January 2008
1. Pedestrian
count up, retailers report strong sales over holidays
2. Clean and Safe officer honored
3. Clean and Safe December statistics report
4. Remember to report abandoned camps
5. Ambassadors support holiday promotions
6. Praise for the Ambassadors
7. Holiday Lighting wraps up for another
year
8. Alliance assists in budget discussions
9. City changes garbage storage laws
Member
News
10. Ashforth now Portland's largest owner of
Class A office space in
Central City
11. Lucy moves to KOIN Center downtown
1.
Pedestrian count up, retailers report strong sales over holidays
Downtown
Portland was the place to shop during the 2007 holiday season
with 25 percent more pedestrians hitting the streets and large
and small retailers reporting strong holiday sales. The increase
in downtown shopping can be contributed to new and remodeled
stores as well as the construction moratorium that allowed
for better access to downtown streets during the holidays.
These
strong sales figures can be attributed to the increase in
pedestrian traffic. The overall pedestrian count increased
by 25 percent this year, and most notably, the corner of 4th
& Morrison increased by more than 80 percent and SW 3rd &
Taylor, Broadway & Morrison, and 10th & Washington increased
by 49 percent, 33 percent and 28 percent, respectively.
The Alliance
conducts these pedestrian traffic counts on 15 intersections
within the Business Improvement District from 7 a.m. to 7
p.m. on comparable days every December and June. The purpose
of the counts is to track pedestrian traffic volumes in front
of key intersections within the downtown core, available retail
space, and parcels poised for redevelopment. For a complete
list of intersections and data, visit the Alliance web site
at www.portlandalliance.com/downtown_services/pedestrian-traffic-counts.html.
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2.
Clean and Safe officer honored
Clean
and Safe Officer James Bare was awarded the Community Policing
Problem Solving Award December 10. The Chief's Forum hosted
the ceremony and Chief Rosie Sizer presented the award to
Officer Bare.
Officer
Bare worked in the Old Town Chinatown District as a Portland
Police Officer for fourteen of his 29 years of community service.
In 1998, after retiring from the Police Bureau, Officer Bare
joined Portland Patrol, Inc. and returned to the Old Town
Chinatown District as a Clean and Safe officer. During his
time in the neighborhood, Officer Bare has developed a close
relationship with both the business owners and community members.
Over the
past year, Officer James Bare has consistently demonstrated
his commitment to the Old Town Chinatown community with his
active participation in the Old Town Chinatown Business Association,
Central Precinct Service Coordination Team, Old Town Chinatown
Safety Committee, Housing Rapid Response meetings and Portland
Development Commission safety meetings.
Officer
Bare has worked closely with the Central Precinct Service
Coordination Team in identifying individuals in need of social
services and housing. As part of Clean and Safe, Officer Bare
routinely encourages the people in need to take advantage
of these social services. He has personally been involved
with assisting approximately 30 hesitant individuals getting
into either housing or other social service programs.
Clean
and Safe and the Portland Business Alliance salute Officer
Bare for a job well done.
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3.
Clean and Safe December statistics report
In December,
Clean and Safe security patrols engaged in 11,475 interactions
with individuals on the streets of downtown Portland as they
continue to enhance the safety and security of citizens in
the Business Improvement District. These contacts included
2,282 business assistance and referral contacts, 4,297 pedestrian
contacts, 42 arrests, 101 exclusions and an additional 144
non-enforcement problem solving contacts.
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4.
Remember to report abandoned camps
As with
most months, the Community Court Work Crews spent extra time
cleaning out trash and many pounds of old cardboard from transient
camps around the BID in December. Be sure to call Clean and
Safe if you see camps that need to be cleaned up. Abandoned
camps are a fire and health risk.
In December,
148 defendants were ordered by the Westside Community Court
to perform community service on the Westside work crew. The
Community Court work crews removed 70 bags of trash and cleaned
1,079 block faces in the Business Improvement District.
Forty-six
defendants successfully completed the Theft Accountability
Class. The Downtown District Attorney Legal Assistant reviewed
a total of 112 misdemeanor cases for prosecution and 108 of
those cases were issued for prosecution.
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5.
Ambassadors support holiday promotions
In cooperation
with the Downtown Marketing Initiative, the Ambassadors disseminated
the materials and information for the X-citing Deals campaign
throughout the month of December, handing out packets of coupons
and drawing entries from their satchels and at the kiosks.
The booths were placed outside businesses participating on
special Saturday events, such as Pioneer Place and Rake Gallery.
- Business
modifications: 5
- Business
visits: 483
- Publications
distributed: 3,243
- Information
requests: 1,239
- Service
calls: 97
- Total:
5,067
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6.
Praise for the Ambassadors
We
had a wonderful chat with Bryan. It was our first few hours
in Portland and he was so very friendly. He set the tone for
the rest of our weeklong trip. Bryan is fabulous! - Bernie
R. and Steve S., Brookfield, IL
Resulta
muy alagador que alguien honesto le ayude a una con dignidad
a orientarse! Gracias por tan valiosa ayuda. [It is very pleasing
to have an honest person help one find their way with dignity!
Thank you for such valuable assistance.] - America G.,
Northampton, MA
Merlin
suggested places to take our 12- year-old and she was right
on! We found places we would have never found if it weren't
for her.
- Winston L., Wheeler, OR
Outstanding!
John and Mark were a wealth of information. Helped with restaurant
info, Pearl District info, and bus schedules. We wish every
city had such friendly, informed Ambassadors. - Anonymous,
Medford, OR
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 7.
Holiday Lighting wraps up for another year
Some new
lights are being featured around the building located at 1001
SW Fifth Avenue, testing LEDs for a possible rollout next
year. Thanks to replacing most of the GFI electrical systems
the past year, there were minimal lighting outages this season.
Any outages were mostly due to extremely inclement weather
and construction along the bus mall. The Holiday Lighting
Program comes to a close at the end of January.
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8.
Alliance assists in budget discussions
Members
of Alliance urban renewal budget task force have participated
with other stakeholders and PDC staff to develop the 2008-09
Portland Development Commission budgets for Downtown Waterfront
South Park Blocks, and River District. The goal of the Alliance
through this process was to align the recently adopted policy
recommendations regarding early debt defeasance and River
District expansion with budget development as an interrelated
strategy for continuing urban renewal in the downtown area
for the long term.
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9.
City changes garbage storage laws
This fall,
Portland City Council adopted a new law making it illegal
to store garbage or recycling in the public right of way for
more than 24 hours. The Alliance participated in the City's
Containers in the Right of Way working group to craft the
law in a way that limited the impact on business by providing
resources for businesses as well as accommodation for businesses
that would face extreme hardship in complying.
In December
and January, the City notified businesses about the new law
and enforcement will begin in May and June on a complaint
driven basis. The City will still allow construction drop
boxes as long as there is a permit from the City. Any containers
that block the sidewalk or create a nuisance will be ticketed
and removed.
Many businesses
will be able to comply by using existing space on their property,
by reducing the container size and increasing the frequency
of collection, or by sharing collection costs with a neighbor
who has adequate storage space. Businesses that need to make
structural changes or have questions about city regulations
can call City Permitting Services at 503.823.7690.
For additional
information, contact Judy Crockett Office of Sustainable Development
503.823.5545.
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MEMBER
NEWS
10.
Ashforth now Portland's largest owner of Class A office space
in Central City
Making
its fifth acquisition in two years and third in Portland's
central business district, The Ashforth Company announced
the acquisition of Pacwest Center on SW 5th Avenue. Ashforth,
a real estate owner, investor, manager and developer, has
expanded its presence on the West Coast by purchasing Pacwest
Center with its partner GE Asset Management.
"We are
delighted to continue our expansion in the Portland market.
It provides us an opportunity to develop further our existing
relationships with the Portland brokerage community," said
Doug Pugh, Ashforth Pacific's Senior Vice President of Leasing
& Investment. This transaction closely follows four acquisitions
on the West Coast: The Orrick Building (San Francisco) The
Exchange Building (Seattle) as well as One Pacific Square
and ODS Tower (both in Portland).
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11.
Lucy moves to KOIN Center downtown
Portland-based
activewear retailer lucy is moving its headquarters to the
KOIN Center, in the space previously occupied by a movie theater.
The move, which will take place in April, brings 90 professional
jobs into the BID.
Founded
in 1999 and with approximately $57 million in annual revenues,
Portland-based lucy® is a rapidly-growing women's active lifestyle
retail brand sold through a base of 61 owned retail stores
and online through www.lucy.com. Eric Haskins of Grubb & Ellis
Company represented lucy® and Mark Carnese and Tom Usher of
Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, CommonWealth
Partners.
For more
information, see the press
release.
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