Butler Downtown offers low-interest loans
It takes longer to prepare a margherita pizza at Mac's Brick Oven Pizza in Butler than it does to cook one in the brick oven that is an essential ingredient in the recipes of all of the shop's signature pies.
The special oven, which cooks pizzas in just two minutes, is part of the restaurant equipment and furnishings that shop owner Spencer McKivigan set up when he opened for business in January 2019. The space was renovated with money borrowed from the revolving loan program that Butler Downtown runs for the city.
“It was in bad shape,” said Scott Taggart, the building's owner.
After buying the three-story building on East Jefferson Street in 2015, Taggart converted the top floor into a home where he and his wife live, and converted the second floor into two apartments, but didn't have a plan for the first floor.
That changed in 2018 when Butler City Council and Butler Downtown revived the revolving loan program, and the Springhill Suites by Marriott opened across the street.
Taggart said he received numerous offers for the space, but McKivigan's proposal for the pizza shop seemed like the right fit.
Taggart used a $35,000 loan from the program to renovate the first floor and McKivigan has been selling pizzas to hotel guests and other customers ever since.
“The revolving loan was the perfect opportunity at the perfect time,” Taggart said.
The loan fund has about $30,000 available to loan to owners of commercial and mixed-use properties in the Main Street project area, which is bound by Penn Street to the north, Wayne Street to the south, McKean Street to the east and Washington Street to the west.
The interest rate is 1.5 percent below the current prime rate, with a minimum loan amount of $15,000.
“It's the cheapest money that is available out there. It's certainly better than anything you can get from a bank at this point in time,” said Matt McCune, who heads the Butler Downtown loan committee that reviews the applications.
City council votes on the applications the committee recommends for approval.
Taggart's application was one of only two that were approved from the six applications submitted since the program was revived in 2018. Loan payments are used to fund future loans.
Principal and interest payments are held in separate accounts. Interest payments are split between the two accounts. The interest account covers Butler Downtown's cost for administering the program. The principal account is the source of the loans, McCune said.
Loans can be spent in many ways, including acquiring property, engineering and legal costs, remodeling, construction, demolition, HVAC and signage, he said.
The loan program started more than 10 years ago with a loan the city received from the state's Department of Community and Economic Development. The program was dormant for several years until council and Butler Downtown revived it using money that remained in the account.
“It's a great opportunity if you have the will and desire,” Taggart said.
