QUESTION
What steps does the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) take when a drastic change in vacancy rates is observed in a neighborhood?
0:36:08
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74 sec
The SBS engages with local partners to understand the situation on the ground when there is a drastic change in vacancy rates in a neighborhood.
- The agency uses data from LiveXYZ to monitor vacancy rates closely in particular neighborhoods.
- SBS encourages local partners to undertake low-cost efforts to address public realm issues and quality of life impacts from vacancies, such as repurposing vacant spaces.
- Examples include haunted houses in vacant spaces in Brownsville and pop-up coffee shops and art installations in the Meatpacking District.
- If an uptick in vacancies is observed, SBS engages community partners to understand the challenges and shares strategies that have worked in other neighborhoods.
Oswald Feliz
0:36:08
And when you see a drastic change in vacancy rates in the neighborhood, are there any automatic steps that SBS or any other agency takes to try to understand that that drastic change in the commercial corridor?
Calvin Brown
0:36:20
Yes.
0:36:20
We we engage our local partners to see what they're seeing on the ground.
0:36:24
And the using the data that we now have with LiveX Y Z, we would, you know, keep our eye on those rates in those particular neighborhoods.
0:36:34
We encourage our local park is to do very low hanging efforts to, you know, address the public realm issues and equality of life that comes with vacancies, like repurposing those spaces.
0:36:48
Tian mentioned in Brownsville.
0:36:50
They did a haunted house in some in the meatpacking district, they did pop up coffee shops and art installations.
0:36:58
So there's different very low hanging fruit interventions that local partners can do to, you know, improve the quality of life and appearance of those storefront vacancies.
0:37:08
Just as you mentioned, it can have a ripple effects.
0:37:10
So if we're starting to see an uptick, we engage our community partners and just understand what those challenges are and give them some of the strategies that we have scene worked in other neighborhoods.
Oswald Feliz
0:37:21
Okay.
