June 2, 1999

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ellen Dozier, 404/892-4782

The community improvement district is hardly a new idea in metro Atlanta. Cobb County’s CID has yielded the new Kennedy Interchange, and Central Atlanta Progress owes its popular Ambassador Force to a CID. Citing those and other success stories, the Midtown Alliance has asked more than 40 major commercial property stakeholders to consent to a new "self-tax" to support a new Midtown CID.

On May 18, property owners representing the bulk of Midtown’s commercial property value gathered in the NationsBank board room to hear supporting arguments for the proposed Midtown CID. Post Properties chairman and CEO, John Williams; Blueprint Midtown Task Force chairman, Harald Hansen; and UrbanOne Associates president, Tad Leithead, each spoke to the power of this type of public-private partnership. The trio made an impressive case for the CID as the most effective financing tool for furthering sustainable economic growth in Midtown.

Williams, who recently announced Post’s new focus on intown development, noted that Midtown is really a step ahead of the game. Often a CID’s first order of business is a long-range planning process. Midtown is prepared to go straight to implementation, thanks to the Midtown Alliance’s comprehensive Blueprint Midtown plan. Blueprint Midtown is the product of a community-wide visioning process initiated by the Midtown Alliance and led by noted urban planner Anton Nelessen. It charts the course for Midtown’s economic growth and vitality and has already proven to be an effective guide for new commercial and residential development.

The proposed Midtown CID includes the following components:

• a comprehensive security program designed specifically to address street crimes (prostitution, drug traffic, vandalism, car break-ins, etc.)
• traffic improvements that focus on ingress and egress, congestion and calming
• transit initiatives, such as shuttles and ridesharing programs, administered by a Midtown transportation management association
• streetscape enhancements, including sidewalks, decorative lighting, trees, parks and plazas and buried utility lines

The Midtown Alliance has every reason to be optimistic about the success of Midtown’s CID. "Following the initial meeting, we had immediate and enthusiastic response in support of the Midtown CID. We anticipated at least one follow-up meeting with each affected property owner, but I’ve been delighted to find that some were committed to the idea before they even went into the meeting," said Midtown Alliance president and CEO, Susan Mendheim.

The next step is to obtain consent forms in support of the CID from a simple majority of property owners representing 75 percent of the assessed commercial property value within the Midtown CID’s geographic boundaries. "Over the next few months, our team will be meeting with all of the uncommitted property owners to answer questions pertaining to their specific properties," Leithead said.

"Like John [Williams] said, the work necessary to implement these initiatives has already been completed. The Midtown Alliance is ready to proceed as soon as the funding is in place. Our goal is to collect all consent forms by year-end and to have a fully functioning CID in 2000."