LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Property owners in Las Vegas' Arts District are working to create a Business Improvement District, or BID, that could bring in about $1.9 million a year to fund services including security, cleaning, public improvements, business support and marketing.
WATCH | Shellye Leggett spoke with property owners about what the improvement district would mean:
Sean Blanchard, owner of the Good Wolf Lifestyle Company, has been in the Arts District for seven years and opened his second location on Commerce Street in 2022. He said the neighborhood's growth has come with growing pains — from parking to safety to keeping people coming back.
"I've always felt like the heartbeat of the city is right here," Blanchard said.
He said the challenges haven't dulled what makes the area special.
"The unique mix of business owners and artists that live down here and contribute — it's always going to be a draw for people," Blanchard said.
Sam Cherry, CEO of Cherry Development and a property owner involved in forming the BID, said the petition process is just getting started. The group needs support representing at least 50% of the assessed property value in the proposed district before taking the plan to the Las Vegas City Council.
"A unified voice can add clean and safety, can add marketing that pushes it beyond what individual businesses are doing today," Cherry said.
Cherry said organizers are reaching out broadly as they build their case.
"We are starting the petition process now, starting the conversations with residents in the neighborhood, business owners in the neighborhood and property owners so they can have clear facts," Cherry said.
For Blanchard, the effort is about more than any one business.
"I think the more you can do it together and the more you can lean on each other as other, as a neighborhood, and we all recognize that we have the same goal, and that's to just increase foot traffic. Just to make it exciting, but also keep its unique spirit," Blanchard said.
Organizers said the BID could be in place as early as the second quarter of next year if the petition and approval process move forward.
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