Once known as Milwaukee's second downtown,
the Historic King Drive commercial district fell into disrepair after race riots
roiled the neighborhood in the late 1960s.
Today, the blocks surrounding the
intersection of North Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (formerly North
Third Street) are filling with new stores and offices. Property values in the
district have risen 41 percent in six years.
A few miles to the southeast, renovated
storefronts entice shoppers to Brady Street, once the epicenter of Milwaukee's
hippie culture. Victorian-era commercial buildings shimmer under new coats of
paint. The Passagio, a new two-story mixed-use development, stands on what had
been a vacant lot.
Along the street, property values have risen
nearly 48 percent in five years. By comparison, the average assessment of
commercial property in the city of Milwaukee climbed 13 percent during the same
period.
Brady Street and Historic King Drive share
more than higher property values. They are two of Milwaukee's 16 Business
Improvement Districts and examples of what such districts can do to spruce up
neighborhood commercial strips.
"In general, BIDs are a good
thing," says Bob Trimmier, the City of Milwaukee's coordinator of
neighborhood commercial revitalization, or "The Neighborhood Guy" as
he's known to some.
"In areas of extremely low value, they
may not be the right tool," Trimmier said. "In those areas, BIDs are
almost punitive. There has to be enough [property] value to have it make sense
... But we have enough examples where they work very well; in some cases, beyond
our wildest dreams."
Indeed, an increasing number of Wisconsin
communities are finding Business Improvement Districts an effective tool in
revitalizing and supporting neighborhood shopping areas.
According to the University of
Wisconsin-Extension's Local Government Center, the state has more than 50 BIDs
in three dozen communities. Four have been established in Milwaukee alone this
year, and more are in the planning stages across the state.
All have been created since 1984, when
Wisconsin Act 184 allowed municipalities to establish one or more Business
Improvement Districts in their communities.
Restricted to non-tax exempt commercial and
industrial properties, BIDs collect annual assessments to support programs aimed
at promoting, managing, maintaining and developing the district.
"In short, the BID mechanism picks up
where city services leave off," said Charles Law, a Community Planning and
Design Specialist with the Local Government Center.
In all, Wisconsin's BIDs represented more
than $889 million in assessed value in 1996, according to the Local Government
Center.
As news of flourishing BIDs has spread, the
tool has come under closer scrutiny by city officials and business owners who
want to duplicate the success found elsewhere. But Law, who receives a telephone
call a day about BIDs, cautions planners that BIDs aren't for every business
district.
"The number one thing I tell communities
is that, before you talk about creating a BID, you should think about how those
BID funds are going to be used," Law said. "You don't want to talk
about the (tax) assessment level without first figuring out what you want to
do."
If business districts are considering a
one-time project, such as installing decorative lighting or window treatments, a
special assessment might make more sense, Law said. On the other hand, if the
project will continue over months or years, a BID can be an ideal way of
supporting it, he said.
Law counsels communities across Wisconsin on
how to set up BIDs. The Local Government Center provides a sheet summarizing the
seven-step BID Creation Process and also has up-to-date information on its web
site (http://www.uwex.edu/lgc/cp&d/bidpage/bid.htm).
The idea for a BID often originates among
business leaders. Once they have determined why they need a district, the next
step is to build consensus among owners in the district. Then proposed districts
form a planning committee to draft an initial operating plan and petition the
local unit of government for permission to create a BID.
Districts generally levy assessments on a
proportion of a property's assessed value. For example, the average assessment
was $2.90 per $1,000 of assessed value for 25 bids surveyed by the Local
Government Center in 1996.
Districts also may assess levies based on
parcel sizes or frontage footage. Individual BID boards make the decision on
which method to use.
In general, Law said, BIDs have become more
sophisticated as communities have become better acquainted with them. In some
places, districts are now using BID money to support business recruitment
strategies, business partnerships, Internet web sites, even discount cellular
phone programs for participating businesses, he said.
"The major positive aspect of BIDs,
unlike other programs with strict regulations, is that the funds can basically
be used for anything," Law said.
Many BID managers are sharing ideas
individually and through the Local Government Center, Law said. The Local
Government Center is attempting to help the process along by developing one-page
biographies on Wisconsin BIDs that will be available on its web site and through
its regular ETN (Educational Teleconferencing Network) series titled,
"Issues Affecting Business Improvement Districts."
Although a number of communities offer
anecdotal evidence that BIDs can be quite beneficial, measuring success can be
tricky, Law concedes.
It is difficult to compare one BID with
another, even when districts register similar increases in property value, Law
said. BIDs are created for different reasons, Law said, and it's usually left up
to the community itself to decide whether a BID has accomplished its goals.
The Local Government Center is forming a
study committee to develop a formula to measure the impact of Business
Improvement Districts. The formula likely will include some combination of
property values, occupancy rates, parking occupancy, as well as qualitative
measurements like public perception, Law said.
Milwaukee's Department of City Development is
also trying to determine how to evaluate BIDs, Trimmier said, in light of the
success stories along Brady Street, Mitchell Street and Historic King Drive.
"When people ask whether (BIDs) really
work, I say, `Don't ask me, ask them,'" Trimmier said. "One of the
really neat things about enthusiasm and success is that they're contagious. If
someone says, `Can you make this street a better place to live and invest in?' I
say, `If you believe you can, you can.'"
The districts that haven't fared as well in
Milwaukee have struggled with how to spend the BID money, Trimmier said.
Organizers might have had a general goal for the district but lacked a thorough
plan, he said.
"I tell people, don't let the first time
someone hears about the BID be a public hearing," Trimmier said.
The businesses along Historic King Drive
petitioned the city to create a BID in 1992. In five years, the district has
provided physical improvement and soft-cost grants, a graffiti-removal and daily
street clean-up program, an intense, six-month "Business Builder"
program to help businesses get off the ground and such special events as bicycle
races and retail seminars.
"If a property owner is sophisticated,
we're here to help them move through the process and cut red tape and act as a
liaison with the city and community groups," said BID manager Randy Roth.
"If the property owner has no experience, we do everything from financing
to finding a tenant. And if they're completely new to the business world, well
even help them find a location."
The district levies an assessment of $4 per
$1,000 of assessed value, generating about $103,000 a year. The district also
receives $21,000 from the city, in addition to money from the state, Roth said.
Although he concedes the Business Improvement
District isn't the only reason why Historic King Drive has turned around after
two decades of business stagnation, Roth said the district's resources are a key
factor.
"There's no theoretical reason, given
our location and the underserved market in this area, why development should not
occur and why it wasn't occurring," he said. "The time is right and
the market is right. The perception of the area has changed, and now people are
seeing the locational and marketing strengths we have. From now until the year
2000, I see a tremendous interest in our area."