The Gelateria on South Grand will return. Since a fire forced the cafe to close last March, Andy and Amanda Fair have been working–steadily–on plans to bring it back.
But, as they were in the process of securing historic tax credits and getting their affairs in order to begin the rebuild, they found out the federal agency backing their “monster” loan, the Small Business Administration, needs a lot more money up front. Midway through the process, earlier this year, Andy says they found out the SBA wants them to put 15 percent of their $2.4 million loan down instead of 10 percent, a lower rate the SBA grants to businesses that have operated for more than two years.
The local SBA office told SLM in an email Wednesday that privacy regulations prevented it from discussing specific applications, but said applications are evaluated through a process that goes through “centralized underwriting centers” but not local offices. They added that the office is dedicated to helping local businesses and would be able to meet with the Gelateria to discuss next steps…