Mayor Bowser and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, in partnership with the Council of the District of Columbia, are strategically investing up to $2.5 million in the Commercial Property Acquisition Fund (CPAF). Investment is subject to FY25 budget availability. 

The Commercial Property Acquisition Fund is devised to provide down payment assistance through grants of up to $500,000 or 25% of the sale price, whichever is less, to eligible DC-based businesses looking to maintain and expand their operations to a physical presence by acquiring commercial property located in the District. The program is designed for business applicants to own and occupy the commercial property for at least 7 years. 

City First Enterprises (CFE) is the grant administrator and main point of contact for this program.  For questions or assistance regarding this grant program or application, please email cpaf@cfenterprises.org.

One Pager and FAQs can be found here. 

Please note: 

• Your application is the first step to accessing the grant. 
• CFE will not consider previous applications under the Commercial Property Acquisition Fund. Please submit a new application.
• Fill out one application per business legal entity.
• We cannot recover your password or provide IT support. For any technical/IT questions, please reach out to Submittable, the grants management platform, for assistance.  Submittable's help page can be accessed here: https://www.submittable.com/help/submitter/.
• You need to create a submittable account to access the application. Follow the instructions below.
• The application will remain open until we conditionally award all the funds. 

Current percentage of funds available is: 100% (March 20, 2025).