{"id":2457554,"date":"2020-04-22T22:32:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T04:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/rent-relief-for-aspen-businesses-to-roll-out-at-end-of-week\/"},"modified":"2020-04-22T22:32:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T04:32:00","slug":"rent-relief-for-aspen-businesses-to-roll-out-at-end-of-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/rent-relief-for-aspen-businesses-to-roll-out-at-end-of-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Rent relief for Aspen businesses to roll out at end of week"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/AspenCityHall-3-1024x681.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/AspenCityHall-3-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/AspenCityHall-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/10\/AspenCityHall-3-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>Aspen City Hall.<\/strong><br \/><em>Aspen Times file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">City of Aspen officials are gearing up for what they expect to be a deluge of applications from local businesses looking for rent relief as the $1 million program rolls out in the coming days.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe are targeting our portal to be online by Friday,\u201d City Manager Sara Ott said Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Those who want to participate in the city\u2019s small-business rent relief program will be asked to provide sensitive, private information about their businesses, so the city\u2019s IT department is working diligently to make the portal secure and robust enough to handle heavy activity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ott is currently talking to individuals in the community who may serve on the grant committee that will review the applications, based on eligibility criteria.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/at-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/donate\/?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=donation&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=mid-article\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She said she hopes to have that committee in place by next week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Mitch Osur, the city\u2019s director of parking and downtown services who is part of a team that crafted the program, said his email has been flooded by business owners prior to and since <a id=\"N0x1c74de0N0x1c761c0:N0x1c74de0N0x1de8120\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/up-to-1m-earmarked-for-rent-assistance-for-aspen-retailers-restaurants-some-small-businesses\/\">Aspen City Council\u2019s approval this past Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The majority of business owners are telling Osur that the relief program, which will grant as much as $14,000 in rent over three months, will help them survive through the COVID-19 economic and health crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Osur said there are some who say that amount is a small dent in what they pay in rent, the average of which is around $22,000 a month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But for those whose rents are between $15,000 and $18,000 a month, \u201cwe can really help the small businesses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The offering is equal to one-third the monthly rent of a business for as many as three months, and is good from April to July.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Businesses eligible for rent relief must have a landlord who is willing to also pay a third of the rent, with the tenant paying the remainder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Another eligibility requirement is that the business has to have applied for state or federal assistance, like an SBA loan or the Payroll Protection Plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat shows you care enough about your business and want to make it work,\u201d Osur said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Other eligibility requirements include being closed, or have limited services, because of the local public health order; have 35 or fewer full-time employees; be located within city limits and was open March 1; and have been in business since the beginning of the 2019-20 winter season. Start-up businesses will be considered on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Formula businesses, which are defined in the city\u2019s land-use code, as well those that are office in nature \u2014 such as law firms, property management or real estate professionals \u2014 do not qualify for rent relief.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Those interested can go to <a id=\"N0x1c74de0N0x1c762e0:N0x1c74de0N0x1de87e0\" href=\"https:\/\/cityofaspen.com\/1281\/COVID-19-Business\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.cityofaspen.com\/covidbusiness<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i> on Friday for more details and a link to the application.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The program, which is being funded by borrowed money from the Wheeler Opera House fund, is designed to help Aspen businesses that contribute to the municipal government\u2019s sales tax receipts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Other eligibility requirements include providing income taxes, and other associated documentation that will be spelled out on the city\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The review committee that Ott is convening will be comprised of City Finance Director Pete Strecker, Mayor Torre, a community member at large, a banker, commercial lender or a financial expert, as well as a commercial real estate professional.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ott said she is getting a lot of interest from people to volunteer, which is a testament to the cohesiveness of the community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The committee will use eligibility criteria in making award decisions, and will consider fully completed applications in the order they are submitted until the award period ends or funding runs out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Osur said the program\u2019s rollout is days away to help businesses immediately.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThis is designed to take some pressure off of them now,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping next week we are giving checks to landlords.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He acknowledged when presenting the program to council Monday that the program could be counter-productive to the impact that would otherwise likely happen around commercial rental rates and landlords having to lower them as a result of empty storefronts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ott said council members have acknowledged that no plan is perfect but rather this is an immediate response to the crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cPeople are getting through April,\u201d Ott said. \u201cWe want to make sure they get through May.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:csackariason@aspentimes.com\">csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/rent-relief-for-aspen-businesses-to-roll-out-at-end-of-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aspen City Hall.Aspen Times file photo City of Aspen officials are gearing up for what they expect to be a deluge of applications from local businesses looking for rent relief as the $1 million program rolls out in the coming days. \u201cWe are targeting our portal to be online by Friday,\u201d City Manager Sara Ott [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2457554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 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