Starting a Non-Profit/After School Program to fill empty retail?

[Joe San]

Has anyone had any experience appealing to local government, or even starting a non profit organization that caters to afterschool/community center, etc.?

One of my business partners has a commercial property that he is mismanaging and it is set off the road some and there is a couple thousand sq ft of mixed use that he simply is leaving empty, this is in a HCOL area and there has to be a better use for this than being empty (of course).  

Because of this space being off the road some and needing some maintenance it simply doesn't have the appeal to any businesses in the area, the one thing the area could really use though is a community center/after school program or just somewhere for kids to go to .  

I was wondering if anyone has ever had a situation like this and have they ever formed some sort of non profit and spoken to the local government about funding to put empty retail space to use? 

Any stories or insight is appreciated, thanks!