Organizers Ask Eastern Neighborhoods Property Owners to Invest in their Community

       Enjoy this shot of the coast near Ft. Funston.

     
     A group of citizen-activists, entrepreneurs and property owners in the Central Waterfront, Showplace Square, and Northeast Mission have launched an initiative to create an Eastern Neighborhoods Urban Innovation Community Benefit District.  The effort is modeled on the popular community benefit districts (CBD) formed around the City’s retail corridors.  

     While those districts focus mainly on sidewalk cleaning and graffiti removal, the Urban Innovation CBD seeks to spur economic development in the recently rezoned eastern neighborhoods.

    Urban Innovation CBD is working to convince property owners in the Central Waterfront, NE Mission and Showplace Square neighborhoods to pay a special tax assessment to fund improvement projects.  

    According to their website, www.urbaninnovationsf.org, those projects could include “branding, marketing and promotion of the district to businesses, brokers and outside residents and maintaining a website that promotes the neighborhoods.”  A nonprofit, public benefit corporation would manage the district, directed by the property owners who fund it.   

    According to Steering Committee member and NE Mission resident Kate Sofis, Urban Innovation hasn’t yet estimated the cost of the assessment.

    “We have not yet begun calculating the various assessment scenarios.” she said.  “We will be doing this step once the initial survey results come back from the community, which will in turn help inform the services most in demand.”