Downtown LA Fashion BID Renewed For Five More Years

Downtown News photo of Kent Smith by Gary Leonard

Congratulations to Fashion BID Executive Director Kent Smith and Managing  Director Lynn Myers on getting 83% yes votes to renew the Fashion District Business Improvement District. Even with the demise of the Toy District BID due to a lack of support from several key property owners and the canceling of the Arts District BID by a judge due to a lawsuit by a number of disaffected property owners (though a new BID is now in the process of forming in that area), both the just renewed Historic and the Fashion BID's have had much easier renewals than in the past.

Here are some of the details in the Downtown News story:

Eighty-three percent of the property owners in the 100-block area, who pay dues to the BID for street cleaning, public safety and economic development efforts for the neighborhood, voted in favor of renewal, said BID Executive Director Kent Smith. The organization, which was formed in 1996, is projected to spend about $18 million on neighborhood services over the next five years, he said. In addition to the clean and safe services, the BID trims 750 trees every two years and conducts a social media campaign for the district. Plans also call for a focus on new initiatives to attract more shoppers to the area and to improve the streetscape for pedestrians. “We’re going to be looking at more and more ways to get information out to our public,” Smith said. According to a Fashion District statement, more than 1,000 property owners and 4,000 business owners benefit from the BID’s services.

And the rest of the story is at the Downtown News website.