- December 13, 2025
Palm Coast is launching its first major economic incentive grant program that hopes to draw new businesses to Palm Coast’s Town Center.
The Downtown Urban Core Tenant Improvement grant will reimburse build-out costs, up to a certain amount, for eligible businesses located in the Town Center downtown area. Specifically, the program is aimed at restaurants and retail businesses.
Though there are little to no such spaces applicable currently, that is shortly to change: The Promenade, which broke ground across from Central Park in 2024, is expected to be finished by the summer of 2026. It features apartments on its upper floors and 57,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, office and institutional space, according to Palm Coast meeting documents.
This grant would help fill those spaces.
Community Development Director John Zobler said the program is meant to draw businesses to Palm Coast’s Town Center by helping alleviate some of the startup costs.
“The strategic purpose here is, number one, to attract high-quality, local business in the urban core, and to help these first in businesses to reduce startup costs,” Zobler said.
Businesses could then use their funding for revenue stabilization, he said. The money for the new grant program is part of the $1.3 million the city had budgeted for the Economic Development department of the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
The grant will also help entice prospective businesses to The Promenade, which is located further off the beaten path than business directly on State Road 100. The downtown Town Center area surrounding Central Park is designed to attract “boutique, niche and high-quality restaurant and retail businesses.”
Town Center has already seen the interest from businesses between plans for a new YMCA located next The Stage at Town Center, a proposed Serenity Falls mini golf course and the regular interest and performances at The Stage itself, Zobler said.
Palm Coast economic development staff are also in the process of conducting a feasibility study for a boutique, 100-room hotel, he said.
“This unique stay experience is becoming increasingly possible because of all the public and private investment that has been made in our downtown Town Center,” Zobler said.
The council unanimously approved of the program.
“I think it will begin delivering right away,” Councilman Ty Miller said. “The Promenade is the first domino that needs to fall for it to hit critical mass in this area, to become a viable working downtown area.”
Qualifying businesses will include full-service restaurants, non-full-service restaurants, quick-service restaurants, “retailtainment” shops and tap rooms. Restaurants are the primary focus of the grant because of the exorbitant startup costs to build out a space for a restaurant.
Grant funding would be divided to eligible businesses based on the square footage and the type of business, with caps on how much square footage per business is eligible for grant reimbursement.
A tap room and full-service restaurant, for example, could receive $40 per square foot, not to exceed 5,000 and 6,000 square feet, respectively.
The startup costs are also not covered 100% by the grant: only specified types of work are covered, up to a certain amount, Zobler said. Those improvements include interior electrical, plumbing, lighting and HVAC upgrades as well as ADA-compliance improvements, kitchen equipment, seating, life safety improvements and more.
The tenant must also cover 10% of the cost of the build out and commit to a five-year lease at the location.
But the program will be short-lived. According to the details, it will end in September 2026.
