There are high hopes that a new improvement district will boost safety and business activity in the downtown Honolulu area.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi just signed into law the Honolulu City Council's Bill 51, expanding an existing business improvement district that previously covered just Fort Street Mall.
Now called the Downtown Honolulu Business Improvement District, the “BID” covers much of the downtown area from Nuʻuanu Avenue over to Richards Street, bounded by Beretania Street on the mauka side and Nimitz Highway on the makai side — plus the block containing the Hawaiʻi State Federal Credit Union building.
The top priority for downtown is safety, according to Victor Lim, the chair of the district's board.
"Biggest challenge, here, for our BID has always been cleanliness and safety. The same thing goes for Waikīkī and most other cities' BID, because those are the main priorities that anybody needs. We're going to make sure that downtown is safe, not only daytime," Lim said.
The improvements the group has in mind include better and maintained lighting, landscaping, and signage meant to make downtown more welcoming. At some point, more events could be held there, too.
The BID's budget for its first fiscal year is nearly $2 million, most of which will be funded by fees collected from landowners in the district based on the assessed values of their properties.
Even before the bill was signed into law, there was interest in expanding the district to include Chinatown.
However, Blangiardi said a Chinatown BID would be more difficult to create because the city owns so much of the property there.
"As we look at what's happening here, and we know already what the plans are — Skyline is coming through, what's going to happen to Iwilei, and all the transit and development. And what we have in the downtown corridor, Chinatown, then, remains a little gem right in the middle of all of that, with an incredible, rich history. So we're going to treat it exactly like that, as something very, very special," Blangiardi said.
The mayor said work to address issues like crime and cleanliness in Chinatown is already underway.
Hawaiʻi Public Radio exists to serve all of Hawai’i, and it’s the people of Hawai’i who keep us independent and strong. Help keep us strong to serve you in the future. Donate today.
