 of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2017, effective July 20, 2017 (D.C. Act 22-104; 64 DCR 7032).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of H Street, N.E., Retail Priority Area Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-17, Feb. 27, 2017, 64 DCR 2363).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of H Street, N.E., Retail Priority Area Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 (D.C. Act 21-550, Nov. 29, 2016, 63 DCR 15020).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 4 of H Street, N.E., Retail Priority Area Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-6, Feb. 23, 2015, 62 DCR 2474).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2162(b) of Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2012 (D.C. Act 19-383, June 19, 2012, 59 DCR 7764).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2162(b) of Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2012 (D.C. Act 19-413, July 25, 2012, 59 DCR 9290).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of the H Street, N.E., Retail Priority Area Incentive Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-460, Oct. 24, 2014, 61 DCR 11377, 20 STAT 4367).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of the H Street, N.E., Retail Priority Area Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-65, May 22, 2015, 62 DCR 6865, 21 DCSTAT 1444).
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of H Street, N.E., Retail Priority Area Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2016 (D.C. Law 21-224, Mar. 11, 2017, 64 DCR 184).
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of the H Street, N.E., Retail Priority Area Incentive Temporary Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Law 20-170, March 7, 2015, 61 DCR 12121).
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see §§ 4 and 5 of the H Street, N.E., Retail Priority Area Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Law 21-1, June 4, 2015, 62 DCR 4550).