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PRESS RELEASE

DowntownDC BID Report Highlights Major Programs, Achievements and Goals

Release Date: Wednesday, March 16th 2011

Present Progress Underscores the Promise Still Ahead

WASHINGTON, DC – The DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) has released its 2010 Annual Report, which shows the organization continued to forge critical partnerships, set high standards, and provide bold leadership that creates a remarkable urban environment in Downtown Washington, DC.

This year’s report is more condensed and user-friendly and reflects recent operational changes within the organization’s program areas.  Overall, it shows that fiscal year 2010 was a time of recovery, as Downtown regained ground stifled by the most recent global financial and economic downturn.

“This period of renewal and consolidation was not lost on the DowntownDC BID,” said Richard H. Bradley, executive director of the DowntownDC BID. “We took time to restructure our operations to maximize priorities and focus in greater detail on improving Downtown’s physical environment with an eye toward placemaking and the quality of experience in public places and spaces.”

The report highlights the BID’s achievements and goals in key areas: operations, public spaces, planning, communications and special events, economic development and leadership, finance and administration.

Among the highlights:

  • Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance workers (SAMs) continued to perform critical roles, collecting 189,644 bags of trash and assisting 325,950 visitors.
  • The DowntownDC BID hosted the first Downtown Eco-District Summit in conjunction with the Urban Land Institute (ULI).
  • The DowntownDC BID guided efforts to establish the city’s first business retention/recruitment strategy for office space.
  • Average crime per day in Downtown stood at 3.2% for the year, down from 7.4% in 1999.
  • The DowntownDC BID moved 36 homeless persons off the streets and into housing.
  • The DowntownDC BID helped deliver world-class public art through the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ New York Avenue Sculpture Project.

Going forward, the DowntownDC BID will continue to guide Downtown’s future economic growth and vitality by embracing opportunities that include bringing new focus to emergency management initiatives; developing automated defect reporting of two dozen public realm elements; forming partnerships to address homeless feeding programs in streets and parks; expanding and upgrading in-service training for SAMs; and creating a Downtown Eco-District.

“We’re able to execute and meet such an ambitious agenda because of dedicated staff and our strong public and private partnerships,” said Bradley. “Overall, the year underscored the promise still ahead: heightened interest from investors, buy-in from stakeholders and the willingness of our many partners to help us do what we do best—make remarkable things happen.”

For more details and insights, the DowntownDC BID’s Annual Report is available at www.DowntownDC.org/Annual.