A major downtown Windsor property owner is offering six months of rent-free space in six vacant storefronts on Ouellette Avenue to help new business owners and entrepreneurs become established.

Italo Ferrari — whose Toronto-area company, Wilsondale Assets Management Inc., also owns the office building at 500 Ouellette Ave. — is entering into the joint initiative with the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association.

“We all know creative people, entrepreneurs who just need a break, a hand to help them grow,” said Ferrari, who has developed similar business models in St. Catharines, Dundas and Hamilton. “They just need someone to round them all up in one place.”

In addition to the storefront project, Ferrari and the DWBIA are also working on establishing a tech industry business incubator, which would be located on the penthouse floor of 500 Ouellette. The space recently became vacant when the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation moved its offices to Manning Road in Tecumseh.

“We’re looking for tech experts, people who have loads of creative IT ideas,” Ferrari said. “Most of them are young. They’re working part-time at this, they’re working free for someone or working two jobs to make it work. They also need a place to go and we have 8,500 square feet waiting for them.”

Chris Edwards, executive director of the DWBIA, said the proposal is exciting.

“We have to do something different to bring people downtown and this has a great chance to succeed,” he said. “When you can put together a package of incentives, including free rent, facade improvements, tax abatements and other things, it all makes downtown a more attractive place to do business.”

The new initiative will be formally unveiled Thursday at 500 Ouellette with an open house, during which prospective tenants, entrepreneurs and business owners will have a chance to view some of the available spaces. Sessions begin at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Ferrari and Bob Williams, a downtown supporter who is acting as a consultant for Wilsondale, will also disclose some details about the application and business case process.

“There will be a vetting process to make sure the prospective tenants are viable and have something to offer,” Williams said. “We primarily want retail on the ground floor because that’s largely what downtown is lacking.”