catalyst projects yield extraordinary results for 3...

Catalyst Projects Yield Extraordinary Results for 3 Downtowns

Donna Ann Harris, James Harry Calamia, Alex Balloon, Isaac D. Kremer,

• Donna Ann Harris, Principal, Heritage Consulting Inc. Philadelphia PA

• James Harry Calamia, Executive Director, Roxborough Development Corporation, Philadelphia PA

• Alex Balloon, Director, Tacony Community Development Corporation, Philadelphia PA

• Isaac D. Kremer, Executive Director, Metuchen Downtown Alliance, Metuchen NJ

Welcome our panel

1. Using market-based data & community input, summed up in a Strategic Plan written by Heritage Consulting Inc., these 3 Main Street organizations addressed long standing problems which instilled new found confidence, and led to new, multi-year, catalytic projects in each town.

2. Roxborough Pocket Park

3. “Truly Tacony” Incentive Program

4. Family Friendly & Innovation Transformation Strategies Results

Learning Objectives

PHILADELPHIA

ROXBOROUGH POCKET PARKCATALYST PROJECTS YIELD EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS FOR DOWNTOWNS

PARK• intimate spaces that are/feel protected• Safe• bench seating• tables and chairs• open spaces with grass• Art• Parking• Vibrant• Active• Parking• lots of small areas for more intimate

gathering• Lighting• native plants to attract birds and butterflies• green wall (maybe on top of some interesting

structure that would be attractive even when the planting isn’t covering it) o to shield dollar store + make pretty

• view from ridge• sculpture garden• maintenance plan + funding• Relax• Read• stretched fabric/cable awning/shading• space for public events: music, movies,

performance• wall mural• if they can sit, they will stay• bike racks (indego)• art makes the park• fun, artistic fence/gate• edible garden• changeable art space• beer garden• water fountain• colorful plant life• several paths/trails• water feature• spring garden community garden• Habitat• Synergy• easy maintenance• all-year-round activity• pretty, artistic hardscaping (e.g. fossil-like

leaves)• cross-pollinate with existing orgs

ACTIVATE• Rita's festival• Local universities are art resource• Ease of movement through/into space• Good for all age groups• Dance nights• Wi-fi• Local vendors• Good chef• Fresh food• Add to/connect to Gorgas• Materials• Gym equipment or play stuff that can double

as gym stuff• Children’s space/playground• Child-friendly• Water ice + soft pretzel stand• Smell food• Food cart—made to order donuts/coffee• Intimate evening lights (small)• Love the new 30th patio• BYOB• Garage doors stage• Broken into smaller eating, sitting, and play

area• Small child exploration section• Use of building• Music/dance student recitals in building

and/or park• Mood lighting—hanging lanterns• Attract birds• Beer• Building-food-park-space• Maps• Signage• Music• Activate based on building use• Outdoor seating• Movies• Twilight movie nights• Experiences for groups and single person• Book exchange container/box• Pop-up food cart days: taco truck, dessert

truck, produce, etc.• Yoga• Advertise- make sure the city knows the

neighborhood is here

HISTORY• two buildings next door• educational—art installations• plaque displaying information relevant to

area• interpretive signage at 6170-72• Statue• wall mural• Montage• Woolworth• Exposed brick• Sylvia Meyers• Roxborough History• Projector• Educational sign• History important but design should be

contemporary as well• Sometimes old is just old• Connect history with future of neighborhood• Leverington Cemetery• Keep brick walls• Have building have French doors or open

window to bring park in• Use salvage materials to renovate• Wooden floors, beams, corbles• Fire 1978—3 bldgs.• Then and now collage (photo)• Rayfields• Garment industry (original building use)• Signage: what was this building?• Rox/Myk archives

COMMUNITY• Friends/group• Local schools (Roxborough High, AMY

Northwest)• Advertise• Colorful tables (to play games, etc.)• Small stage with music evenings• Comfortable benches• Local student involvement• Comfortable benches• Sundial• Street music: jazz, acoustic, guitar, music

students• Local artists• Affordable yet healthful food options• Made to order donut cart in the park, or

Belgian waffles• Evening lights• Participation of area students• Friends of the pocket park group• Playground• Community volunteer• Restaurant use—keep brick• Open windows along outside to park like Iron

Hill• Pergola• Message boards• Volunteer maintenance• Low maintenance design• Paint party nights• Bright sunlit inside that connect with outdoor

spaces• Needs to be a destination for people outside

communityFridays at noon

• “different” from Gorgas Park• all age groups• After-school events• live music weekly/monthly• Share network with other orgs—YMCA,

INERAC, North Light, Art Center

SUSTAINABLE• Recycling center• Storm water• Native plants (cardinal flowers to attract

hummingbirds)• Low maintenance design• Shade trees• Rain barrels and instructional classes• Stormwater planters• Bird house/tree• Watershed• Solar lighting• Runoff collection for

maintaining/watering plants• Open canopy trees to keep some light in

park• Pervious pavers• Clean up days• Native perennaisl• Lots of planters & built ins for trees and

shrubs• Teaching about it• Trash receptacle• Permeable paving• Rain garden• Rainwater harvesting• Tree canopy• Stormwater management• Recycled benches• Use technology creatively to show good

practice• LED – low lights• Use non-intrusive lights• No huge lights• Recycled benches• Reclaimed brick• Locally sourced• Recycled materials• Rain barrels

PLACEHOLDER IMAGE

4. Expenses

Pocket Park Purchase 113,500.00$

Design/Permitting 55,133.00$

Demolition/Depaving/Excavation 57,842.55$

Masonry/Plumbing/Electric 443,530.10$

Landscaping 51,446.00$

Permitting/General Conditions/ Miscellaneous 26,038.55$

Mural 45,000.00$

Change Orders 15,325.90$

Project Management 37,147.96$

Total Expense 844,964.06$

Organizational Operating Budget 500,000.00$

STATEMENT OF EXPENSES

RO XBO RO UGH PO CKET PARK1. Project Name: Roxborough Pocket Park and Leverington Avenue Parking Lot Rennovations

2. Project Address: Ridge Avenue, Roxborough

3. Project Owner: Roxborough Development Corporation

PLACEHOLDER IMAGE

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Roxborough 2020

Launch

Roxborough Pocket

Park Design

Roxborough Pocket

Park Initial Plantings

Roxborough Pocket

Park Grant Award

Roxborough Pocket

Park Mural

Roxborough Pocket

Park Construction

Roxborough Pocket

Park Opens

Roxborough Brewery

Construction

Parking Lot

Improvements

COMPLETED PROJECTS

NEW UNIT COUNT

1 New Unit

2-10 New Units

11-30 New Units

NEW BUSINESS OPENED

1 New Business

Community Engagement

Platform

Economic Driver

RelentlesslyImpatient

Alex BalloonDirector, Tacony Community Development Corporation

• Historic “Company Town”

• 7 mi Northeast of Central Philly

• 32,000 Residents (Greater Tacony)

• $38,154 Median Income

• 65% White

• 21% Black

• 19% Hispanic

• “Middle Neighborhood”

Tacony Community Development Corporation

Mission Statement

Main Street Refresh

• Learning Together

• Evolution

• More Intentional

• More Partnerships

Catalyst Strategies

Who’s This For?

• Single, younger, blue-collar ($30k)

• High school

• Working long hours in health care, food prep, building maintenance, transportation and production

• Many receive some form of public assistance

• Preference overview: convenience, lunch combo kits, frozen meals

Source: Business Decision

“I work long hours and don’t have a lot of free

time. I value convenience.”

Convenience Retail

• Neighborhood Commercial Corridor

• “Full-Service” Corridor

• Amenity

• Existing Retail Mix

Catalyst Strategies in Depth

Family Serving

• High number of families

• Young relative age

• Many charter schools

• “Dry neighborhood”

• Existing partners/programming

• 1 in 3 households have children or grandchildren

• Robust Library Partnership of Programming for Families & Children/Awesome Staff

• Strong Partnerships

• Successful Events: Halloween Celebration 2,4000+ Attendance

• Easter Eggsperience: Drop 30k Easter Eggs from a Helicopter

• Pop-Up Indoor Mini-Golf

What are we Building On?

• 1/3 commercial properties with façade improvements

• 150 cameras

• Technical Assistance

• “Hitting a Wall” with retail mix and gaps

• Strong cash position and a strengthening board risk tolerance

• Growth→Management

Six Years In…..

Refresh to Strategic Plan

• Seating additions or improvements

• Restroom additions or improvements

• Capital equipment purchases

• Sidewalk seating additions or improvements

• Other projects we determine

“Truly Tacony” Program

• More People and Foot Traffic?

• Something We Don’t Have?

• Sidewalk Seating?

• Financially Viable?

• Team Player?

• Outside Evaluator/Scorer

Evaluation Criteria

• Rolled Out 5 Slots

• 3 Applications

• Scored by an Outside Panel

Program Performance

• Blast Chiller $5400

• Blender $1000

• Ice Machine $4000

• Ice Cream Machines $1000

• Mixer $5600

Puddin’s Cake Corner

• Booth/Table Recovering $15000

Athenian Diner

• Kitchen Hood $9000

• Kitchen Upgrades/Fit Out $3400

• Equipment $2500

SawTown Tavern

• Limited Capacity of Operators

• Minimizing Barriers to Participation

• CDC Involvement Position

• Risk Tolerance for Board

• Beware the “Extreme Makeover” Myth

• Managing Expectations

What We Learned

Alex Balloon

Director & Corridor Manager

[email protected]

215-501-7799

6742 Torresdale Ave

Philadelphia, PA 19135

Contact Me

mailto:[email protected]

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Catalyst Projects Yield Extraordinary Results for Downtowns

Isaac D. Kremer, Exec. DirectorMetuchen Downtown Alliance

Transformation Strategies

To focus the work of the Board and our teams with a vision for the downtown district specific to Metuchen and strategies that are most critical to transforming the downtown from what it is now to what we want it to be.

The Beginning

Started with traditional 4 point

teams

Market Analysis completed May 2017

Strategic Plan completed July 2017

Reorganized two teams around

strategies – Family Friendly and Innovation

And we looked at market research that tells us where there may be retail gaps we can fill and found:

“numerous opportunities to attract sales from customers living within 5-minute drive time radius”

Market Analysis

Market Analysis

Family Friendly Transformation Strategy

Build on:

• Dance, sports and fitness, arts and education we already have

• Family-friendly activities and entertainment

• Parent nights out activities

Add:

• More destination family/kids retail –clothing, shoes, kids’ books, home/garden, sports, arts, natural/organic

• More entertainment (concerts, films, a revitalized Forum)


Think “NJ’s downtown for kids and families” – building on our strengths:

• More experiences, seasonal programming

• Game playing at a toy store and outdoors on the plaza

• More home garden and gift options


An active Town plaza with programmed and unprogrammed promotions. A place for people to gather daily and for special events.

Retail Promotions

MakeCash

RegistersRing

=

Retail Promotions

Went from having several special events

and 0 retail promotions and $0 in sales

–TO –

Having 52 retail promotions since July

2016 that increased sales $967,326

Small Business Saturday (2016)

• Made a major commitment to promotion starting in 2016

• Had multiple Neighborhood Champions in 2017 and 2018

• Handed out over 1,600 “Shop Small” canvas bags

• Driven over $398,000 in sales to more than 60 businesses that participated

Kids Takeover (2017)

• Based on the success of similar promotions in larger places like LA

• On last day of school invite kids to take over the downtown

• Businesses provide special promotions throughout the day on the sidewalk and in store

• $37,500 in sales over 2 years for the 35+ businesses that participated

Kids Takeover (2017)

Haunted Downtown (2017)

• Businesses were invited to provide activities on the sidewalk and in store, especially for kids and families.

• Total organizational investment over 2 years of $6,000.

• Results of $37,500 in increased sales.

Haunted Downtown (2017)

Haunted Downtown

(2018)

New Year’s Eve on the Plaza (2017)

• Town Plaza officially opened December 31, 2017 – following over $1 million of enhancements

• Total organizational investment over 2 years of $25,000.

• Results of $220,000 in increased sales for businesses.

New Year’s Eve on the Plaza

(2017)

New Year’s Eve on the Plaza

(2018)

Downtown Loves Moms (2018)

• Promotion to provide gifts and activities prior to Mother’s Day.

• Over 20 vendors participated in first year – a mix of existing businesses, and outside vendors

• Results $5,000 in gross sales.

Downtown Loves Moms (2018)

Downtown Pre-Prom (2018)

• Youth needed a neutral site to take pictures prior to the Prom as an alternate to meeting in private homes.

• Cross-promoted with salons, dry cleaners, and other businesses.

• Attracted 300 people and generated over $2,000 in direct sales.

Downtown Pre-Prom (2018)

After Hours (2018)

• Provided “after hours” events at businesses throughout the downtown

• Swag bags were given to participants

• Generated $5,000 in sales for 35 participating businesses in the first year.

After Hours (2018)

Nifty Gifty Saturday (2018)

• Final shopping push before the holiday

• Shopping guide released online with photos of products taken by Metuchen High School students

• Involved local actors and personalities as costumed characters.

• Generated an additional $50,000 in sales for businesses.

Nifty Gifty Saturday (2018)

After-EventIdeas

Lessons Learned

The Time Circle of Retail Promotions

Each category should flow seamlessly into each other without stopping. One can start at any point on this circle at any time and be successful, as long as they work at it. • Pre-event ideas lead to • Day-of-event ideas, which lead to • After-event ideas, which lead to…

Pre-EventIdeas

Day-of-EventIdeas

Lessons Learned

Keep a constant eye to generating a healthy return on investment…

$1 investment = $17 in gross sales

Lessons Learned

Professional photos and videos during the promotion shape attitudes and perceptions when shared after the promotion.

Dedicate around 10% of your promotion budget to producing professional-quality documentation.

Lessons Learned

Retail promotions drive media impressions

3,947 1,912 2,720

11,2459,729

17,296

27,30822,288

37,82539,00037,914

25,37329,835

23,178

33,042

24,676

33,572

42,19938,224

22,674

34,270

50,462

29,41328,95928,368

21,88221,01420,225

40,274

49,503

40,430

77,278

112,498

45,75444,496

64,656

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

MDA Facebook Reach

Lessons Learned

Transformation strategies are contributing to changing economics of District

52 Net

Businesses

337 Net Jobs

Date Comm Occ Date

Comm New Date

Comm Vac Date

Jobs Created (FTE)

Jobs Lost (FTE)

2015 10 0 10 0 9

2016 28 1 21 87 63

2017 34 8 15 228 37

2018 28 8 19 154 51

2019 0 1 1 32 4

Total 100 18 66 501 164

Lessons Learned

Transformation strategies are keeping vacancy low as new GLA increases

Gross Leasable Area Up 72% to 590,561 sqft

Vacancy Down 62% to 41,273 sqft

Vac/GLA 8% to 3%

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

May

-16

Jun

-16

Jul-

16

Au

g-1

6

Sep

-16

Oct

-16

No

v-1

6

Dec

-16

Jan

-17

Feb

-17

Mar

-17

Ap

r-1

7

May

-17

Jun

-17

Jul-

17

Au

g-1

7

Sep

-17

Oct

-17

No

v-1

7

Dec

-17

Jan

-18

Feb

-18

Mar

-18

Ap

r-1

8

May

-18

Jun

-18

Jul-

18

Au

g-1

8

Sep

-18

Oct

-18

No

v-1

8

Dec

-18

Jan

-19

Feb

-19

MDA Occupancy and Vacancy May 2016 - Feb 2019

Comm Occ SQFT Resi Total SQFT Comm GLA Vac SQFT Comm GLA SQFT Total GLA for District

Lessons Learned

Transformation strategies are attracting businesses and reducing vacancy

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

May

-16

Jun

-16

Jul-

16

Au

g-1

6

Sep

-16

Oct

-16

No

v-1

6

Dec

-16

Jan

-17

Feb

-17

Mar

-17

Ap

r-1

7

May

-17

Jun

-17

Jul-

17

Au

g-1

7

Sep

-17

Oct

-17

No

v-1

7

Dec

-17

Jan

-18

Feb

-18

Mar

-18

Ap

r-1

8

May

-18

Jun

-18

Jul-

18

Au

g-1

8

Sep

-18

Oct

-18

No

v-1

8

Dec

-18

Jan

-19

Feb

-19

MDA Occupancy Rate May 2016 to Jan 2019

Occ Rate by SQFT Occ Rate by UNIT

Occupancy by SQFT from 90% to

96%

by units from75% to 90%

Isaac D. Kremer

Executive Director

Metuchen Downtown Alliance

(732) 515-9660

[email protected]


Please take a moment to review this session on the Mobile Event Guide

1. Download the “MSN 2019” app OR access online at: eventmobi.com/mainstreetnow19

2. Locate this session and scroll down to “Session Feedback”

3. Complete your review

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Thank you!


catalyst projects yield extraordinary results for 3...

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