BIA Exploration
What a BIA Would Do
A Business Improvement Area (BIA) is a self-funded, self-governed tool that allows property owners within a defined area to pool resources for enhanced services and programming. It would be established through petitions from property owners within a defined area and chartered by the City of Bellevue. It would be governed by an advisory board representing property owners and stakeholders. Formation will require a petition supported by at least 60 percent of the assessment value within the proposed area. Once formed, a BIA would supplement city services. It would not replace them.
The services being studied currently fall into two categories.
- Operations and Public Realm
- Sidewalk cleaning and pressure washing
- Litter removal and graffiti abatement
- Dedicated, uniformed clean and safe team
- Ambassador program focused on hospitality and visibility
- Programming and Activation
- Regular programming in plazas and along the Grand Connection corridor
- Seasonal décor and installations
- Storefront and public space activation
- District marketing and promotion
- Street-front small business support and tenant retention efforts
Together, these investments would focus on the daily experience of being in Downtown Bellevue, whether someone works here, shops here, and lives here. We want to make the best impression.
More than 1,000 BIAs operate across the United States, including 11 in Seattle and others in Spokane, Tacoma, and communities throughout Washington state. Nationally, BIA renewal rates run at 99 percent. Property owners tend to renew these efforts because costs are tied to benefits, governance sits with the people who pay, and the result is a more competitive, better-managed downtown area.
The BDA has retained Progressive Urban Management Associates, a Denver-based firm specializing in downtown financing and management strategy, to guide the feasibility and formation process.