Update: The Ohio Department of Development opened the application portal for the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program on October 31. Click below to learn more and how to apply.

On October 12, the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) published revised guidelines for the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program for Fiscal Year 2024. The Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program is designed to provide grants for the demolition of commercial and residential buildings and revitalization of surrounding properties on sites that are not Brownfields.

Similar to the previous demolition program, the Demolition program reserves $150 million, with each county in the state designated to receive $500,000. The remaining funds will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis until June 30, 2024. After that, any remaining funds in the county set-aside will be added to the general fund and made available for grants through the first-come, first-served model. 

Not much has been changed regarding the eligible uses under the program. Once again, blighted, vacant, or abandoned commercial and residential buildings on sites that are not brownfields are eligible for demolition. Commercial properties include retail, office, manufacturing, industrial, warehouse, institutional, or other non-residential or mixed-use structures. Abandoned school facilities do count towards this definition, per the department.

The most significant program change is the need for a designated 'lead entity. In counties with a population of 100,000 or more that have a county land bank, the land bank has been designated by law as the lead applicant for the county. In counties with a population of less than 100,000, or counties with a population of 100,000 or more and no land bank, the board of county commissioners must provide a recommendation to ODOD, who will select the lead applicant. As of October 16, all lead applicant designations have been submitted to ODOD. Once designated, the lead applicant will then work with eligible subrecipients on making funding requests for demolition grants. A subrecipient agreement between the lead entity and other end users must be submitted as part of the application for grant funds.

ODOD hosted a webinar on October 16 that provides information about the application process, and they will be publishing an FAQ soon on their website for more information. On the same webinar, ODOD stated they anticipate having more information about the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program and their changes available soon. GOPC will also provide updates on the Ohio Brownfields website for updates as they become available.