| www.downtowndc.org/update | July 2009 | | | | BID BIZ | | Changing the Landscape
The Downtown BID's 2008 Annual Report is now available. The document  highlights the BID's accomplishments and goals in key areas, including safety, hospitality and maintenance, economic development, transportation, physical improvements and marketing and special events. A special feature this year: a four-page retrospective that looks back at the BID's first 10 years. Founded in 1997, the BID has helped transform Downtown from dull, dirty and dangerous to vibrant, inviting and smart. "Along with our public and private partners, we look forward to building on the momentum gained thus far," said Richard H. Bradley, executive director of the Downtown BID.
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| | | | | | HOTEL HAPPENINGS | top |  Capital Chic
It's hip, luxurious and now here in Washington. The stylish W Hotel (515 15th Street), former site of the Hotel Washington, will open on July 8 and begin taking reservations on or after July 16. A boutique hotel in the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide operation, the opulent brand is known for its cool rooms, signature restaurants, destination bars and spas. The Downtown W will not disappoint. The 317-room hotel has already nabbed world-famous chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who will open a new concept, J&G Steakhouse. Bliss, the spa people known for mixing beauty and brownies (no carrot sticks here), will open its first Washington location. The W will include a rooftop bar and terrace, a state-of-the-art fitness center and fully wired rooms. Oh, cats and dogs weighing 40 pounds or less are allowed--for a fee. For more information about the W, visit www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=3279.
| DOWNTOWN DISH | top |  Fresh Food Frenzy
Chinatown will be the site of a new Freshii restaurant later this year. The nutritious, fast casual franchise that sells customized salads, wraps, burritos and other healthy fare such as soups, yogurts and slow roasted oatmeal, originated in Canada four years ago as the Lettuce Eatery and is now based in Chicago. Local entrepreneur Andrew Nelson plans to open five Freshii restaurants in the metropolitan Washington area, including two or three in DC. He insists that Chinatown is the ultimate hot spot. Says he: "You're not going to be able to create a successful brand if you're not in the Chinatown area." Nelson has visited four or five Chinatown locations and expects to settle on a 1,000-square-foot site soon. For more information about Freshii, visit http://www.eatfreshii.com/.
| | | AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD | top | | Creating Opportunity
Last month, the DC City Council held a Joint Public Hearing on the "New Convention Center Hotel Amendments Act of 2009." The Downtown BID's Director of Economic Development, Gerry Widdicombe, presented testimony. The Downtown BID believes the enabling legislation will allow the Washington Convention Center Authority (WCAA) at 801 Mount Vernon Place to finance a headquarters hotel using private/public financing--with the public portion based on new tax revenues to the city, not DC's general credit. The Downtown BID analyzed the proposed public/private finance initiative for the headquarters hotel and concluded it is in the best interest of all DC residents for several reasons. The benefits are as follows: | The hotel will complement the federal stimulus package by stimulating local job growth. Hundreds of immediate construction jobs and 600 to 800 permanent hotel and restaurant jobs will be created, many of which will go to DC residents. | | | The city will receive a $5 million annual return once the project stabilized and realize a $100 million net present value return on its investment, higher than any alternative investment possible at the site. | | The hotel will help complete Downtown's build out and "push" development to the Center City's emerging markets. | | The hotel will also assist in retail leasing for the CityCenter DC project, slated for development at the Old Convention Center site bounded by New York Avenue and 9th Street and H and 11th Streets. |
The Downtown BID encourages maximizing private financing and hopes the proposed legislation will give the WCCA the flexibility to negotiate the best public/private deal possible, with a common goal to break ground on the project this fall. The headquarters hotel, is "shovel ready" and will create needed construction jobs that can immediately improve the city's high unemployment rate, now at 10.7%--meaning 33,000 DC residents are unemployed.
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| | GREEN GAINS | top |  Stimulating Results
Good news for DC. Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the city will receive more than $30 million in energy efficiency and conservation funding through the US Department of Energy's State Energy Program (SEP) and its new Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG). The DC government plans to use 75% of the funds for agencies in need of energy efficiency improvements, with the remaining 25% going to District Department of the Environment (DDOE) programs that provide direct services to businesses and residents. The anticipated end result: reduced energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. More information is available by visiting:
www.recovery.dc.gov/recovery/lib/recovery/pdf/sep_and_eecbg_energy_stimulus_factsheet_5_13_09_(2).pdf.
| | TRANSPORTATION TALK | top |  Gimme Shelter
By now, it's hard to miss the spiffy new bus shelters--and the barricades signaling imminent arrivals--sprouting up in Downtown. By the end of this year, expect to see 70 new shelters in Downtown made of aluminum and glass and vandal- and graffiti-resistant materials. The Downtown BID collaborated with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) on the design and Clear Channel is manufacturing, installing and maintaining them for the city in return for the exclusive rights to advertise in them. Besides the advertising frame, the shelters have information panels, one of which will contain a Metrobus "You Are Here" bus map, which the BID piloted in 2003.
| | NEWS YOU CAN USE | top |  Slow But Steady
DC ranks among the Top 10 US cities for economic recovery in 2009, according to Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. Kiplinger's, in conjunction with the Martin Prosperity Institute, a think tank that studies economic prosperity, looked at cities with a professional, high-quality workforce that will generate new jobs and business once the recession ends and that are still adding jobs now despite the economic slowdown. DC ranked No. 3 because of the federal government, which employs one in eight workers in the DC area and supports nearby companies across various industries. DC was outranked by Huntsville, Alabama (No. 1), which has strong missile-defense and aerospace industries and medical and life-sciences sectors, and Albuquerque, New Mexico (No. 2), whose budding film industry has grown from 100 to 3,000 people in eight years. Charlottesville, Virginia, and Athens, Georgia, ranked No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. In determining the city rankings, Kiplinger's also included population growth, unemployment rates, income growth and cost-of-living data and measured the "creative class," people who are paid to think.
| | MEETINGS AND MORE | top | | Tuesday, July 14, 6:30 am - 8:00 pm
Downtown Neighborhood Association
Monthly Meeting
Calvary Baptist Church
755 8th Street This month's Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) meeting will focus on family amenities, particularly Downtown parks and the growing need for playgrounds. Panelists will include speakers from the Downtown BID, the National Capital Planning Commission, the Deputy Mayor's Office for Planning and Economic Development, and the DC Office of Planning. Both residents and workers are invited; refreshments will be provided. To RSVP, contact miles@dcdna.org. For more information, visit http://www.dcdna.org/. | | Monday, July 20, 8:30 am - 12:00 Noon
Sustainable Business Network of Washington
Green Business Certification: Save Money and the Environment
Willard InterContinental Hotel
1401 Pennsylvania Avenue Find out how to get the most out of your green business certification at this Sustainable Business Network of Washington (SB NOW) meeting. Obtain a complete overview and orientation to the entire process. Be introduced to city initiatives for a green DC, case studies of companies that have been through the eco-assessment and certification program, SB NOW's Certifiably Green Business Guide & Checklist and an overview of how the certification interfaces with LEED and Energy Star requirements. The cost is $25 per person. For more information and to register online, visit http://www.sbnow.org/. | | Wednesday, July 22, 8:30 am - 11:00 am
Washington, DC Economic Partnership
2009 BusinessPremier Small Business Awards
Willard InterContinental Hotel
1401 Pennsylvania Avenue Join the Washington, DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP) as it recognizes and celebrates exceptional DC entrepreneurs and business service providers. Michael L. Chasen, president and chief executive officer of Blackboard Inc., will be the featured keynote speaker. WDCEP will honor the 100-Year Old Business of the Year, the Small Business of the Year and the Small Business Initiative of the Year in addition to unveiling the winner of the first annual PremierPlan business plan competition. The fee is $40, and registration begins at 8:30 am; the program follows at 9:00 am. For more information, contact premierplan@wdcep.com. To RSVP online, visit http://www.wdcep.org/. | 
The Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID) is a private, non-profit organization that provides safety, hospitality, maintenance and beautification, homeless, economic development, transportation, streetscape and marketing services to Washington's urban core. Property owners agree to tax themselves to provide services to the Downtown BID area, which covers 138 blocks from Massachusetts Avenue on the north to Constitution Avenue on the south, and from Louisiana Avenue on the east to 16th Street on the west. For more information, visit http://www.downtowndc.org/.
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