Central Business Improvement District (CBID) Annual Update - Fall 2013

The 501(c)3 organization that oversees the downtown CBID is the Nashville District Management Corporation (NDMC). Its Board of Di-rectors consists of owners (or property managers) of both large and small properties (including at least one residential property owner) and one major downtown office tenant. The Metro Council District 19 representative (Erica Gilmore) serves as an ex officio Board member, as do State Senator Thelma Harper and State Representative Mike Turner.

At their October 17 meeting, the board re-elected Greg Sligh (The Hermitage Hotel) as 2014 Chairman and Brenda Sanderson (owner of commercial properties and businesses on Broadway and a Viridi-an homeowner) as Vice Chairman. Hugh Queener (Pinnacle Financial Partners) was elected as 2014 Secretary-Treasurer.

Other Board members are Libby Funke (Encore homeowner), Tony Giarratanna (Giarratana Development, LLC), John Gupton (Baker Donelson), Frank Lewis (First Baptist Nashville), and Zach Liff (DZL Management).

NDMC contracts with the Nashville Downtown Partnership (a non-profit 501(c)6 organization) to implement the program of work approved by CBID property owners. Tom Turner, President and CEO of the Partner-ship, and Sally Connelly, Executive Vice President, are the staff liaisons with the CBID Board and property owners.

If you have questions or feedback for the CBID leadership team, please email sconnelly@nashvilledowntown.com or call 615-743-3092.

YOUR CBID LEADERSHIP TEAM

The CBID boundaries in downtown Nashville cover 371 acres (90 blocks).

The current 10-year term of the CBID began January 1, 2008, and goes through December 31, 2017.

Two previous CBID terms were 1999 through 2002 and 2003 through 2007.

CBID property owners developed the current Management and Improvements Plan in 2006,

and agreed to an assessment rate of $0.2361 per $100 of assessed property value.

The CBID supplements city services. Clean and safe initiatives, beautification and landscaping projects,

economic development (business, retail and residential), and downtown image and marketing are funded

by the CBID property assessments.

Based on top priorities defined by CBID property owners, in the 2012-2013 budget year, 58% of CBID revenues were allocated to Public Space Management (clean and safe services), 21% to Economic Development (business, residential and retail), 11% to General and Administrative

and 8% to Image and Communications.

QUICK CBID FACTS

Nashville Downtown Partnership • 150 4th Avenue North, Suite G-150 • Nashville, TN 37219

KEEPING DOWNTOWN CLEAN, SAFE AND ATTRACTIVE

During the first ten months of 2013, the down-town cleaning staff removed 85,365 pounds of trash, 12,976 square feet of graffiti and power washed 835 block faces and 1,072 alleys in the CBID.

The incidence of graffiti has more than dou-bled during the past 12 months. Prompt re-moval of the tags helps prevent recurrences. For assistance in graffiti removal on your CBID property, call 615-242-9909 or complete an online service request form at http://www.nashvilledowntown.com/services/clean-and-safe/request.

The cleaning team works throughout the CBID seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and three evenings each week from 4 p.m. to midnight, the cleaning team pressure washes areas not easily accessed during the workday.

Safety ambassadors patrol the CBID from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. They also rotate through assignments as Hospital-ity Ambassadors. They distribute guidebooks and maps and print out requested directions and coupons for visitors. During the first ten months of 2013, ambassadors logged 2,513 patrol miles on Segways.

Since July 1, 2011, a full-time Outreach Co-ordinator has focused on individuals with the highest number of downtown arrests. To date, 24 clients have been placed in transitional housing with supportive services. Based on past arrest records for these 24 individuals, over 908 arrests have been prevented through this housing first program. Another 7 members of the group have applied for Section 8 Hous-ing through the How’s Nashville campaign (a local participant in the national 100,000 Homes initiative).

Another successful program initiated in June, 2008, Homeward Bound offers one-way, non-refundable bus tickets to eligible individu-als without other resources. Eligibility is based on confirmation of favorable job prospects, benefits or proximity to family or friends. As of October 31, a total of 571 individuals (with a past history of 4,831 arrests) have received this relocation assistance.

Perception of downtown Nashville’s cleanli-ness and safety is measured annually through surveys of residents (each June) and of em-ployees (each October). Survey findings are used to develop and adapt clean and safe initiatives.

DOWNTOWN RESIDENTIAL GROWTH

Zero developer-owned condos remain on the downtown market and only a 3-month supply of resale units is available. Sales prices are 28% higher than in 2010. With a 36-month minimum required to plan and complete a project, the downtown for-sale inventory will not expand any sooner than late 2016.

The downtown rental occupancy rate has been at 98% for two years. A recent market analysis indicates that downtown can absorb an addi-tional 700 residential units annually for each of the next 5 years.

The Nashville Downtown Partnership provides customized research and demographic infor-mation to potential residential developers, prepares a comprehensive residential report each July, hosts a downtown home tour each spring, and interacts with residential property owners individually or through groups includ-ing homeowner associations and the Urban Residents Association.

DOWNTOWN BUSINESS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

The mid-year 2013 downtown Class A office vacancy was 7.7% and all 21st century office buildings have limited vacancy. Recent studies indicate that downtown could absorb another 500,000 SF of office space over the next 10 years.

The Partnership’s Downtown Business Cen-sus (December, 2012) identified 1,586 busi-nesses, organizations and governmental en-tities, with a total of 50,335 employees. This December, 200 new jobs come downtown when Sony/ATV Music Publishing moves into Fifth Third Plaza and beginning in 2014, UBS Nashville Business Solutions Center will bring over 1,200 new jobs to the newly named UBS Tower. The Partnership works with potential tenants to facilitate their relocation downtown and with existing tenants on continuing their downtown presence.

The Partnership sponsors an annual Down-town Employee Appreciation Week in the early fall. Popular events include Corporate Tug of War, a Walk with the Mayor, and the Down-town’s Next Superstar competition.

DOWNTOWN RETAIL DEVELOPMENT

Since January 2008, the Partnership’s Retail Recruiter has focused on implementing a com-prehensive retail strategy developed by Down-town Works. Within the CBID, areas along 4th and 5th Avenues North and in SoBro were rec-ommended for expanded retail.

The total number of downtown retail openings in 2012 was 52 (44% more than in 2011). By October, 2013, a total of 53 new downtown re-tail stores opened or announced YTD.

Downtown Nashville now has over 117 shop-ping options, 195 dining options, 89 nightlife venues and 24 galleries.

IMAGE AND COMMUNICATIONS

The recently redesigned nashvilledowntown.com website is responsive—sizing appropriately for tablets, smart phones and computers. An in-creasing percentage of website traffic is from mobile and tablet devices. The most popular feature is the events calendar which lists over 800 downtown happenings each month. The website’s point-location mapping details infor-mation about downtown destinations.

Downtown Details is the Partnership’s week-ly e-newsletter with over 15,000 subscribers. Articles highlight new businesses, key events and other important announcements related to downtown business and residents.

The Partnership’s social media statistics consistently outpace those of comparable organizations in other cities such as Denver, Memphis, Atlanta, Charlotte, Austin and Phile-delphia. Currently, we have over 31,000 follow-ers on Facebook and over 31,000 on multiple Twitter accounts.