DETROIT (WXYZ) — Dan Gilbert's Bedrock Detroit announced on Thursday plans for rent relief to small businesses as they begin to open their doors.
The "Bedrock Relaunch" program will waive rent in June as a grace period, and then continue to waive rent through the end of the year in exchange for those restaurants and businesses to pay 7% of their gross sales.
Earlier this year, Bedrock announced they were waiving rent for April, May and June amid the coronavirus pandemic as most stores and restaurants were shut down.
Bedrock Relaunch will also allow the businesses to apply the security deposit toward re-opening costs and costs associated with space modifications.
“It is becoming clear that even when all businesses are able to reopen, it’s unlikely their sales volume will immediately return to pre-pandemic levels, and we want to make sure that rent payments aren’t a barrier to success,” Bedrock CEO Matt Cullen said in a release. “Dan Gilbert founded Bedrock 10 years ago on the principle that a landlord should be an invested partner with each tenant as well as a responsible corporate citizen. We are committed to doing everything we can to make sure we all come out of this together, including looking into experiential initiatives that will help drive traffic back to storefronts.”
The temporary lease amendment will expire at the end of the year, but the company said they are planning several events including sidewalk and street closures to increase safe dining capacity, converting parking lots into drive-in move theaters and special shopping events.
“Real estate leaders, entrepreneurs, and municipalities will need to come together to find creative solutions for a safe reopening of local economies,” continued Cullen. “I believe Main Streets across America will look different for a while yet, but if we all work together, reopening can still be successful.”
Those businesses eligible for Bedrock Reluanch must be currently operating as a retailer before Dec. 31, 2020 and be in good standing for their lease agreement.
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