QUESTION
What tools are available to support areas facing long-term or high vacancy rates?
0:43:24
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53 sec
The Deputy Commissioner for Neighborhood Development at the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) explains that the commercial district needs assessment is a useful tool to support areas with high vacancies.
- Local groups conduct assessments of their commercial corridors
- They evaluate the retail mix, identify vacant storefronts, and survey consumer preferences
- This localized data helps understand changes and challenges in the commercial corridor over time
- The goal is to empower these groups to address vacancy issues in their area
Oswald Feliz
0:43:24
What tools does SBS have available to support an area facing long term or high numbers of vacancies.
Calvin Brown
0:43:32
So one of our, you know, most useful tools is our commercial district needs assessment, and this is where a local group does a a sort of an assessment of their commercial corridors.
0:43:44
They look at the retail mix.
0:43:45
They look at what is vacant.
0:43:47
They look at they survey the the the consumers to identify what sort of retail offer in they would like to see.
0:43:56
And having that localized data, I think that is the most useful tool that any group or any dish it can have because they're looking at over time how their commercial corridor is changing.
0:44:08
And then once again, as part of that grant program, we're trying to empower those groups to just understand how to address those challenges along their commercial corridor.
Oswald Feliz
0:44:17
Okay.
