Tomball City Council has signed off on a $40,000 grant to help the owners of Sno Angels Sno Balls transform a former insurance office on West Main Street into their new storefront. The authorization, approved Monday, funnels public money into a private renovation project that city officials say exemplifies exactly what the program was designed to do.
The grant was awarded to the owners of Sno Angels Sno Balls, who are remodeling the former A-Max Auto Insurance building at 525 W. Main St., according to Community Impact. A rendering presented at the council meeting showed the new business will completely remodel the existing building, swapping out its insurance-office bones for a storefront built around snowballs instead of policy quotes.
How the Facade Grant Works
The money comes from the Old Town Facade Improvement Grant, which is overseen by the Tomball Economic Development Corporation and provides between $40,000 and $50,000 for local business owners, per the same report. The program promotes economic development and stimulates business in the city through public-private partnerships, offering incentives for renovating, rehabilitating, restoring and enhancing facades in Old Town Tomball, according to the Tomball Economic Development Corporation.
To qualify, businesses eligible for the grant must sit within the Old Town Tomball district, make a major visual change to the building facade, and meet all zoning and permitting regulations. The program is not limited to exterior work alone — it can help incentivize improvements that are exterior as well as interior, the report notes, which means the grant can cover more than just a fresh coat of paint on the front window.
A Small Building, a Big Investment
Kelly Violette said the project is an example of the Old Town Facade Improvement Grant and represents a large investment in a small building on Main Street. Violette added that the program is designed for properties within the Old Town area and can incentivize exterior and interior improvements, underscoring how a modest storefront can become a flagship example of the grant's intent.
Tomball has leaned on this incentive before. In February, the Tomball Economic Development Corporation agenda included possible action on a separate $40,000 Old Town Facade Improvement Grant for Tejas Dragon Companies, LLC at 306 Market Street, according to a Tomball Economic Development Corporation agenda, with estimated project expenditures listed at the same figure. The Sno Angels grant is for improvements to a small storefront on Main Street.
For now, the former A-Max Auto Insurance building stands as the next test case for the grant program, with its remodel rendering already shown to council members. The $40,000 in public money is meant to seed a private transformation of a small Main Street building into a snowball shop.
