Update: Cowboy Jack's Property Main Street Grant

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- Back in October of 2022 the After Midnight Group was awarded a $199,000 Main Street grant to redevelop the Cowboy Jack's property in downtown St. Cloud. Now that the property is for sale what happened to that grant money?

The state-funded Main Street grants were recommended by the St. Cloud EDA and officially approved by the Initiative Foundation.

Spokesman Don Hickman says $84,000 of the $199,000 grant has already been spent on demolition and building removal, which means $115,000 remains unspent.

The goal is to have the money used by July 2025, but there could be a little grace period.

The property is on the market right now to be sold to a future developer. Hickman says there is a precedent set from other projects where the grant money could be transferred over to a new owner with the argument that it is in everyone's interest to get the property developed.

It is a 30-70 match so the owner has to cover 70 percent of the total cost and the grant would cover the other 30 percent. Hickman says the grant cannot be used on the purchase of the property, but it can be used for design and construction costs.

If the entire $115,000 in grant money is not used within the time frame it could be reallocated to other projects in downtown St. Cloud.

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There was a total of $1.5 million in Main Street grant money that was allocated to a number of projects in the downtown.

A few of the other Main Street Grant Projects:
Blue Goose Speakeasy
Pickled Loon
Children's Theater
Harvester Square/Iron Street
Mackrell Building

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Source: Update: Cowboy Jack’s Property Main Street Grant