Preparing for the Future

Release Date: Friday, June 25th 2010

The Downtown BID held its joint annual Member and Board of Directors Meeting on June 21. Members submitted written ballots to re-elect directors whose current terms expire the end of September and to confirm a recent Board appointment, while the Board elected a slate of officers to serve October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2013. Richard H. Bradley, the Downtown BID’s executive director, provided an overview of the FY 2011 budget, existing and upcoming projects, as well as new initiatives that enhance the public realm.

According to Bradley, the BID will focus on six major projects in FY 2011:

  • Upgrading Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance (SAM) services 
  • Creating a remarkable urban environment through placemaking 
  • Improving transit and reducing transportation congestion
  • Growing business and maintaining Downtown’s competitive posture 
  • Reducing Downtown energy consumption
  • Improving Downtown’s identity and image “value” proposition

Developing a plan for including residential property owners as BID members, expanding funding for supportive housing for the homeless and developing an alternative plan for the Center for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV), DC’s largest  homeless shelter located at 425 2nd Street, also were discussed.

In addition, stakeholders were told that other infrastructure and physical improvements are coming soon. They are: 10 new bike-sharing stations; electric car charging stations; 38 additional recycling bins; and Chinatown Park enhancements, which will include relocating a traffic signal, re-establishing a Massachusetts Avenue curb line, four new streetlights, three new continuous tree box spaces and six new street trees.

Bradley also reported on the BID’s involvement in the New York Avenue Sculpture Project, the new bike lanes, the Downtown Streetscape and Streetlight Project and the new FRESHFARM Market on Vermont Avenue. He noted that the Downtown BID is assisting the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) with finding sites for mobile food vendors—there are now a dozen new mobile food companies in Downtown—and the BID’s annual tree survey and sidewalk cafes survey are now available.

Other meeting highlights: