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Hartford officials, on Tuesday, announced 15 grants of up to $150,000 to help open new retail and restaurant businesses, or expand new ones. The city announced its “Hart Lift” grant program in December, using $6 million in federal stimulus funds to revive a retail and restaurant scene ravaged by the pandemic. Under the program, property owners can qualify for up to $150,000 to outfit first-floor spaces for retail and restaurant businesses.

There was a line at the door when the Rundown sneaker shop opened on Pratt Street in downtown Hartford for the first time on Saturday. On Sunday, Bloom Bake Shop announced it had leased one of the shops on the historic brick-lined Pratt Street. The short and historic commercial street is a particular focus for revitalization by officials trying to regain retail momentum stolen by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin’s offer of up to $150,000 in grants to prepare and outfit vacant ground-floor retail spaces for new businesses has drawn dozens of applicants. Eighteen days after the Dec. 2 announcement of the program, 25 property owners had filed applications with the Hartford Chamber of Commerce, with 38 more beginning the process, according to Julio Concepcion, the chamber’s executive director. The city is funding the program with $6 million of its $112 million American Rescue Plan Act allocation.