King Street Corridor Initiative
Waterfront Commission Update
March 19, 2019
Challenge • The Wharf, Capitol Riverfront, Georgetown, National Harbor and
other highly funded waterfront destinations are competing with us aggressively for visitors and residents
• Alexandria is vulnerable to market share erosion • While a BID for Old Town did not advance, a consensus emerged
around needs and an urgency to act
Solution • A coordinated effort across City departments and the
private sector • Leverage opportunity of the new Waterfront Park
opening and arrival of Tall Ship Providence • Curate an extraordinary resident and visitor experience • Promote the “new” experience, and reintroduce regional
visitors to Old Town
King Street Corridor Initiative Drive Vibrancy / Maintain Old Town’s Competitiveness
1. Beautification 2. Programming 3. Regional Marketing
A
Accomplishments Beautification July 2018 to February 2019
• 110 hanging baskets • 2 FTEs added to provide 7
day/week service for street cleaning and maintenance
• 124 press hits about King Street Corridor Initiative programs, events and the new park
• Launch of the Portside in Old Town brand: 37,000 pageviews on Portside content
• 44% increase in paid search traffic from DC region • New seasonal street lamp banners
Accomplishments Marketing July 2018 to February 2019
Free-to-the public waterfront programming series Portside in Old Town kicked off in October
• Three-day Portside in Old Town Festival which attracted 9,000+ people
o Free tours of the visiting tall ship Godspeed o Waterfront beer garden from Port City Brewing Company o Portside History activities presented by the Office of Historic Alexandria, o Pop-up Pizzeria Paradiso o Live music, fitness, and art activities by AR Workshop and the City’s Mobile Art Lab
Accomplishments Programming July 2018 to February 2019
Accomplishments Programming July 2018 to February 2019
• Production of the Alexandria Holiday Boat Parade of Lights
o Pop-up beer garden from Port City Brewing Company o Pop-up Vola’s Dockside Grill o Letters to Santa postcard pop-up from Penny Post boutique o Holiday wood ornament craft activity from AR Workshop Alexandria o Hot chocolate bar from Dolci Gelati
Accomplishments Programming July 2018 to February 2019
• More holiday events and experiences including:
o New holiday tree at Market Square with 38,000 lights o Storytime with Santa at the waterfront o Pacers holiday “Run then Brunch” meetup in partnership with
Chadwicks o Production support for Waterskiing Santa Show on Christmas Eve
Accomplishments Programming July 2018 to February 2019
Holiday Retail: • Holiday window display grant program for boutiques • Photos with Santa offered on four Saturdays • Street activation during Small Business Saturday
including the Elf Prize Patrol in Old Town and Del Ray with Alexandria Chamber
• Weekly Saturday activation on upper King Street featuring activities like gift wrap stations, cookie making, toy making and more
Partnerships
Forged strong programming partnerships:
• Dept of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities:
Jack Browand and Diane Ruggiero
• Office of the Arts: Anne O’Dell, Regional Director of Events and Public
Space Activations
• Office of Historic Alexandria: Gretchen Bulova, Director
• Private Sector Partners: Founding Funders who contributed $175,000 in
matching dollars
Refining the Scope
• Quality over quantity o Focus on higher impact events and activations that
will draw a regional audience, generate media coverage and build image
o What we are not doing: Small events and activations
• Bring events expertise in-house to increase capacity and marketing coordination: hired Elissa Staley, in-house King St. Corridor Events Manager
• Retail groups identify and execute in-store activations;
Visit Alexandria will serve as marketing partner
Defining Support from KSCI
Events and activation support includes one or more of the following:
1. Marketing support
2. Convening stakeholders
3. Event planning support
4. Production support
5. Event producer
Plans for Next Six Months
New Waterfront Park Opening Celebration • Saturday, March 30, 2019
Mirror Mirror Public Art Installation
• March to November
• Portside in Old Town Festivals – Summer & Fall • Pop-up beer gardens • Tall Ship Providence – coming in July
Plans for Next Six Months
Plans for Next Six Months • Events with history experiences
o D-Day Festival o Arrival of the Tall Ship Providence o Seaport Day o Portside in Old Town festivals (summer and fall)
• King Street retail activations o OTBD Cherry Blossom Boutiques Crawl o Old Town [in-store] Carnival o Old Town Cocktail Week o Makers Mile “mini” o Alexandria Sidewalk Sale o OTBD Shop and Stroll o Uptown Block Party
Plans for Next Six Months
• Culinary activations o Carpe DC Old Town Food Tour o Carpe DC Tastes of Spring
Cherry Blossom Food Crawl o Waterfront Beer Gardens o Old Town Cocktail Week o Port City Pub Crawl o Virginia Craft Beer Event at
the Waterfront
Plans for Next Six Months
Marketing Two aspects made possible by the Initiative:
o Promotion of new/improved events o Expanded regional promotion of Old
Town
Promotion of events (varies by event, support includes one or more of the following)
o PR, social media, website event listings o Seasonal event marketing o Paid search and/or paid social o Digital banners, dedicated landing
page, print support
Marketing Promotion of Old Town
• Reintroducing Old Town to the region • Highlighting what’s new and why to
return • Retail component: What’s distinctive
about shopping in Old Town • New creative being developed for
campaign launching in spring 2019 • Channels:
o Expanded paid search and paid social o Digital banners o Print o Street banners
Public Relations & Content Creation
Initiative programs are featured in press releases, media pitches, and digital content for Visit Alexandria’s website, blog, social media, and advertising placements. • Approach: Curate and amplify • Individual focus on major stories
o Hosting media, social media influencers, etc.
• Broader trends and themes • Seasonal content • Cool factor: Why Alexandria and why now?
Metro Improvement Project Response
• Hotel impact forecast: 13.5% RevPAR $8.6 million in hotel revenue $576 thousand in hotel tax
receipts
• Mitigation Plans: o Travel options flyer o “Love Your Summer” Hotel
Package o Free unlimited ride water
taxi pass o Free Key to the City
museum pass o Free hotel parking
Thank You
VisitAlexandriaVA.com