GEORGETOWN – Governor John Carney, Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) Director Anas Ben Addi, local legislators, town officials and members of the business community celebrated the grand opening of Splash Laundromat on Friday and presented a Downtown Development Districts (DDD) rebate check in the amount of $457,997 to owners Enrique and Veronica Nunez. The Nunezes applied for and received a DDD reservation in fall 2017 in support of the project.

“I am honored to celebrate the grand opening of Splash Laundromat and present a DDD rebate check to Enrique and Veronica Nunez for their hard work to help revitalize Georgetown’s downtown area,” said Governor Carney. “This project demonstrates how the DDD program can be used as a valuable resource during this time for small businesses looking to expand, entrepreneurs opening new businesses, and homeowners completing renovation projects in our state’s downtowns.”

During Friday’s event, Director Ben Addi also announced that the latest round of funding is now available for large project rebate reservations through the DDD program. DSHA is accepting applications from investors and business owners through January 8, 2021.

“Community development is central to DSHA’s mission, and we are pleased to be able to offer this funding to support continued economic growth in our downtowns,” said DSHA Director Anas Ben Addi. “We hope Enrique and Veronica Nunez’s story will inspire other business owners and investors to take advantage of the DDD program and apply for an award for their own large or small projects in one of the state’s 12 designated districts.”

The Nunezes purchased the property where Splash Laundromat is located in September 2015. At that time, the structure was vacant, but since then, the Nunezes have renovated and expanded the building to include the laundromat, a hair salon, and a coffee shop and snack bar on the first floor with three apartments on the second floor. The total development cost for the project was nearly $2.7 million.

“We could not have completed this project without the support of the DDD program,” said Enrique Nunez. “This program gave us the financial security of knowing we would receive a portion of our total development cost back as a rebate. For a small business owner, this security is crucial, especially given the current economic situation, and we are grateful to DSHA and the State of Delaware for offering business owners like us the opportunity to participate in the DDD program.”

Established in May 2014, the DDD program was created to spur private capital investment in commercial business districts and other neighborhoods; stimulate job growth and improve the commercial vitality of our cities and towns; and help build a stable community of long-term residents in our downtowns and other neighborhoods. Investors who make qualified real property investments in one of 12 designated districts can apply for a rebate of up to 20 percent of eligible costs. The designated districts are: Clayton, Delaware City, Dover, Georgetown, Harrington, Laurel, Middletown, Milford, the City of New Castle, Seaford, Smyrna and Wilmington.

Since the first reservation awards in April 2015, the DDD program has been a catalyst for private investment in Delaware’s downtowns, with $36 million in rebates through the program leveraging $630 million in private investment in designated downtown districts in all three counties.

Under the latest round of funding, investors can apply for a DDD reservation award for large property construction or redevelopment project investments of more than $350,000. Applications for small projects – an investment between $25,000 and $350,000 – are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year based on available funding. During this funding round, $10 million is available for large projects while $2 million is available for small projects.

Investments eligible for DDD rebate funds include capital investments on rehabilitation, expansion or new construction for commercial, industrial, residential or mixed-use buildings within the district boundaries. Rebates are issued after the project is completed. Qualified applicants include property owners, tenants, for-profit developers, nonprofit organizations, businesses and homeowners.

Applications for large project rebate funding must be received by DSHA by 4 p.m. on January 8, 2021. Additional information and application materials are available at www.destatehousing.com/ddd or can be obtained by calling DSHA at 888-363-8808.

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