--- ## title: Grant for General Sports Bar ## author: Douglas Shumway date: D:20240501220600Z --- ## Item Report August 13, 2026 ## Housing & Redevelopment Authority ## Item Number: 7.1 Department: Community Development ## Item Activity: Action Prepared By: Bill Neuendorf, Economic Dev Mgr Item Title: SPARC Grant for General Sports Bar, LLC at 5034 France Avenue ## Action Requested: Approve the Grant Agreement with The General Sports Bar, LLC and authorize staff to implement the terms therein. ## Information/Background: Staff recommends that the HRA Board award a SPARC Streamlined Grant to a local business to enable them to modernize an existing restaurant space located at 5034 France Avenue. Business partners Marty Collins and Brett Johnson signed a lease and intend to open a new restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Salut. The new restaurant is called General Sports Bar aka GSB. The new restaurant will include dozens of tv screens with a focus on hockey. The business partners will gut and completely remodel the interior spaces and refresh the outdoor patio. The new owners will also create a new lower level game room for patrons. During the demolition phase, the owners realized that the actual costs will be higher than initially budgeted. Without the grant, they will not be able to move forward with the full scope of their business plan. A grant, up to $24,000 is recommended to offset a portion of their $900,000+ remodeling project. Grant funds will be issued after completion of the work and no later than 12/31/2026. The work is poised to begin immediately so that completion no later than November 2026 is possible. The grant eligible work includes $38,500 in costs to replace a rear loading dock with a new ramp, refresh the patio pavers to better accommodate wheelchairs and construct a new ADA ramp to access the lower level game room. The attached staff presentation summarizes the Streamlined Grant program and the proposed project. The business owner will be in attendance to answer questions about their business. ## Resources/Financial Impacts: No direct levy impact. The SPARC grant funds are sourced from previously collected incremental property taxes from commercial TIF Districts in Edina. The grant funds are not sourced from the general property tax levy. ## Relationship to City Policies/Plans/Budget Pillars: ## Comprehensive Plan, Amended Spending Plan for Unobligated TIF Funds ## Strong Foundation - The SPARC Program strives to strengthen the commercial tax base in Edina. ## Livable City - The SPARC Program strives to enable businesses to open and expand to better serve Edina residents as well as the broader market area. ## Values Impact: ## Stewardship The SPARC Program invests previously collected monies to strengthen the commercial tax base, create jobs and enable businesses that serve the Edina community. ## Supporting Documentation: Documents marked with "Board Portal" do not meet ADA Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (URL) and are not included in the public packet. To request a board portal document, please submit a data request (URL). ## 1. Staff presentation SPARC - General Sports Bar 8-13-2026 ## 2. Edina SPARC Grant Agreement - General Sports Bar 8-13-2026