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Omaha Economic Development Corporation
2221 North 24th Street Omaha, NE 68110
Same
www.oedc.info
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/OEDCOmaha); Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/oedcomaha/)
Michael B. Maroney
President/CEO
mmaroney@oedc.info
+1 (402) 346-2300
Yes
This project relies on the expertise of Omaha Economic Development Corporation and its consultants: Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture (Architecture); Actual Architecture (Architecture) and CJR Construction, LLC (General Contractor).
OEDC 's organizational chart is uploaded as an attachment.
Founded in 1977 to address blight and poverty, OEDC's mission and goals are to transform the quality of life of the residents of North Omaha by implementing economic development and community revitalization projects that result in the creation of diverse housing choices, commercial space, jobs, networked training and business ownership opportunities. As an organization, we invest in people and projects so that individuals and families are empowered to become financially self-sufficient and to actively participate in the community. Our strategy is to connect multiple facets of revitalization through a common plan, on a place-based, place-driven level. Organizationally, we believe that the root of poverty lies in the political and economic structures that have and continue to limit equality of opportunity and restrict economic mobility. We prioritize equity through activities that, based on local data and national best practices, will generate a better standard of living for all residents within our service area; activities that provide affordable places to live, across income ranges; that re-shape locally based economic systems in a sustainable way; and that have a scalable impact on people’s day to day experience. Our vision is to transform North Omaha into a viable, residentially and economically successful community that enables its residents to grow and live in a prosperous environment by working in partnership with local residents and community stakeholders. Our website, www.oedc.info, shares the details of our responses to adversity, trauma and tragedy in North Omaha. Our economic activities have created commercial space opportunities for minority owned start-up/emerging businesses and job creation include: Long School Shopping Center, the Learning Center of North Omaha, the Fair Deal Village MarketPlace, North End Teleservices, and the renovation of the Omaha Star. We have assembled nearly $15 million of investment dollars, leading to the provision of low cost commercial space for 28 small businesses. We invested $2.4 million to seed the start-up of one urban job center – North End Teleservices. Our residential activities have addressed physical deterioration and the lack of diverse housing types for a variety of income levels, taking blighted/abandoned properties and transforming them into than 500 multi-family and single-family housing units, to stabilize living conditions that are critical to building on our vision. We have taken bold steps in constructing housing that is both environmentally responsible and healthy for tenants, including: The Margaret, a completely green (solar and geothermal energy) affordable multi-family development; Neighborhood Stabilization Program Single Family homes with renewable energy technologies (5 owner occupied; 5 rentals); and the Fair Deal Village East Senior Apartments (healthy indoor/outdoor living features for seniors). Currently, we have six new single-family houses, for sale to middle income households (80-200% AMI), under construction and an adaptive reuse project, the Larimore, converting the facility into 45 units of senior housing. OEDC’s Total Dollars assembled, invested and managed for residential real estate development is in excess of $60,000,000. OEDC has been recognized for its ability to manage and administer Federal grants, including three Office of Community Services, Community Economic Development awards. Staff have successfully completed semi-annual and annual fiscal and performance reporting requirements, annual and bi-annual onsite monitoring visits, and all grant closeout processes.
North 24th Street: Opportunity Ecosystem
68700000.0
40000000.0
Capital project
The North 24th Street: Opportunity Ecosystem is a place-based project undertaken by OEDC. It addresses the issues of income inequality, access to urban jobs, North Omaha’s entrepreneurial desert, and gaps in entry/next level housing typologies. The project meets the preliminary criteria in LB1024, including funding commitments, timing and project readiness. The project aligns with our mission, and that of the Legislature, to foster desirable transformation, improving the quality of life of North Omaha residents. It is part of the ongoing holistic efforts to elevate and revitalize the North 24th Street Historic Corridor. North 24th Street: Opportunity Ecosytem is an equitable, economic growth project that prioritizes racial inclusion and economic mobility, creating fundamental change in the misshapen local economies of North Omaha. Opportunity Ecosystem is strategically designed to cause a next level change in the economic performance of North Omaha, providing opportunity to low-income residents to raise household income levels, which brings more dollars to circulate within the surrounding neighborhood businesses. We anticipate a phased development, with all components completed by December, 2026, beginning immediately with release of state-approved ARPA funds. In working with our General Contractor, CJR Construction, LLC, we anticipate the project will be completed within 36 months of the Notice to Proceed for the contractor. The North 24th Street: Opportunity Ecosystem project takes our previous development activities to scale. It is grounded in our experience in residential and commercial real estate and business development ventures within the overall local context of place. This project will be implemented on properties owned by OEDC and will remain under the organization’s ownership,. The Opportunity Ecosystem project will strengthen the Corridor between Hamilton and Lake Streets, accelerating economic activity through business and entrepreneurial development, job creation, and the incorporation of a variety of mixed income housing typologies while improving the spatial connectivity of the street and its physical elements. At completion, early projections include: commercial space for approximately 53 new businesses with the potential to generate 105 jobs and 105 new residential units.
OEDC anticipates the Project Schedule to begin June 1st, 2023, contingent upon allocation of grant funds. Preliminary milestones include: Schematic Design Phase (Creatives Lofts and Business & Technology Center), 6/1/2023 – 8/1/2023; Design Development Phase (Creatives Lofts and Business & Technology Center), 8/15/2023 – 10/15/2023; Construction Documents (Creatives Lofts and Business & Technology Center), 11/1/2023 – 1/31/2024; Construction Phase Commercial Renovation/Reconstruction (7 buildings), 6/1/2023 – 3/30/2024; Construction Phase Creatives Lofts, 2/15/2024 – 3/30/2025; Construction Phase Business & Technology Center, 11/1/2025 – 12/31/2026.
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Fundamental Change (i.e., a proposal that will continue to elevate North or South Omaha's presence and perception within the region, significantly improving the lives of area residents through physical development) Long-Lasting Economic Growth (i.e., a proposal that will foster gainful employment opportunities and financial investment in the area, leading to the creation of generational wealth and widespread economic vitality in North and South Omaha) Transformational (i.e., a proposal that will help energize, recharge, or spur significant and favorable advancements in North or South Omaha's function or appearance)
Other Other Infrastructure (i.e., develop or improve broadband, business districts, roadways, sewer, etc.) Quality of Life (i.e., create or enhance natural spaces, mixed uses, parks, safety, etc.) Sustainable Community (i.e., create or enhance housing, services, education, civic uses, recreation, etc.)
o Lack of investment o Lack of resources o Lack of quality entry level and next level housing
Opportunity Ecosytem is an equitable, economic growth project that prioritizes racial inclusion and economic mobility, creating fundamental change in the misshapen local economies of North Omaha. This project is a place-based strategy intended to accelerate change by constructing two unique new mixed use developments (the Business and Technology Mixed Use Center and the Creatives’ Lofts) within the heart of the North 24th Historic Corridor and rehabbing seven other structures. The objectives of the project align with those listed in the Inventory and Opportunities Memo, Appendix B: to foster desirable transformation by creating long-lasting economic growth through investing in employment, job creation and entrepreneurship that will foster multi-generational wealth in North Omaha. It addresses nearly every weakness/identified community need found in Appendix A including: the need for Development of General Business Uses, Industry/Workforce, Office Uses; the Lack of Black owned/thriving businesses, commercial and retail businesses, for-profit businesses and the perceived inability to positively impact economic development strategies for sustainability/longevity; lack of connected businesses both spatially and economically and viable space to operate a business; connectivity/walkability; and the lack of investment, resources and quality entry level and next level housing. As a Community Development Corporation, we believe there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution to economic revitalization and that traditional, broad approaches have repeatedly failed to address the persistent socio-economic barriers persons of color experience as residents of the Omaha MSA. Our practice is to implement localized strategies that accelerate economic growth by advancing an OPPORTUNITY ECOSYSTEM at the place level, North 24th Street. The biggest threat to a sustainable, economically vibrant North Omaha remains racial inequality and economic exclusion. Long standing disparities, created by public policy decisions, market forces/failures, and historic discriminatory practices, resulted in locally concentrated areas of poverty where residents lack access to opportunity. According to PolicyLink's Equity Growth Profile (2015, 2018), the Omaha MSA exhibits the highest levels of racial and economic segregation when compared to others in the Heartland. Ironically, it is communities of color that are driving Nebraska’s and Omaha’s population growth. According to the Joint Research Policy Link’s Equitable Growth Profile of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Region (2015, 2018), Nebraska’s immediate and future success depends on the ability of persons of color to, not just participate in state and local economies, but to revive and expand the middle class. An examination of the key trends within the project’s target QCTs show increasing income inequality; stagnant wages; a growing wealth gap; stunted economic mobility; more and deeper poverty; and persistent racial disparities. The Per Capita Income of residents is $13,921, compared to Douglas County, $42,815 (2016-2020 ACS 5 Year Estimates). When measuring Median Household Income (MHI is $29,365, compared to $89,914 Douglas County. The impact of these economic conditions has caused the formation of concentrated, persistent poverty tracts where individuals and households live well below a living wage level. When asset ownership is measured, of the 19,044 businesses operating in the Omaha MSA, 88.2% are owned by Whites; 6.42% by Persons of Color (.8% African American, 2.67% Asian, 2.95% Hispanic) (Source: Annual Business Survey: Statistics for Employer Firms by Industry, Sex, Ethnicity, Race, and Veteran Status for the U.S., States, and Metro Areas: 2019). Home ownership illustrates a similar inequitable asset distribution. Slightly more than 87% of all owner occupied housing in the Omaha MSA is owned by Whites, vs 11.24% by Persons of Color (1.84% Asian, 3.94% Black, 5.94% Hispanic.)
In reviewing the Visioning Workshops SWOT summary found in Appendix B for North Omaha, one of the greatest threats to the area’s economic viability is the “significant portion” of land that is classified as “extremely blighted”, while also being one of the greatest opportunities for “mixed use development.” - the perceived inability to positively impact economic development strategies for sustainability/longevity, - the lack of spatially connected businesses and the related impact on lack of safe, walkable streets, - land ownership by entities outside the local community, - the lack of quality entry and next level housing, and - the project addresses the ongoing concern over the lack of jobs within the area and sluggish entrepreneurial growth among minority populations . The North 24th Street: Opportunity Ecosystem project takes our previous development activities to scale. It is grounded in our experience in residential and commercial real estate and business development ventures within the overall local context of place. The North 24th Street Corridor represents not only a unique identity in music, entertainment, African American culture and civil rights history but it was, historically, a proven model of the vital role mixed use development has in community stability. This project will be implemented on properties owned by OEDC (evidence of site control included in attachments) and will remain under the organization’s ownership, improving the spatial connectivity of the street and its physical elements. The Opportunity Ecosystem project will strengthen the Corridor between Hamilton and Lake Streets, accelerating economic activity through business and entrepreneurial development, job creation, and the incorporation of a variety of mixed income housing typologies. At completion, early projections include: commercial space for approximately 53 new businesses with the potential to generate 105 jobs and 105 new residential units.
LB 1024 directs the use of ARPA funds for “the economic recovery of those communities and neighborhoods within qualified census tracts…that were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency. Legislative priorities emphasized housing needs, assistance for small businesses, job training and business development within these communities and neighborhoods. It is our understanding that expected outcomes should foster desirable transformation, lead to fundamental change, and result in long lasting growth. The North 24th Street: Opportunity Ecosystem project meets the preliminary criteria in LB1024, including funding commitments, timing and project readiness. The project is located in Qualified Census Tracts 11 and 12. Concepts for development were identified as part of the community engagement process for the North Omaha Village Revitalization Plan as well as through a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant. They have remained in our inventory of next generation strategies that could be implemented once financing was assembled. An allocation of an ARPA grant in the amount of $40,000,000 would be leveraged further to revive the economic pulse of North 24th Street. The Ecosystem project aligns with our mission, and that of the Legislature, to be transformational, improving the quality of life of North Omaha residents. It expands proven strategies we have used to create urban job centers, low cost affordable commercial space for start-up entrepreneurs, and middle income rental and for sale housing which ignited next level changes in the economic performance of North Omaha. We have vetted the project to our New Market Tax consultant, the Tax Advantage Group; it is their opinion that NMTC could be found to add to our capital stack.
The North 24th Street: Opportunity Ecosystem project is a three prong development strategy: 1. The Business & Technology Center (potential location North 25th and Lake Streets) – 120,950sf structure (51,212sf commercial; 69,738sf residential). The facility could house, depending on tenant space demand, 25 new businesses and approximately 80 jobs. We anticipate 70 residential units with a mix of market rate rental and for sale condominiums. (Concept design drawings are included in this proposal.) 2. The Creatives’ Lofts (North 24th and Blondo Streets) – 38,000sf structure. Because this facility is designed for the creative class as a live/work space, it could house up to 21 new businesses and from the ground level commercial space approximately 10 new jobs. We anticipate 35 new rental residential units primarily for low-moderate income individuals. 3. Renovation/restoration/expansion of 7 Corridor contributing buildings (Patrick – Lake Streets). OEDC practices preservation of historic properties in North Omaha; our real estate portfolio contains many examples (The Jewell Building; The Margaret; the Larimore; the Fair Deal Café) of taking old materials and bringing structures forward to a new use. The buildings are the connecting spatial links between the Business & Technology Center and the Creatives’ Lofts. We anticipate 7 new businesses will lease these buildings, generating approximately 20 jobs.
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Proposed jobs’ wage levels are relative to the kinds of business that will lease commercial space within each component of the project. Generally, it is our intent to recruit those that are retail, office/professional, and small businesses that provide a needed product or service to the community; businesses that have a high growth potential because it is part of a strong sector of the economy (technology related); businesses that have a significant potential for job creation; businesses that committed to supporting the reduction of the need for government support for hired workers, increasing their economic independence through livable wage rates and benefits. Wages may range from entry level retail at $12-$16/hr; management, $15-$25/hr; business owners, $25+/hr. Additionally, construction jobs will create approximately 90 FTEs earning a projected median wage of $20.74 per hour (based on the most recent BLS Labor Statistics).
OEDC utilizes the services of a number of local cleaning, landscaping, IT, accounting and catering businesses in its normal operations. Upon completion of both rehab and new construction projects, as property owners, we would solicit level of interest and proposal bids from these vendors.
With the incorporation of the North Omaha Village Revitalization Plan into the City of Omaha’s Master Plan in 2011, OEDC re-focused its economic development activities toward the diversification of real estate that accommodates large and small businesses. The vision is intentional: reverse the North Omaha business desert, with a particular focus on the historic North 24th Street Corridor. We initiate projects to improve property value and promote job creation. The community has benefited from this decision in our generation/housing of 28 new small business and an urban job center in QCTs 11 and 12. This has contributed to modest improvements in the business climate in/around North 24th Street. The community has also benefited from visible signs of improvement in physical assets which has increased the area’s livability. The North 24th Street: Opportunity Ecosystem project furthers our commitment to implement projects that provide meaningful employment opportunities, good wages and benefits for low income residents. A key strategy included with this project is target small minority entrepreneurs within the technology, professional and creative sectors as tenants/users. Newly constructed and rehabbed buildings will add definition to the neighborhood through an acceleration of quality physical assets that provide housing, job opportunities, and business ownership opportunities. As North 24th Street fills in, it will have a positive impact on streetscaping and augment future transit-oriented development initiatives.
Our experience reinforces our commitment to build strong, sustainable neighborhoods and communities in North Omaha; our efforts address income inequality and social injustice. We use our real estate development activities as a mechanism to foster access for those who live, because of their race/ethnicity, a poor quality of life filled with the stress of living in concentrated, persistent community level poverty, un/underemployment, limited access to higher wage occupations, rent cost burdens, and significantly reduced capacity to build wealth. This project promotes equity and inclusion by incorporating hiring strategies for those who have been marginalized economically when seeking opportunities for security and advancement. While not comprehensive, it is how we are working to fundamentally transform systems that have previously constructed barriers to security and advancement. In this way, the project contributes to the long term sustainability of the community.
As a Community Development Corporation, we believe there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution to economic revitalization and that traditional, broad approaches have repeatedly failed to address the persistent socio-economic barriers persons of color experience as residents of the Omaha MSA. We developed a growth model that is research-based, focusing on understanding the causative factors that lead to racial inequity and disparities and national innovative responses/solutions to disrupting the persistent, intergenerational cycle of poverty in communities similar to North Omaha. It incorporates best practices of organizations such as the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) that works to build a racially, socially, and economically just society in which all children, youth, and families thrive. Through work products such as Placing Equity Concerns at the Center of Knowledge Development, CSSP has influenced and supported actions to support those who face the most significant barriers to opportunity with a particular emphasis on the impact of systemic and institutional racism have had on enduring economic and wealth disparities impacting African-Americans. Our growth model also incorporates proven strategies for the Just Cities and Inclusive Growth collaborative work of the J.Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City, Next City and The Nature of Cities, funded by the Ford Foundation. It is data-driven model. Organizations such as PolicyLink provided an abundance of evidence of ongoing residential segregation by race and income in the City of Omaha, along with the concentration of opportunity structures (such as high-quality schools, good jobs, and services) in higher-wealth communities, that have physically separated people from the resources, markets, and institutions they need to get ahead. Key criteria include: increasing income inequality; rising productivity but stagnant wages; a growing wealth gap; stunted economic mobility; more and deeper poverty; and persistent racial disparities. Most often, we incorporate data from the U.S. Census, American Factfinder, data.census, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, PolicyMap and City Health Dashboard. Some of our knowledge of design approach recommendations come out of the Creative Placemaking and the National Coalition for Complete Streets models and regenerative economy principles, respecting the voices of diverse local residents and stakeholders while revitalizing physical assets. Creative Placemaking authors Anne Markusen and Anne Gadwa Nicodemus, advocate for a process where: “partners from public, private, nonprofit, and community sectors strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, tribe, city, or region around arts and cultural activities. Creative placemaking animates public and private spaces, rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves local business viability and public safety, and brings diverse people together to celebrate, inspire, and be inspired”. We also considered recommendations from the literature of Mihailo Temali (The Community Economic Development Handbook: Strategies and Tools to Revitalize Your Neighborhood. Threads of his expertise were woven into our construction of low cost commercial space for start-up entrepreneurs. Temali attributes successful economic development in underserved communities to finding the untapped and hidden talent of local businesses and minimizing/eliminating barriers to their success such as the cost of rent, marketing and access to capital.
OEDC uses the following criteria to measure the success of job creation projects. The criteria are part of the Office of Community Services Community Economic Development program reporting requirements and were developed in partnership with The Community Action Partnership and are applicable to this project. Typical Key Outcomes measured are: - Total # new businesses created - Total # established businesses relocating to North 24th Street - Total # of full-time positions created for low-income and non-low-income individuals - Total # of full-time positions created for low-income individuals - Total # of part-time positions created for low-income individuals - # of full-time positions that were created for low-income individuals at least six months ago - # of full-time positions created for low-income individuals that have been or were operational in the community for AT LEAST six consecutive months - Total # of full-time positions created for low-income individuals with health care benefits - Total # of full-time positions created for low-income individuals with paid sick leave - Total # of low-income individuals trained in skills for the jobs created - Average STARTING wage of all low-income individuals, placed in full-time positions - # of individuals in full-time positions created who received job promotions - # of individuals in full-time positions created who received pay raises - Total # of low-income individuals who retained their full-time jobs for AT LEAST six consecutive months - Mix of incomes among renters - Mix of incomes among home buyers
Data is collected, aggregated and analyzed by OEDC’s Research and Development Director, using an Excel Spreadsheet. Reports are typically provided semi-annually in a Word table format, facilitating risk management of identified outcomes.
This project may act as a catalyst for secondary investment from local sources, New Market Tax Credit investors, etc. In addition, individual business owners locating in the project facilities will provide their own investments into their business.
Yes
The Opportunity Ecosystem project is a part of ongoing, holistic growth efforts in North Omaha. Specifically, organizations, residents, business owners, and local stakeholders intentionally cooperate and support each others efforts to accelerate the pace of redevelopment in the historic North 24th Street Corridor through a well coordinated plan. The following share in this work: Carver Legacy Center, Empowerment Network, Fabric Lab, Great Plains Black History Museum, Ital Vital Living, North Omaha Music and Arts, Rare Bird Innovations, Revive center Omaha/SMB Enterprises, SPARK, Styles of Evolution, The Union for Contemporary Art, and Vinson Ventures & The Honeycomb Foundation. OEDC is also partnering with CJR Construction Group, LLC for this project. The firm is a Section 3 Certified, 100% Minority Owned General Contractor whose reputation is built on contributing to the social and economic success of residents, neighborhoods and businesses. Its business approach includes community outreach, training/mentorship, and education, to grow the capacity of diverse firms in construction-related fields.
Our collaboration has been formalized in the Omaha Economic Recovery Act Coordination Plan. We have received a General Contractor Services Proposal from CJR Construction Group.
No
Buildings and parcels included in the North 24th Street: Opportunity Ecosystem project are: The Creatives Lofts, 2035 North 24th Street, will be constructed in QCT 12. The parcel is vacant and owned by OEDC. The Business & Technology Center will be constructed on vacant parcels located between N 25th – N 26th Streets, Lizzie Robinson – Lake Streets in QCT 11. OEDC has a request pending for acquisition of the parcels. (Former) Salem Pantry, 2205 North 24th Street, is located in QCT 12. This vacant building owned by OEDC. The Jewell Building, 2221 North 24th Street, is located in QCT 12. The building is occupied and owned by OEDC. (Former) Jesse’s Bar, 2311 North 24th Street, is located in QCT 12. The building is vacant and owned by OEDC. My Place, 2229 Lake Street, is located in QCT 12. The building is under a 1-year lease and is owned by OEDC. The Jensen Building, 2314 North 24th Street, is located in QCT 11. The building is occupied and owned by OEDC. (Former) Bethel AME Church, 2428 Franklin Street, is located in QCT 11. The building is vacant and owned by OEDC. Sig-n-Archer’s, 2302 North 24th Street, is located in QCT 11. The building is vacant and owned by OEDC.
Within one or more QCTs
Documents are uploaded.
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Costs were determined based on OEDC's cumulative experience in residential and real estate development and reflect the current market conditions for materials and labor.
Yes
No
OEDC selected the General Contractor based on their track record to procure and develop diverse construction trade related companies and individuals.
Within 36 months of a $40,000,000 Omaha Economic Recovery ARPA grant, the North 24th Street: Opportunity Ecosystem could be complete. This project is an alternative strategy to the traditional real estate development model which typically requires engaging lenders in transactions. In majority Black zip codes similar to this project’s target area, location characteristics play a huge role in determining the value of commercial and residential real estate. In fact, the Brookings Institute found that retail space alone is undervalued by 7% - 11% in majority Black zip codes. The OER opportunity is an extraordinary one in terms of mitigating known barriers to capital access needed for commercial and next level housing in Black zip codes.
As shown in the Table of Uses document, LB1024 grant funds will be used to support new construction and restoration/renovation costs associated with this project.
Yes
The Opportunity Ecosystem project is an economically sound investment on the part of OEDC. Anticipated cash flow from rent revenues generated to OEDC from this project will cover the ongoing future recurring expenses and have a positive impact on our operating budget. Projected Proformas (included in attachments) indicate a positive net cash flow for each of the ten years estimated by each project component.
In addition to Omaha Economic Recovery Grant funds, OEDC will seek City of Omaha Tax Increment Financing, New Market Tax Credits, Front Porch Investments, bank financing and net revenue from the sale of condos included in the project.
If notified of an award, OEDC will proceed with applications for other funding sources.
This project will not be able to continue without an award through the Omaha Economic Recovery Act opportunity.
This proposal is scalable and can be completed in smaller components
Because there are multiple real estate activities involved in the proposed project, our Schedule aligns phases of the components of the project over the course of three years. Each component is identified within the budget as a separate line item. Release of funds could align with the component schedule.
OEDC Equity in the properties and parcels could be used as part of our financial commitment for the project as well as allocations of staff time to administer all tasks.
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Additional Location Documents (see application for list) Data table of uses (breakdown of how the requested funds will be used for your proposal) Documentation of site control (proof of ownership, option, purchase contract, or long-term lease agreement) Organizational Chart Plans and detailed descriptions, including pictures and a map of the site location/surrounding area Pro Forma Proposal Budget/Sources and Uses Request Rationale Documentation Schedule