Business Façade Improvement Grants

Applicants must provide the following as part of the application process.

Business information

• Name, address, and contact details
• Business activity
• Australian Business Number (ABN)

Evidence of property ownership or commercial tenancy agreement within the City of Stonnington

This includes:

• Property owner: Deed of Title or Council rates notice
• Business owner or tenant: Commercial lease agreement

Evidence of business financial viability

This includes:

• Profit and Loss Statement, cash flow and balance sheet audited or certified by an accountant for FY23/24
• Most recent business bank account statement from the previous three months showing closing balance (redaction of private information permitted)

Project details

You must include the project name, as well as details of the project brief:

• What – overview of the proposed works, including sketches, designs and/or site plans (including before and after photos or sketches)
• Why – explanation of what the project will achieve (the improvements it will make)
• Where – location of the project including site plans and photos
• When – timeline for the project
• Who – outline the team that will manage and undertake the project, including project supervisors and contractors/installers, including a summary of their skills and experience
• How – detailed project delivery plan (steps of key activities from start to finish)
• How much – detailed realistic budget for proposed works and appropriate cash flow available to complete the project.

A business site visit may be undertaken by City of Stonnington Officers to verify the current façade or to verify what has been submitted.

Grant acquittals

On completion of the project, successful applicants will be required to submit an Acquittal Report through Council's SmartyGrants online platform by no later than 25 May 2026.

Eligibility 

 The City of Stonnington’s Business Façade Improvement Grants are designed to assist small to medium sized businesses.

To be eligible for a Business Façade Improvement Grant of up to $5000 (ex GST), applicants must:

• Be a legally constituted entity or a registered business and have an active Australian Business Number (ABN)

• Have a demonstrated investment in the city including:

1. a signed commercial property lease arrangement within the City of Stonnington extending beyond 30 June 2026, and/or 
2. ownership of a commercial property (tenanted or vacant) located in the City of Stonnington

• Have written permission from all affected property owners to undertake these works (if project impacts yours and/or adjacent properties)
• Have a total business turnover of less than $2 million in the previous financial year for the commercial business located within Stonnington

• Provide verified financial evidence that the applicant has sufficient funds available to finance the complete project without the support of the City of Stonnington’s grant
• Be delivering a project that improves a business façade on the ground floor and/or first floor of a commercial property within a commercial precinct in the City of Stonnington
• Submit a comprehensive project plan that aligns with the aims of the grant
• have a project that will be completed between 15 September 2025 – 30 April 2026 after a successful funding agreement is executed

• Have all appropriate insurances, permits and licences for the proposed project or can demonstrate that the projects have been discussed with the relevant authorities including but not limited to the City of Stonnington’s Planning, Building, Local Laws and Health departments, and relevant paperwork for these processes have been lodged
• Provide proof that the applicant holds a current Public Liability Insurance of no less than $20 million
• Have no pending acquittals or debts to the City of Stonnington or have failed to comply with the terms and conditions of any previous funding agreement with the City of Stonnington
• Only submit one grant application per property

• Advise all affected stakeholders of the works to be completed

Who is not eligible to apply?

Business Façade Improvement Grants will not be awarded to:

• an applicant who does not meet the eligibility or assessment criteria listed above
• political organisations or businesses that have a political purpose
• Government departments or agencies, foundations or grant making bodies
• an employee or Councillor of the City of Stonnington or their immediate family. This does not include an application from an organisation that an employee, Councillor, or their immediate family member may be part of
• an applicant that the City of Stonnington considers to support, promote or facilitate violence, intolerance, or discrimination
• an applicant who has outstanding debts to the City of Stonnington
• an applicant who is in legal conflict with the City of Stonnington
• an applicant who has failed to provide satisfactory acquittal reporting for any previous City of Stonnington funding
• an applicant who has already received City of Stonnington funding (including in-kind) for the same project within the same financial year
• an applicant who has already applied for City of Stonnington funding (including in-kind) for the same project within the same financial year, and been refused
• an applicant who conducts themselves in a way that the City of Stonnington considers to be injurious or prejudicial to the character or interests of the municipality
• an applicant with or who has had a major/critical non-compliance order
• unincorporated associations, branches, large and/or established franchisees or subsidiaries of larger companies.

You must provide the following supporting documents:

• Evidence of business ownership
• Evidence of current public liability insurance
• Evidence to confirm the business income is below $2 million per annum (income statement)
• Minimum of 2 high resolution ‘before’ photos
• Evidence of permits, approvals and licenses that have been attained or are in the process of being acquired
• Evidence of relevant business insurances
• Evidence of written consent from the property owner for the project work (if activity affects the property)
• Evidence of how the project will be funded (only applications providing sufficient financial documentation will be assessed)
• Evidence of a signed commercial property lease arrangement within the City of Stonnington extending beyond 30 June 2026, and/or
• Evidence of ownership of a commercial property located in the City of Stonnington
• Comprehensive project budget
• Minimum of 2 verified written quotes for each component of the project to demonstrate that the project budget is realistic
• Comprehensive project plan, drawings and timeline

Applications will be assessed against the degree to which they meet the following criteria:

Applications will be assessed on their eligibility and ability to deliver on the program objectives.

Eligible applicants are not guaranteed funding.

Only the strongest applications will receive funding through a competitive assessment process.

Ineligible applications will be excluded from the assessment process.

All funding decisions are final.

All applicants will be notified of the result of their application.

Applications will be kept confidential and not be disclosed to any person outside the application and assessment process.

Full information on the Grants program including terms and conditions, can be found in the Guidelines-Business-Facade-Improvement-Grants-2025-26.pdf(PDF, 1MB)