BID Lines – 2011 Winter

BIDLINES
WINTER 2011
LA Fashion District Business Improvement District Newsletter
Newly trimmed Main Street Pines create an attractive
shopping corridor
Tree trimming on Los Angeles Street
What a Difference a BID Makes!
Tree Trimming and Colorful Signage Installation throughout the District!
W
e have contracted with Trimming Land Company to trim all 720 trees within the 110-block
boundaries of the BID. The City of Los Angeles is now on a 8-10 year trimming cycle due to budget
cuts. The Fashion District carefully budget funds over two years for this special project. The heavy
rainfall in December 2010 was expected to accelerate tree growth and limb breakage. The BID Board of
Directors agreed to take a proactive position by starting trimming immediately.
The LA Fashion District BID also recently installed colorful signs on all the trash cans in the district that help to
brand the district and also invite shoppers to log onto the BID website at www.fashiondistrict.org
Removing 5,000 graffiti tags a year
l 49,000 crime prevention safety checks yearly l Removing 210,495 bags of trash a year
BID Clean & Safe Team Update
Visits the Fashion District
T
his popular television channel is developing a 10-show series about conditions of the
infrastructure in the U.S. They heard about the Fashion District via a quote in the LA Downtown
News last year from BID Executive Director Kent Smith. The production crew and show host
visited several sites in the district to film the efforts of our Clean Team to maintain the district’s public
environment. The show will air in March 2011.
4th Quarter Activity Report
During October, November, and December the LA Fashion District Clean & Safe Teams …
Conducted
Resolved
Removed
Collected
1,864
52,553
16,897
990
Graffiti Tags from
buildings & utility
boxes and other
surfaces
Bags of Trash
(60 gallon size bags)
from cans, alleys, and
illegal dumping
Location Checks
for crime prevention
Incidents of Disorderly
Behavior including
panhandling, drunk in
public, trespassing
Trash Collection Up 16% in December 2010
Trash collection numbers are up 16% over 2009 records for the month of December. In a
comparison of 2009 and 2010 we see an overall increase of 17.5%. This is an encouraging
economic indicator that business is improving.
Removing 5,000 graffiti tags a year
l 49,000 crime prevention safety checks yearly l Removing 210,495 bags of trash a year
BID Activities
Mobile Vending Task Force Addressing Catering Truck Traffic
LA Fashion District BID Executive Director Kent Smith is
representing all BIDs in the Los Angeles area at the City Council’s
Transportation Committee’s Mobile Vending Task Force. The City
Council recognizes that the gourmet food trucks are enormously
popular with the public and need to be regulated – not eliminated.
The Task Force, consisting of mobile food vendors’ associations, the
film industry (they have catering trucks), Neighborhood Councils,
BIDs, the Restaurant Association and City staff, assisted the Chief
Legislative Analyst (CLA) in drafting a new ordinance for mobile
vending in the City of Los Angeles which was unveiled at City
Council’s Transportation Committee on Wednesday,
February 23, 2011. Kent Smith and several other BID
representatives testified at the Transportation Committee in City Hall. They pinpointed the problem of vending
and expressed the need for strict regulations on mobile food vendors.
Kent Smith speaking at the City Council’s Transportation
Meeting
The Task Force will continue to refine the ordinance before it is presented to City Council.
Storm Drain Projects
Flooding at certain locations in the LA Fashion District is a chronic problem.
The BID has worked hard to provide sandbags while on the long-term we are
working with Council Districts 9 and 14 to find solutions to the problems.
We are pleased to inform you that the City of Los Angeles is installing a new
780-foot storm drain pipe along 12th Street between Crocker and Stanford
Ave sometime in January to summer 2011. The new storm drain pipe project
will
alleviate
frequent flooding problems and provide for a safer place to do business.
Councilwoman Jan Perry
The work will include the construction of four new catch basins and the remodeling of
12 existing sewer connections.
We would like to thank Councilwoman Jan Perry, District 9. Also, we want to thank property owners who started
the revitalization of 12th Street, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), and the Bureau of Engineering for
their work on this project.
We are now working with Council District 14 to consider a second storm drain construction project at 7 th and Los
Angeles St. The inadequate storm drain should be replaced so that we can start the design phase of the $1.9
million Phase 2 LA Fashion District BID Streetscape Improvement Project that was funded by the Metropolitan
Transit Authority Call for Projects. We will keep you informed of progress on both of these important projects.
Removing 5,000 graffiti tags a year
l 49,000 crime prevention safety checks yearly l Removing 210,495 bags of trash a year
BID Activities
Public Information Coordinator Hired!
Annie Chang was hired as the BID’s Public Information Coordinator this
year to build awareness about the LA Fashion District through various
social media programs.
She lives in Downtown and brings great experience and enthusiasm for the
job. Welcome Annie!
Feel free to contact her to promote your store, new merchandise, or
sample sales at [email protected]
LA Fashion District is now
on Facebook and Twitter!
The LA Fashion District now has a Facebook and Twitter account in which fans, partners, and
patrons can keep up-to-date about all the exciting events happening such as promotions, sample
sales, new restaurants, and much more! Please support us by “liking” us on Facebook and
“following” us on Twitter .
Also, feel free to let us know of any news and special deals your business is doing so we can get the
word out!
Merchants Update Your Store Information on the New Website
Starting January 2011, the BID distributed postcards to all
merchants in the district announcing our new website at
www.fashiondistrict.org and the newly updated Searchable
Directory.
Merchants, please review your store listing here and request
changes and additions to [email protected] so we can
provide up-to-date information to our visitors and shoppers.
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BID Activities
LA Fashion District Cupid Toolkit
Our 2011 Valentine’s Day campaign, titled “Hit Your Mark with
the LA Fashion District’s Cupid Toolkit”, was published on our
website and Facebook page and provided readers with four major
V-Day ideas that can be found at the LA Fashion District: the
outfit, the flowers, the restaurant, the activity.
We listed various companies to give celebrators an example of all
the fun things to do in our vibrant neighborhood.
Flower Shopping Bloomed at the Flower District
Businesses at the LA Flower District saw thousands of Valentine’s Day
shoppers over the weekend through Monday, February 14. This high foot
traffic was a testament to the National Retail Federation press release which
estimated that Valentine’s Day spending would be up nearly 13 percent this
year. Americans were expected to spend $15.7 billion on everything from
chocolates to flowers to that romantic
dinner.
With the freshest flowers displayed at
every store, crowds of Valentine’s Day
celebrators bought arrangements of all
kinds: poodle designed arrangements,
heart-shaped arrangements, tulips,
orchids, and the traditional red roses.
The exciting attractions garnered lots of media coverage. ABC 7, NBC 4,
CBS 2, KCAL 9, Channel 18, and Telemundo reported live from the
Flower District scene.
Channel 18 interviewing Mark
Chatoff, California Flower Mall
owner
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Fashion Your District Workshop
Design for Development Study Update
As part of the 18 month long LA Fashion District Design for
Development Study, three community workshops were held on January
27 and 29. Dozens of participants attended and learned about the
history and transformation of the Fashion District and the provided input
on the vision for the district. On the
Saturday, January 29th workshop,
attendees gathered at the
Merchant’s Exchange Building and participated on a walking tour, led by
Kent Smith and Gaurav Srivastava, Project Manager at AECOM. The two
groups took different routes, each covering a different personality of the
LA Fashion District – Flower District, Wholesale, Retail, Residential and
more. Overall the workshops were a success and received feedback
pertinent to the study’s implementation.
In The News
“36 Hours in Downtown Los Angeles”
By Chris Colin, NY Times
“THE sprawl, the scale, all that freeway time — for many, Los Angeles is an acquired taste. But
not downtown…But this part of town is alive again, in ways that make sense even to an outsider.
”
“The 100-block Fashion District mixes high and low seamlessly. Though many shops sell wholesale only,
you can still find a wide selection of deeply discounted designer clothes, fabric and accessories… ”
Read it here http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/travel/20hours-los-angeles.html
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Meet the 2011 Board of Directors
P
roperty Owners elected 6 new Members to the 15 Member Board of Directors. This election
marks the 7th direct election of Board Members by LA Fashion District BID property owners.
Election results were publicly announced at the Board of Directors on December 9, 2010. The
newly elected members will serve staggered year terms that started on January 1, 2011. Refining
service programs, managing expenses, and addressing important new initiatives are top priorities for
the new Board.
Laura Aflalo – A&H Management
Dan Bartholomew – Griffin & Dunn (2011 Treasurer)
Mark Chatoff – MAC Holdings (2011 Vice-Chair)
Mark Cohen – ANJAC Fashion
John C. Day – L&R Group of Companies
Harvey Flax – Flax Trust
Jorge Flores – SCS Building Fund (2011 Secretary)
Herb Glaser – Glaser Development
Ramin Haverim – Haverim Companies
Peter Kaplan – Academy Award Clothes
Darlene Kuba – American Florist Exchange
Jaime Lee – California Market Center (2011 Chair)
Brian Taban – Jade Enterprises
John Van Den Akker – 1127 Maple LLC
Suzette Wachtel – Wachtel Properties
We thank the following outgoing Board
Members for their dedicated service:
SAVE THE DATES
2011 Fashion District BID MEETING CALENDAR
Barry Gold, Steve Hirsh, Elisa Mermelstein
Keller, Lance Kluger, Laurie Sale
MARCH
Finance Committee Tuesday 3/15 – 10:30 am

Operations Committee Tuesday 3/15 – 12:00 noon

Board of Directors Thursday 3/17 – 11:45 am
APRIL

Annual Owner Meeting Thursday 4/21 – 10:30 am

Board of Directors Thursday 4/21 – 11:45 am
MAY

Finance Committee Tuesday 5/17 – 10:30 am

Operations Committee Tuesday 5/17 – 12:00 noon

Board of Directors Thursday 5/19 – 11:45 am
JUNE No regularly scheduled meetings.19
JULY

Finance Committee Tuesday 7/19 – 10:30 am

Operations Committee Tuesday 7/19 – 12:00 noon

Board of Directors Thursday 7/21 – 11:45 am
AUGUST - No regularly scheduled meetings.
SEPTEMBER

Finance Committee Tuesday 9/13 – 10:30 am

Operations Committee Tuesday 9/13 – 12:00 noon

Board of Directors Thursday 9/15 – 11:45 am
OCTOBER – No regularly scheduled meetings
NOVEMBER

Finance Committee 11/15 – 10:30 am

Operations Committee11/15 – 12:00 noon

Board of Directors Thursday 11/17 – 11:45 am
DECEMBER

Board of Directors Thursday 12/15 – 11:45 am
Removing 5,000 graffiti tags a year
The Board of Directors invites every property owner to
get involved with the BID. Communication is the best
way to ensure excellent service delivery to all parts of the
district.
All Board and Committee meetings are open to the public.
Dates/times/locations are also posted on the website
www.fashiondistrict.org About Us/BID meetings.
Call the BID offices at (213) 488-1153 x 710 for more information.
Dates and times are subject to change. Meetings take place in the
th
BID offices located at 110 E 9 Street Suite A 1175, LA CA 90079
unless otherwise announced.
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BIDLINES
LA Fashion District Business Improvement District Newsletter Winter 2011
th
110 E. 9 Street, Suite A-1175, Los Angeles, CA 90079 | P 213.488.1153 | F 213.488.5159 | www.fashiondistrict.org
Return Service Requested
Removing 5,000 graffiti tags a year
l 49,000 crime prevention safety checks yearly l Removing 210,495 bags of trash a year