The following are a selection of international case studies. For more details on BIDs please visit the website of the International Downtown Association.

14th Street BID, New York City

Location: Downtown Manhattan
BID Establishment: 1984
Budget: $1m
Assessment Rate: 0.0036% (including residents)

Characteristics of the Area

• 14th Street-Union Square is a transportation hub with 14 bus routes, 14 subway lines and PATH access to New Jersey.

• Diverse area with a large residential population, including a significant student presence through the proximity of NYU facilities

• Business centre and ‘Creative Corridor’- a hub for advertising, PR, graphic design, architects and publishing industries

• Over one million square feet of new commercial and residential developments completed or underway along 14th Street.

• Cultural destination in its own right.

• Six area hospitals and numerous healthcare providers. 14th Street-Union Square is home to a medical community hosting over 1 million patient visits per year.

www.unionsquarenyc.org

Location: Harlem
BID Establishment: 1993
Budget: $275,000

Characteristics of the Area

• The BID is located in central Harlem and incorporates the owners of 100 properties on both sides of 125th Street.

• The area is the central shopping district for residents of the community. Some of Harlem’s greatest tourist attractions are located here, including the Apollo Theater, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Cotton Club and the National Black Theater

• There are also a variety of services and retail businesses including small and medium sized stores, a post office, utility companies, the Theresa Hotel, government buildings, non-profit institutions and community-based organisations.

• New stores such as HMV have moved to the area and there are several stores selling sportswear. There is also an abundance of business supporting the hair-braiding industry, as well as numerous nail boutiques.

www.125thstreetbid.com

Alliance for Downtown New York

Location: Downtown Manhattan
BID Establishment: 1995
Budget: $14m
Assessment Rate: 13c/sq ft

Characteristics of the Area

• The BID comprises 400 city block faces and is the City’s largest BID, covering a square mile at Manhattan’s southern tip.

• Downtown Manhattan is the fastest growing community in NYC. In 1995 there were 1,800 converted residential units and by 2000 this has risen to 6,800.

• Downtown’s tourist population each year is over 7 million. The number is tourists now staying in the area has now risen dramatically. In 1995 there were only six hotels and this has risen to eleven existing or in development.

• The Alliance BID has experienced significant change over the past year since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center which sits within the area.

www.downtownny.org

Cape Town City Improvement District

Location: Cape Town, South Africa
BID Establishment: November 2000 (from Cape Town Partnership)
Budget: R14,783,628 (approx £1,232,201)
Assessment Rate: Based on 9.5% of rates income in the area

Characteristics of the Area

• The Partnership formed a special CID Working Group which held the view that one CID comprising various precincts would be the most desired option for the central city. Here, each precinct would retain a certain amount of identity and autonomy, but would fall under one umbrella body

• The CID seeks to boost levels of security and cleanliness in the central city through a top-up levy paid by businesses operating within the CID´s boundaries.

• There are two primary objectives: the attainment of world class standards in the Cape Town central city, and the branding, positioning, marketing and establishment of the central city as a globally competitive city with a globally competitive product offering.

• The CID boundaries have recently been extended

• The board is made up entirely of property owners (with one representative from the City of Cape Town) and is therefore run wholly by the private sector

• The CID guarantees 30 levels of services for the city, from maintenance to street wardens

Projects:

• In order to understand what the issues and concerns are amongst the daily users of the central city, the Cape Town Partnership conducted a perceptions survey to gauge opinions on the following issues:
  ~Public transport and its effectiveness
  ~Safety and security
  ~Cleansing
  ~Informal trading
  ~Vagrants
  ~Informal parking attendants
  ~General conditions of street furniture and signposting
  ~Retail trading hours
  ~The opinions of business owners with regard to trading in the central city

• During the first month of operation alone, CID-deployed Community Patrol Officers or CPOs, made over 300 arrests.

• Through the dedicated levy, property owners in the central city have effectively increased security five-fold. This has meant an additional 129 Community Patrol Officers and 8 horse-mounted patrol officers in the CID area. This complements the already successful CCTV camera system that operates throughout the inner city.

• Currently, cleansing is performed by the local authority and by a sub-contractor appointed by the Partnership. What the local authority does during the day is repeated by the Partnership’s cleansing contractor at night which means that the CID is literally clean around the clock.

www.capetowncid.co.za

Center City Philadelphia

Location: Central District of Philadelphia
BID Establishment: 1990
Budget: $11.9m
Assessment Rate: 0.0875%

Characteristics of the Area

• The Center City District includes more than 2,100 property owners and 6,000 commercial tenants and employers. It encompasses 120 blocks in the business district.

• The population has declined by 600,000 to 1.5m in 30 years.

• 17 out-of-town shopping areas had been established with more than 13,000 car parking spaces.

• 36m sq ft of office space remains downtown but growth in Business Parks means this represents only one third of the total compared with 40% in Boston and 57% in Manhattan.

• The centre is 2% of the area, has 46% of the jobs, but only 4% of the residents; 96% live in the suburbs.

• CCD is administered by a professional staff and devotes the overwhelming share of its resources to highly visible and effective on-street programs.

www.centercityphila.org

Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA)

Location: Vancouver, Canada
BID Establishment: April 1990
Budget: annual budget $1.8 million (approx £713,920)
Assessment Rate: 33.8 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, per year, the lowest levy of any BIA in Vancouver

Characteristics of the Area

• A 90-block area that consists of 8,000 businesses, property owners and tenants

• All 8,000 businesses that own or lease property within the 90-block downtown area are members

Projects:

• The Downtown Ambassadors® Program is comprised of 16 full-time Ambassadors, who are trained to provide hospitality assistance and crime prevention services

• The ambassadors patrol a 90-block area both on foot and by bike, seven days per week from 7:00 am to 10:30 pm.

• Loss Prevention Officer Program is comprised of six full-time loss prevention officers, who are trained to protect members and their property from theft and vandalism. Specific areas of focus are retail stores, office towers, hotels, parkades and public events

• Business Links is an information-sharing program that was created in 1998 to assist security and business personnel within the DVBIA boundaries to keep abreast of criminal activity

• Crime Alert Pager Program is comprised of security professionals and members of the business community that link law enforcement to other community resources

• The DVBIA is committed to addressing many of the "aesthetic" issues of the downtown. This is done in two ways: careful monitoring and reporting of issues to the appropriate civic agency and through on the street programs to both clean and beautify areas of the downtown.

• Best Foot Forward Program asks members to conduct a monthly "walkabout" through their specific downtown district. They identify problems like graffiti, garbage, poor lighting, vagrancy and property damage, all of which directly affect the perceptions and enjoyment of the area.

• Downtown Clean Team

• street banners along the length of Granville Street. The banners not only brighten up the street year-round but also designate the area as the Entertainment District

• installation of hanging flower baskets each summer

www.downtownvancouver.net

Grand Central Partnership, New York City

Location: Midtown Manhattan
BID Establishment: 1988
Budget: $11m
Assessment Rate: 11-16c/sq ft

Characteristics of the Area

• The Grand Central Partnership covers 68 blocks. This includes over 76 million square feet of commercial space, comprising 14% of Manhattan’s total office space.

• The district is used by half a million people each day, including 200,000 commuters and 226,000 subway station users.

• The district has one of the highest pedestrian counts in the city, averaging 7,500 people an hour at the corner of 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue.

• The newly renovated Grand Central Station now houses 50 new retail stores, 6 restaurants, 5 cafes, 25 take-out food bars and a fresh food market.

• There are 69 major hotels in the district with over 28,000 rooms.

www.grandcentralpartnership.org

Queen Street Mall

Location: Brisbane, Australia
BID Establishment: September 1998
Budget: (no figures) 75% of the costs were funded by traders, 25% by Brisbane City Council
Assessment Rate: No details - see above

Characteristics of the Area

• Many of the old mall´s features and facilities were over 10 years old, and were in need of a significant overhaul to ensure community safety and reduce long term maintenance.

• A dynamic partnership was formed between the Council and City Heart businesses, with 75% of the costs of the new-look funded by traders. The initial design was developed after extensive consultation with the community and retailers. The design was displayed at various locations for viewing and feedback.

• In designing the new Mall, it was decided to capture all that is unique and special about living in Brisbane:
  ~ the tropical climate and plants
  ~ verandahs
  ~ dappled light
  ~ open spaces and
  ~ summer rains

• The new mall is a meeting place and an important focus of the city´s retail, leisure, recreation and relaxation opportunities, which now provides a diverse range of experiences for visitors, shoppers and workers.

• Some of the features include:
  ~ Safe, spacious, well equipped public areas
  ~ extensive shade from the Queensland sun
  ~ generous seating
  ~ premier entertainment venues
  ~ innovative alfresco dining
  ~ interesting contemporary public art, landscaping and architecture and
  ~ a procession trail for public parades.

www.brisbane.qld.gov.au

Times Square BID

Location: Midtown Manhattan
BID Establishment: 1992
Budget: $8.7m
Assessment Rate: 0.3% (plus $1 charge to residents

Characteristics of the Area

• 27,000 residents (greater Times Square area)

• 213,000 employees (greater Times Square area)

• 20 million tourist per annum (3.8m overnight stays)

• 400 property owners

• 5,000 businesses and organisations

• 21 million square feet of office space

• 12,500 hotel rooms in 28 hotels (constitutes one-fifth of all NYC hotels)

• 39 theatres (including all 22 Broadway theatres)

• 250 restaurants

• 10 cinemas

• 1.5m daily commuters

• Two police precincts, one NYPD 24-hour substation and one fire station

www.timessquarebid.org

Waikiki Business Improvement District Association

Location: City of Honolulu, Island of Oahu, State of Hawaii
BID Establishment: September 2000
Budget: $1,930,000 (approx £1,174,800)
Assessment Rate: All commercial, nonresidential properties in Waikiki are assessed. Rates vary depending on location. Properties in the Kalakaua/Kuhio Corridor pay the full rate and receive primary services. Other areas receiving the indirect benefits of an improved neighborhood pay only a portion of the full rate.

FY 2003 Rates:

~ Kalakaua/Kuhio Corridor ($0.41/$1,000 assessed value)
~ Kalakaua Makai ($0.1367/$1,000 assessed value)
~ Greater Waikiki ($0.1025/$1,000 assessed value)

Characteristics of the Area

• The area covers 1 square mile (600 acres), approximately 1/100th of 1% of the state´s land area.

• Population: About 19,000 people reside in Waikiki (14,000 residential units), and on an average day hosts 70,000 visitors and 37,500 employees.

• Economy: Waikiki generates half of the state´s visitor industry expenditures, 13% ($5.2 billion) of the Gross State Product and 12% of all jobs.

Projects:

• Malama Waikiki Crew: Streetscape Maintenance Program
  Attired in bright blue shirts and vests emblazoned with the WBIDA logo, the Malama Waikiki Crew provides around the clock cleaning and maintenance services.

• Aloha Patrol Officers: Security & Hospitality Services
  Patrolling the streets of Waikiki, working closely with police and private security, Aloha Patrol Officers promote the safety and well being of those who utilize the Kalakaua-Kuhio Avenue corridor. Works continues to develop the electronic databases to track performance and progress of WBIDA contractors and the City agencies that provide baseline services in the area.

• City & County of Honolulu Numbers & LinksSpot a problem along the street? Here´s who to contact at the City & County of Honolulu.

www.waikikibid.org

Back to top