Business, Enterprise, & Commercial Opportunities for Neighborhoods (BEACON) Initiative/ Main Street Birmingham

ISSUE AREA: PLACE

City: Birmingham, AL
Economic Development - Public/Private Partnership - Urban

Contact:
David Fleming
Main Street Birmingham, Inc.
P.O. Box 320637
Birmingham, AL 35232
(205) 595-0562
dfleming@mainstreetbham.org

Date Published: October 2006

BEACON Initiative is "a public-private partnership with the goal of revitalizing Birmingham’s traditional commercial areas in a way that promotes the neighborhoods’ quality of life."” The mission of the initiative is to improve quality of life in Birmingham neighborhoods by promoting small-scale economic development, fostering entrepreneurial ventures, and adding jobs to the City’s workforce.

Many Birmingham neighborhoods have small, often historic commercial districts. While these areas were once thriving, they began to suffer as business trends shifted to larger commercial developments in "shopping malls and suburban clusters." As a result of this shift away from these commercial centers, buildings in these areas experienced a high vacancy rate, which in many instances contributed to an increase in crime. The increase in vacancy also had several other negative effects for these areas. The high vacancy in the business district contributed to reducing the appeal of the neighborhoods to potential residents and businesses and diminishing the sense of community in the areas. In addition, the thinning of the neighborhood caused existing quality businesses to suffer and lead higher income residents to relocate to the suburbs. Currently, 73% of residents in Birmingham neighborhoods have a family income of less that $45,000 a year.

Recognizing that both the City and its residents were suffering as a result of the deterioration of neighborhood commercial districts, Mayor Bernard Kincaid developed plans for the Beacon Initiative in 2003. With the support of the City Council, Mayor Kincaid envisioned a plan that would revitalize Birmingham neighborhoods and strengthen the city center.

In June 2003, the City of Birmingham’s Community Development Department hired Censeo, a Birmingham consulting group, to assess the market potential of core commercial areas in Birmingham neighborhoods. The mode of action proposed by this assessment was that in order to bring new life to these areas, the city should coordinate their resources with local market activities, redevelop key properties, provide technical assistance to businesses to upgrade properties, and market commercial areas. With these goals in mind, the Community Development Department envisioned the BEACON program as "a public-private partnership with the goal of revitalizing Birmingham’s traditional commercial areas in a way that promotes the neighborhoods’ quality of life."

After examining several redevelopment models in other areas, the CDD along with the consultants decided to adopt the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street Program model for the BEACON project. The Main Street program is a nationally recognized model for historic redevelopment that takes a four-pronged approach to development: design, organization, promotion, and economic restructuring. Realizing that a public-private partnership would be the most effective way to implement the BEACON program, a non-profit was formed to carry out the BEACON project through a contract with the city. This non-profit, called Main Street Birmingham is affiliated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street program. Initiating the program through a nonprofit, rather than the government, has several advantages. By creating an organization solely focused on carrying out the goals of the program, hands-on advice, and services to individual tenants and landowners. In addition, Main Street Birmingham, as a non-profit organization, can solicit donations and matching funds from private sources. In addition to implementing the BEACON program, the group may also engage in other activities relating community and economic development, as well as historic preservation.

While the program has only recently begun, Main Street Birmingham and the city have laid out specific goals in order to recover and redevelop commercial areas. The main actions that have been identified in order to achieve success are as follows:

a. revitalize active merchant’s associations
b. reduce blight caused by existing businesses and vacant space
c. preserve the historic character of the neighborhoods
d. recruit new tenants that enhance the quality of the neighborhoods and promote cohesiveness
e. encourage development transactions within the districts
f. assist entrepreneurs in opening local businesses
g. receive, buy and develop key properties

Funding for the program will come from various public and private sources. For 2005-2009, the City will provide operational funding of $250,000 each year for Main Street Birmingham to carry out the BEACON program. In addition, the group intends to raise charitable funds from local businesses. Redevelopment costs will be aided by City Bond funds for redevelopment, New Market Tax Credits issues by the Department of Treasury to encourage commercial redevelopment in under-served areas, Historic Tax Credits, which allows tax reductions for historic renovation, and the Façade Rebate program. Main Street will also seek funding from both public and private sources on a project-by-project basis.

BEACON has initially recognized nine neighborhoods as target areas in which to implement the program. These areas were chosen based upon the perceived likelihood of success. In order to ensure that the actions of the BEACON program are in the best interests of Birmingham residents, the governing Board of Main Street Birmingham is made up of neighborhood stakeholders. While initial projects for the program are still underway, Main Street Birmingham’s detailed five-year plan for the BEACON program provides optimistic approaches to revitalizing neighborhood commercial districts.

Resources:

www.mainstreetbham.org