Officials for the city expect to have nearly $600,000 in Community Development Block Grants to distribute in 2016, with the vast majority going to the city’s downtown facade-improvement program.

A required public hearing on the grant funding is planned for Monday’s meeting.

Community Development Project Manager John Collum told the council on Monday that of the $599,682 in new funding expected in the next round of grants, more than $317,000 will go to downtown.

Property owners willing to make at least $10,000 in improvements to their buildings can receive matching grants from the city as part of the program. The purpose, Collum said, was to incentivize public investment and encourage the rehabilitation of older buildings.

“We think by making downtown look better it will attract new businesses and customers,” he said. Each loan is a five-year term with 0 percent interest with the possibility of forgiveness if the owner maintains the property and keeps it occupied.

So far there have been two applications for buildings downtown, with the largest being the former Renton Western Wear building looking to make $500,000 in improvements. The city will only match for improvements to the outside of the building, so a loan of about $200,000 is expected to be approved soon with work beginning within two months.

The second building is across the intersection and contains a Pho restaurant. Though still in the early stages, the city expects the owner to ask for about $25,000 for improvements to the outside.