How Business Improvement Districts Can Play A Meaningful Role in Retail Recruitment
I am excited to see such progress in the FILLING OF VACANT STOREFRONTS in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood immediately north of Old City. MJB Consulting, with help on the ground from locally-based WRT, completed a retail market analysis, tenanting strategy and implementation plan for the Northern Liberties Business Improvement District (BID) in early 2020, with an emphasis on how it could help to address the elevated retail vacancy rate there. We pushed in particular for a concerted effort to get and keep “NoLibs” on the radar screen of the leasing community, which had appeared to move on since the district’s initial reemergence in the 2000’s and was by that point focusing most of its attention on adjacent Fishtown. The BID – its executive director (Kris Kennedy), its public-relations staffer and its Board – has been disciplined on this front, making sure that the name and brand was constantly in the news and once again “on the map”, while also telling a different story about NoLibs that aims to project some renewed sex appeal. The results thus far suggest that they are making headway, with a slew of new tenants that include sit-down restaurants, lifestyle amenities, a coffeehouse, even a boutique. Obviously a great many people deserve credit for this trend line – including, most importantly, the landlords, brokers and businesses themselves – but BID’s and other non-profits can make a meaningful difference, if they pick their spots right, set the appropriate targets and fill the voids that need filling.