The Key Tool for Urban Revitalization: Downtown BHM's Business Improvement District

Filed Under Business-Proving, Developer, Downtown Birmingham, Front Page, Get Involved, Potential-Proving, Why BHM

#birmingham #business-improvement-district #cap #cap-ambassadors #city-center #downtown-birmingham #five-points-south #the-switch #vibrancy

By David Fleming
REV Birmingham President & CEO

If you have followed REV Birmingham‘s work over the past few years, you may have heard our team talk about BIDs. This acronym stands for Business Improvement District, and BIDs are the greatest tool for impactful revitalization in urban districts. ⁠ 

A Business Improvement District is enabled by state law and granted by city ordinance after property owners petition their support. It is a district where property owners formally pool their resources to provide supplemental services that build on services provided by the city. Determined with input from property owners, services can include security, litter pick-up, graffiti removal, pressure washing, district events, marketing programs, and other special projects. The services are funded by BID property owners via an assessment based on their property values. Think of it as a homeowners’ association for a business district. Those extra services can make a place more competitive by creating a cleaner, more attractive district and giving it a distinctive identity.   

According to the “ABCs for Creating BIDs,” published by the International Downtown Association (IDA), the first BID in America was formed in 1975 in New Orleans. Now, there are over 1,000 BIDs all over the country and in most major cities – including Birmingham. The Downtown Birmingham BID Board contracts with REV to manage this district, which was formed in 1995.

The Evolution of Downtown Birmingham’s BID    

When REV took on a contract with the BID board to manage the district in 2018, it felt like a full-circle moment for me. I started my career in revitalization and economic development as an intern for Operation New Birmingham, which is one of the organizations that merged (with Main Street Birmingham) to create REV in 2012. As an intern, one of my responsibilities was to collect information about the downtown properties that would eventually form the BID. With that wide perspective, I can tell you that downtown – and what it needs from its BID – has changed significantly since its formation. 

In 1995, Downtown Birmingham’s biggest need from its new BID was centered around the perception of safety. CAP, the clean and safe program created by the BID, has worked in partnership with the Birmingham Police Department and the City’s Public Works Department for years (and still is) to improve the City Center district. CAP ambassadors are the BID’s eyes and ears, and their presence helps deter the actions of wrongdoers and criminals. They also ensure litter, debris and graffiti in the BID are rare. In fact, a cleaner and safer BID has contributed to a total property value increase from approximately $583 million in 1996 to nearly $1.8 billion in 2023.

By the time REV took on BID management in 2018, downtown had a new set of needs from its BID. Downtown Birmingham in the ‘90s had a population mainly of 9 to 5 employees. But the downtown of 2018 had a whole new population of residents and visitors throughout the day and night. We had new opportunities to create positive experiences, inviting them into more downtown businesses and public spaces, and to keep them coming back for more.  

Six years into REV’s management of the district, the role the BID plays in strengthening Downtown has evolved. Clean and safe initiatives carried out by CAP are a foundational tenet of the BID, but placemaking measures (including our 20th Street refresh and Rainbow Viaduct beautification project), alongside experience-creating programming (like the Live on 20th performance series) have also become essential components of what makes this district unique.

Strengthening Downtown 

REV continues to look for innovative ways to strengthen Downtown Birmingham through our BID management. Fortunately, we are not alone. REV is a member of the International Downtown Association (IDA), which brings BID managers like us together to share and learn from each other, and we are often examining other BIDs’ projects that could inspire a project in Birmingham. For example:  

  • Arts & Entertainment Atlanta is a neighborhood activation and economic development project managed by the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District. This cultural innovation effort blends new outdoor media, local art, accent lighting, and digital and static signage to activate buildings and blank walls and infuse the Downtown neighborhood with light, art, and cultural programming.   
  • The Mayfair Business Improvement District in Philadelphia partners with the Mayfair Community Development Corporation to promote the community through a series of special events. These activities include the Mayfair Night Markets, the Mayfair May Fair and Fallen Heroes Run, the Mayfair Christmas Village, and the Mayfair-Holmesburg Thanksgiving Parade. 
  • Dive into more examples of how BIDs around the country are improving their built environments – and fostering a sense of community pride in the process – here.    

Moving Forward

This past year has marked a major milestone in Birmingham’s civic journey and for the Downtown Birmingham Business Improvement District: after 28 years, its first expansion. Stakeholders in Five Points South and The Switch have been working with REV for years to do the community engagement and due diligence needed to expand the BID structure and services to cover additional districts. Those efforts were rewarded in December 2023, when the Birmingham City Council unanimously approved the BID’s expansion into Five Points South and The Switch.

This means the REV team is hiring new staff, training additional CAP Ambassadors, and welcoming even more property owners onto the BID Board of Directors. Now, even more of Downtown Birmingham is on its way to becoming cleaner, safer, and more attractive as these districts will benefit from the same services that the City Center property owners have appreciated for years.   

While we work toward the start of these expanded services (target: July 1, 2024), we encourage you to get involved and help us do great things. How? Our team is hosting advisory forums inviting community stakeholders to share their priorities and concerns with their representatives on the BID board and town halls to publicly and widely share information. Visit downtownbhm.com/about/bid for more information on these gatherings. You can stay further connected to BID developments – as well as all things Birmingham – by subscribing to our newsletter.   

I am proud to work with downtown property owners and our team at REV to create this kind of impact in the heart of the region, strengthening Downtown Birmingham for generations of residents, visitors, employees (and interns) to enjoy.

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