RFP Economic Development Strategy Services

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS DOWNTOWN RALEIGH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 2 0 2 3 Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA) seeks proposals from firms experienced and knowledgeable in preparing an economic development strategy for downtowns, business improvement districts and/or municipalities. The main objective of this work is to craft an economic development strategy for Downtown Raleigh that positions downtown in a way that both builds off Downtown Raleigh’s unique strengths and is responsive to the new economic realities of central business districts. Requested Work: January 11, 2023POSTED: February 6, 2023 - 11:59pm Eastern Time (ET)PROPOSALS DUE: ISSUED BY: Downtown Raleigh Alliance 333 Fayetteville St. Suite 1150 Raleigh, NC 27601 January 27, 2023 - 5:00pm Eastern Time (ET)RFP QUESTIONS: March 2023FINALIST INTERVIEWS: April 2023FINAL SELECTED: February 1, 2023 - 5:00pm Eastern Time (ET)RESPONSES POSTED: Submittal Requirements: Proposals should demonstrate a commitment to providing a high

level of service, experience, passion and enthusiasm for the project and provide sufficient detail to enable the Steering Committee to thoroughly evaluate and compare it with other proposals. Proposals should include the following components: LETTER OF INTEREST: CONSULTANT TEAM QUALIFICATIONS AND KEY PERSONNEL: Signed by an officer of the firm who is authorized to execute a contract. Consultant team qualifications and Key Personnel: This section shall describe the areas of expertise on the consultant team including current permanent staff and the types of services that the lead firm and any supportive team members can provide and have demonstrated experience in completing for municipal clients and economic development entities. Additionally, include a proposed project management structure. Identify the key contact for the project and all personnel who will be assigned to work on this project, including a description of their abilities, qualifications, and experience. PROPOSED WORK AND TIMELINE: Include an estimated start date, with a detailed phasing timeline and key task list, estimated completion time of each task with the target completion date. Project work is anticipated to be completed within 12-months of executed contract, and Fayetteville Street deliverables to be completed within first 6-months. PROJECT EXPERIENCE AND REFERENCES: Provide brief descriptions of three (3) projects dealing with economic development, master plans, or similar topics prepared by or under the direction of your firm. Include in your description the techniques utilized in using the strategic plan process and the outcome of the planning process. Where applicable, provide examples where cities have followed your plan and successfully reached stated goals. Please also include a list of references for these projects as well as others with an emphasis on those undertaken within the last five (5) years and those done for cities that are substantially similar. PROCESS FOR EVALUATION AND SELECTION: A Steering Committee comprised of downtown stakeholders and members of the DRA board of directors will review with DRA staff the submitted proposals based on evaluation criteria as identified below. Each proposal submitted within the deadline will be reviewed to ensure all required materials have been submitted according to the guidelines set forth in this RFP. The qualifications of each consultant and all submitted materials will be evaluated for compliance with the requirements and conditions contained in this RFP. DRA staff and the Steering Committee will use a pre-identified matrix to compare all applications to equitably review and score respondents across all categories. 3 to 5 of the high-scored proposals will be invited to participate in an in-person interview and proposal presentation with a subset of the Steering Committee and DRA staff. Evaluation from the interview and presentation will be added to the existing proposal scoring and an updated, ranked list of preferred selection will be recommended to the DRA board of directors for final selection and approval to contract. EVALUATION CRITERIA: Demonstrated level of multi-disciplinary experience, qualifications, experience, and professionalism for respondent firm (or team), its principals, project management team, project manager, key staff, and sub-consultants (if applicable) assigned to the project; Demonstrated level of professional and technical expertise (particularly expertise at both the neighborhood and citywide aggregate levels) and proven record in the preparation of economic development strategic plans (and other economic development plans) and place-based strategies / planning experience by the respondent firm (or team); Demonstrated experience in community engagement, public participation, and outreach as part of similar efforts with experience working with public agencies, city departments, and other regional entities as part of similar efforts; Demonstrated capacity and capability of the firm to perform the work within the specified timeline, scope and budget. Ability to produce project deliverables within 12 months of executed contract, and Fayetteville Street deliverables within first 6 months; Overall value of the proposal and proposed services relative to the level of creativity and innovation in the proposed approach to the project; Expertise and knowledge of the local Raleigh market conditions; Level of Minority- and Women-Owned Business (MWBE) participation and leadership as part of project team; Local consultant and/or firm participation as part project team Cost competitiveness of the application; and Other issues which may arise during the selection process. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS All proposals submitted will become the property of the City of Raleigh and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. All candidates will be notified of status, regardless of the outcome. The Steering Committee will consider applicants based on qualifications and without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, and any other legally protected status. The Downtown Raleigh Alliance and partners reserve the right to not move forward with hiring any consultant for any reason. Written competitive proposals, other submissions, correspondence, and all records made thereof, as well as negotiations conducted pursuant to this RFP, may be handled in compliance with North Carolina Open Records Act. Proposals may not be subject to disclosure during the evaluation and negotiations process, but may be subject to public requests for review at the conclusion of the contracting process. DRA gives no assurance as to the confidentiality of any portion of any proposal once submitted. By offering a submission to the RFP, the proposer certifies the proposer has not divulged to, discussed or compared his/her competitive proposal with other proposers and has not colluded with any other proposers or parties to this competitive proposal whatsoever. DRA reserves the right to reject any or all responses and to waive any irregularity, variance, or informality whether technical or substantial in nature, in keeping with the best interests of DRA and the City of Raleigh. Once a competitive proposal is submitted, DRA may choose not to accept any request by any proposer to correct errors or omissions in any calculations or competitive price submitted. By submission of a proposal, each proposer agrees that any engagement agreement with DRA will contain certain required terms and conditions, as determined by DRA, including the following provisions: Modifications to Agreement or Scope. Once any agreement is finalized and signed, changes, if any, including changes to the scope of services to be provided or the costs thereof, will require a writing signed by both parties. Notwithstanding the foregoing, DRA shall have the unilateral right to change the scope of services as it may require during the term of the contract, provided DRA compensates the contractor for any additional services requested (at a mutually agreeable cost ), and provided further that DRA receive credit against amounts paid or due for any reduction in services requested. Default Remedies. In addition to standard default provisions and remedies in the contract for nonperformance or breach by either party, DRA shall have the right of self-help should the selected contractor, after reasonable notice, fail to perform any part of the required services. Work Product. All papers, reports, forms, materials, creations, or inventions created or developed in the performance of this contract shall become the sole property of DRA. On request, the contractor(s) shall promptly provide an acknowledgment or assignment in a written form satisfactory to DRA to evidence DRA’s sole ownership of any specifically identified intellectual property created or developed in the performance of the contract. Assignment. Once selected, the contractor performing services shall not assign all or any part of the required services to be performed without the prior written consent of DRA. Compliance with Laws; Applicable Law. The contractor must at all times comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations. The contract between DRA and the selected contactor and DRA shall be governed by North Carolina law, and the contractor must submit to the jurisdiction of the federal and state courts of North Carolina regarding any dispute. Conflict of Interest. The contractor will be required, as a part of the contract or pursuant to a separate agreement, to enter into a conflict of interest agreement, prohibiting the contractor from doing business with related parties unless and provided that such relationships are found to be on market terms and otherwise approved by DRA in its discretion. Indemnity. The selected contractor must agree to indemnify, save and hold DRA harmless from any and all claims, suits, judgments and liability arising directly or indirectly from the performance by the applicant, its employees, subcontractors, or assigns, including legal fees, court costs, or other legal expenses. Payment. The consultant and DRA will have an identified payment schedule with compensation connected to completion of key deliverables and project milestones. DRA shall be named as an additional insured on the Comprehensive General Liability and Business Automobile Liability policies referenced above. All policies must be written by a company licensed to do business in North Carolina reasonably acceptable to DRA and contain a clause/endorsement providing DRA no less than 30 days’ notice prior to any cancellation or amendment. DRA shall be provided with a certificate or certificates of insurance showing the existence of the coverage required by this RFP prior to the commencement of any work and when reasonably requested. The applicant will maintain this coverage with a current certificate or certificates of insurance throughout the term stated in the proposal. New certificates and new certified copies of policies (if certified copies of policies are requested) shall be provided to DRA whenever any policy is renewed, revised, or obtained from other insurers. The certificates and/or certified policies shall be sent or delivered to DRA’s Project Manager and addressed to: Downtown Raleigh Alliance, 333 Fayetteville St., Suite 1150, Raleigh, NC 27601. QUESTIONS AND SUBMITTAL RFP Questions and Clarifications - To ensure consistent response and correct information to all interested parties, potential respondents must submit all questions and requests for clarification in writing to Mary Sell, Project Manager at marysell@downtownraleigh.org. All questions must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. ET on January 27th to receive a response in advance of the solicitation closing. An addendum will be provided showing official responses to all questions submitted. Responses to received questions will be posted on the DRA website by 5:00 p.m. ET on February 1st. All proposals must be submitted digitally to marysell@downtownraleigh.org with the formatted email title, DRA Economic Development Strategy RFP - ”Submitting Organization’s Name” by 11:59 p.m. ET on February 6th to be considered for this project opportunity. PLEASE LIMIT PROPOSALS TO 20 PAGES OR LESS FOR YOUR RESPONSE. Insurance. The selected contactor shall be required to maintain insurance during the term of any agreement as follows: Comprehensive General Liability Insurance in an amount of not less than $1,000,000 combined single-limit bodily injury and property damage liability; Business Automobile Liability in an amount of not less than $1,000,000 bodily injury and property damage liability; Worker’s Compensation Insurance in amounts meeting the statutory requirements; Employer’s Liability Insurance with a limit of not less than $500,000; Professional Liability/Malpractice/Errors or Omissions insurance, as appropriate for the type of business engaged in by the selected contractor, with minimum limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence; Such other insurance or coverage as may be required by any applicable federal grant, or as DRA shall reasonable require from time to time. mailto:marysell@downtownraleigh.org mailto:marysell@downtownraleigh.org The main objectives of this work are to craft an economic development strategy for downtown Raleigh that positions downtown in a way that both builds off downtown Raleigh’s unique strengths and is responsive to the new economic realities of central business districts, as we emerge from the pandemic. This study, funded by the City of Raleigh, should develop strategies and actionable recommendations that are contextualized to downtown Raleigh’s strengths and challenges with the goal of making downtown more competitive and resilient economically. Our community has identified four key areas of work: INTENT AND OBJECTIVES: New corridor and retail strategy for improving Fayetteville Street and retail economy Future of downtown Office market Increasing opportunities for Diversity, equity and inclusion Ideas for Catalytic Projects to stimulate downtown’s economy Each of these study areas are explained further below with context and intended outcomes. PROCESS FOR STUDY: Kickoff meeting with steering committee to review and make any final adjustments to the scope and timeline Collect and review all relevant downtown studies from past 15 years Conduct an internal and external scan to assess current landscape and trends Begin analysis and study on Downtown Retail Strategy with special focus on Fayetteville St. with deliverables for Fayetteville strategy due within first 6-months of project timeline. Develop stakeholder engagement strategy to touch as many different groups as possible. Perform necessary analysis on potential projects and/or initiatives to inform a recommendation on the prioritization of those projects and/or initiatives. Research and development of findings related to study questions. Synthesize of data and information to form recommendations Identify recommendations aligned with expectations outlined in areas of study Finalization of recommendations and strategy after presentation to Committee and refinement of recommendations from feedback Produce a publicly presented Downtown Economic Development Strategy document with an executable implementation plan, outlining the roles and responsibilities of each partner. All deliverables anticipated to be completed within a 12-month project timeline. PROJECT SCOPE: AREAS OF STUDY: Fayetteville Street is Raleigh’s main street and a corridor of the highest importance for both the city and state. The city was founded with the idea of Fayetteville St. as its high street with the State Capitol built in the 1830s framing the northern terminus of the street, while Memorial Auditorium, which was built on the site of the Governor’s Mansion, frames the southern end. The street has been home to events, parades, celebrations, protests, and numerous historic events for over two centuries. 1. DOWNTOWN RETAIL STRATEGY WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON FAYETTEVILLE STREET: DOWNTOWN RETAIL: Downtown Raleigh retail has experienced significant ups and downs over the past few decades, as downtown has changed rapidly. Prior to the 1970s, downtown was the central shopping district for the city with stores lining Fayetteville Street and side streets. As the center city emptied out in the 1970s-90s, many retailers left with downtown losing its last departments store, Hudson-Belk, in 1995. Competition from nearby Cameron Village (now Village District) and other shopping centers also contributed to this downturn. As downtown added workers and residents, retail began to make a comeback over the past decade. Many of downtown’s retailers are locally-owned, independent brands with over 90% of downtown retail being locally-owned and independent. The street offers a mix of historic and new architecture with some of the City’s most prominent historic buildings, including the State Capitol, sitting alongside the tallest skyscraper in the region at PNC Plaza, and a blend of buildings from across the decades. The street has wide sidewalks and is the most heavily streetscaped corridor in downtown with dozens of Overcup Oaks providing shade with historic- looking streetlamps leading into City Plaza. This plaza was constructed when the street was re-opened to vehicular traffic in 2009 and serves as a central gathering place and event location. The southern end of the street is heavier on office and hotel uses, which can lead to a dearth of activity in the evenings and weekends in the absence of any scheduled special events. Arguably, downtown’s largest retail accomplishment was the recent addition of two grocery stores, Publix and Weaver Street Market, which affirmed the growing residential base and ability to support these stores. Downtown Raleigh retail and Fayetteville Street have been areas of focus for development and investment over the past 15 years with previous plans and efforts attempting to improve downtown’s main street, as well as its retail base. In 2005, the Livable Streets Plan called for the pedestrian mall on Fayetteville St. to be reopened to auto traffic with wide sidewalks and landscaping, as well as a new convention center built on Salisbury Street, which also reopened Fayetteville Street from the Capitol to the Performing Arts Center. In 2015, the Downtown Experience Plan focused on downtown retail, recommending grant and loan programs to incentivize retail in downtown, as well as active recruitment of a downtown grocery store. These goals were accomplished and retail has increased significantly in downtown since 2015, leaving these recommendations no longer as timely or helpful. With the pandemic, though, downtown retail suffered major setbacks due to reduced foot traffic, the impacts of civil unrest, and rapid changes in the industry. Additionally, downtown’s main street in Fayetteville Street continues to suffer from over a dozen vacancies, issues with streetscape design, challenging relationship with large-scale events and their effects on storefronts, and an overall sense of a failed main street. Given the street’s prominence for the city and state, revival of Fayetteville Street is essential for downtown’s future and is a primary focus for Raleigh City Council. Still, downtown retail has seen turnover and challenges, especially with the onset of the pandemic and unrest. While identification and pursuit of grocery stores were an obvious part of making downtown more livable, the next targets for downtown retail have been less intuitive. Additionally, the market for retail expansion has been complicated since 2020, making prospect identification more complex. Still, downtown added 57 new storefront businesses in 2021 and more in 2022, including over 20 new retailers. PREVIOUS STUDY + RECOMMENDATIONS: FAYETTEVILLE STREET: What are factors contributing to Fayetteville Street’s current struggles? What are peer markets doing on storefront level for their main streets? Where is there success or failures? What is a model for main street like ours? What do we want Fayetteville St. to be and what should our vision for the street be? What are some storefront uses that would bring new life to street? Is there a tenanting strategy that would elevate this street to its highest and best use? Is its role as festival street healthy for storefront business success and are there policies or ways to better balance activation and business? Are there street level design elements, tactical changes, investments, or regulations that could help the street? Is there a placemaking strategy for the street that is durable and moves needle for helping storefront businesses? STOREFRONT AND RETAIL ECONOMY: Gap analysis of what is truly missing in downtown retail base relative to what our market can support Who are national tenants and digitally native brands we need on our radar and should go after that would help our locally-owned retail base without threatening their existence? Assessment of current tools and environment to bring retail meaningfully. Is there a certain strength or niche for downtown in storefront vs. other submarkets? Other recommended ways to help downtown retailers to make successful. Do any key spaces need to be re-positioned or adapted differently to be more conducive to retail? GOALS & PRODUCTS FOR THIS AREA OF STUDY: Strategy for reinvigorating Fayetteville Street into a successful main street with high storefront occupancy, renewed attractiveness for visitors and coordinated policies and investments aligned with vision for the street’s future. Retail Economy Analysis: an overview of the gaps in downtown’s retail and storefront economy with identification of strategies and recommendations to improve downtown’s storefront economy in a way that reduces vacancies, makes downtown a more compelling place to live and work by filling in retail gaps, and makes downtown retail a more viable and successful economy. This section would examine downtown’s office market to identify its competitive advantages and weaknesses to explore how to best market and position the downtown office market in post-COVID world. 2. EXAMINATION AND STRATEGIC POSITIONING OF THE DOWNTOWN OFFICE MARKET: Downtown Raleigh’s office market has seen strong growth and expansion over the past 15 years, emerging as a competitive submarket in a region traditionally defined by suburban office product. Similar to the storefront business trends, downtown was home to most office development in Raleigh prior to the 1970s before seeing the rise of suburban office products that left downtown largely the home of government, bank, and law offices for several decades. Downtown has a natural floor for daytime workers thanks to being the state capital, county seat and home to a large municipal government. But for years, its ceiling was not very high with low demand beyond institutional uses related to government. While several large buildings were added in the late 1980s/early 1990s including 150 Fayetteville St and Two Hanover, downtown’s office market was largely stagnant. In the mid 2000s, downtown saw a concerted effort to bring more diverse office product and tenants to downtown. In 2008, PNC Plaza (then RBC Plaza) was built and anchored by the regional headquarters of RBC bank. This tower, the tallest in the Triangle, gave downtown a new skyline feature and a trophy building for top tenants. In 2012, downtown got one of its biggest economic development wins with the recruitment of cloud-based tech company, Red Hat, who moved their corporate headquarters to Davie St. in the heart of downtown. Shortly following that, in 2014, Citrix moved their local office of several hundred employees to downtown’s Warehouse District. And the growth of Pendo, a locally founded tech company, all took place in downtown with two people in 2013 becoming over 800 employees by 2022. In addition to landing and growing cloud-based tech companies, downtown also saw a major increase in co-working spaces with both locally-grown groups like Raleigh Founded and national tenants like WeWork, establishing locations in downtown with strong results in leasing. Architecture and engineering firms also flocked to downtown in recent years with Kimley Horn, Sepi Engineering and McAdams all moving their offices to downtown since 2017. The recession halted some development, but over the past seven years, downtown has added over 1.8 million square feet of office space in either new construction or renovated space. Prior to the pandemic, downtown saw success in new products such as The Dillon and One Glenwood, which were new office buildings that leased up quickly and were sold for significant profit. And even in the recession, three more Class A buildings have been completed and seen strong leasing activity. The past two years, though, have created new concerns for downtown’s office market and its future. The future of work has been significantly altered by trends in working from home and permanency of that behavior calling into question the need for more office space. Downtown’s daytime population still has not recovered with an estimated 60% of employees back in the office relative to pre-pandemic trends. The Triangle region also has seen several major economic development announcements in the region choose other submarkets, such as Apple, Meta, and Google, (though not all were necessarily looking for downtown office spaces) which challenges the community to think about how to best position downtown to be as competitive as possible for future opportunities. And after nearly three years of employees working from home and the lingering perceptions of the summer 2020 unrest, the reputation for downtown’s core among some office tenants and brokers may have changed in ways that could make leasing more challenging in the future. Additionally, the Triangle region has strengths in other areas such as Life Sciences and biomedical research and development that does not have any presence in downtown, but can be found in other downtowns across the country and, to some degree, even here in this region. Just recently a life science development was announced for downtown Chapel Hill, while downtown Durham is also home to life science developments. At the same time, downtown has obvious competitive strengths. Downtown Raleigh has more housing co-located with office space than anywhere else in the region. Downtown is home to the city’s primary transit hub and will be the terminus of all four future Bus Rapid Transit lines, giving downtown a major advantage in access above any other submarket. Downtown is still home to diverse array of employers, making collaboration and talent identification easier, as well as some of the natural components of an innovation district. Downtown’s storefront economy provides a contrast to office parks and may other submarkets which lack the variety and types of businesses. And due to its transit, walkability, and density of green buildings, downtown has a clear advantage in position itself as a sustainability district. Moving forward, downtown Raleigh’s office market needs help identifying how to best position itself for the future based off its existing strengths and trends in office and how people work. This includes identification of how to best talk about downtown’s competitive advantages and position downtown’s space to be more competitive moving forward. POTENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ANSWER, ANALYSES, AND INFORMATION TO COLLECT: What is downtown’s brand and identity as an office market now? What is downtown’s strength in terms office tenants downtown has attracted and what is it weaker at relative to other peer markets? Are there any entry points to having life science or similar type of developments in downtown? Is there any strategic use of downtown’s strengths in sustainability and/or innovation for downtown’s branding and attraction? What are the barriers to office recruitment for downtown, especially after the past couple of years and moving forward with new dynamics in office market across the country? What are specific clusters we want to recruit and what are they looking for? Quantification of our current tenant mix and employers to see where downtown has strengths, clusters, and also has potential deficiencies. GOALS & PRODUCTS FOR THIS AREA OF STUDY: Clear articulation of downtown Raleigh competitive profile as an office market including strengths, opportunities, as well as understanding of weaknesses and recommendations on how to address those weaknesses. Includes identification of talking points for downtown’s competitive edges in office market to better market downtown as an office destination. As part of this an articulation of potential recruitment clusters to define downtown’s best potential competitive edge in the market. Strategy for how to position downtown Raleigh for opportunities in office space such as life science, innovation or any other potential submarkets/niches that may be appropriate. Identification of potential strategic branding of downtown’s office market strengths in to more specific districts, such as in Innovation or Sustainability, where downtown likely has competitive edges over other parts of the region that have yet to be fully articulated and marketed. Could include ways to create a “Sustainability District” or “Innovation District” in downtown. 3. MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE (MWBE) STRATEGY: This section would develop a plan to grow, support, develop and recruit minority and women-owned businesses in downtown. Downtown Raleigh is home to a growing collection of diverse businesses. Our share of Minority and Women business owners is higher than the state and national averages, as seen in the adjacent chart. But our downtown storefront and business community should strive to continue to better reflect our larger community in Raleigh and the Triangle. For example, our region is home to large Indian-American community, Latino community and many others who are not necessarily strongly represented among our storefront business community. For many, the traditional barriers that exist for MWBE businesses can feel prohibitive for starting or locating a business in downtown Raleigh. For example, higher rents in prominent spaces and the unique challenges of relying more on pedestrian traffic than auto-oriented customers can make downtown intimidating for some entrepreneurs. And long standing barriers for MWBE entrepreneurs to accessing traditional means of financing or networks for investors can also be an impediment to starting a business in a complex environment like downtown. Additionally, as downtown continues to try to be competitive in attracting office tenants from across the country, having a diverse workforce is critically important to downtown’s ability to be home to companies seeking a representative and diverse employee base. Downtown has two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in or near downtown and over 100,000 college students are in the Triangle. North Carolina is also home to a diverse population. To ensure downtown can attract employers seeking diversity and help current employers become even more diverse, downtown Raleigh needs ways to provide opportunities for more employees from different backgrounds. Improving the diversity of both the workforce composition and leadership in corporate downtown Raleigh is important for reflecting our greater community and future. POTENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ANSWER, ANALYSES, AND INFORMATION TO COLLECT: What are the barriers for entry and opportunity for Minority and Women Owned storefront businesses in downtown? How do we increase presence here among communities of Color that are in region but not necessarily strongly represented in downtown? On storefront level, is there more to be done for more durable change/leasing on access to finance and leasing to create opportunity? Are there opportunities for more inclusivity among our downtown employers through means such as utilizing and empowering our Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) relationships more meaningfully? Is there a need for alignment with our events/activations in downtown to make diverse communities feel more welcome? GOALS & PRODUCTS FOR THIS AREA OF STUDY: Strategy with recommendations on specific ways to reduce barriers to entry and create opportunities for MWBE businesses in downtown through programs, space, networks and intentional efforts to improve the number of MWBE businesses in downtown. Recommendations on ways to improve inclusivity among downtown employers to increase diversity of employees and leadership among downtown’s corporate citizens and employers through networking, intentional internship/externship programs and other means. 4. CATALYTIC PROJECTS TO STIMULATE DOWNTOWN RALEIGH’S ECONOMY: Identify the next downtown Raleigh catalytic projects that could help stimulate downtown economy in meaningful way. Part of downtown’s initial comeback in the past 15 years was fueled by strategic deployment and investment in big ideas that had meaningful economic impact. The Livable Streets Plan included the ideas of reopening Fayetteville St. to car traffic with major streetscaping and the addition of City Plaza, as well as building a new Convention Center. By the end of the 2000s, those ideas were completed and have both reaped rewards for downtown in varying ways, while also not completely realizing their potential in the case of Fayetteville St. Additional major ideas have been the construction Raleigh Union Station as a major multi-modal hub, the renovation of Moore Square, and the purchase of Dix Park. But moving forward, downtown no longer has a clear idea or articulated goal for a catalytic project that would help continue downtown’s rebirth and recovery. Even Dix Park, which likely serves as the city’s greatest ongoing project and investment, while close to downtown, does not have an identified, clear, and bold connection to downtown to help the core take advantage of a future world class park and the park to gain synergies with downtown. Periodically, discussion of sports stadiums or other entertainment amenities come and go, while other big ideas are mentioned but never fully explored. The City has recently released an RFI for major catalytic development including a Convention Center hotel on key sites the City owns at the terminus of Fayetteville Street, which can serve as potentially catalytic but not likely comprehensive in their impact. And as downtown has come a long way, too, with increases in residents and visitors, more people ask what else can be added to downtown as an amenity to complement a strong food & beverage scene and several museums. Downtown Raleigh is somewhat unusual as it has developed without the aid of sports facilities or arena. The region’s primary arena is located outside downtown and under discussions for major renovations, while in other regions, sports facilities often seek substantial and controversial subsidies that may or may not be palatable here. Downtown has seen positive impact from the music venue, Red Hat Amphitheater, which faces a somewhat uncertain future as the Convention Center expansion plans eventually require use of that site, though, hopefully with the amphitheater as a part of those expansion plans. . Raleigh also has been building a national reputation in gaming and e-sports, as well, that still likely has room to better leveraged in more durable ways. In addition to potential new or enhanced entertainment amenities and stronger connections to nearby assets like Dix Park, downtown also still has opportunities in more dynamic land use in certain areas, such as the state government campus. Or perhaps downtown could find a new opportunity to address some of its growing concerns in housing affordability. While there are many directions to potentially explore, the primary question to answer is: what is the next big great idea in downtown Raleigh that would meaningfully stimulate our economy? POTENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ANSWER, ANALYSES, AND INFORMATION TO COLLECT: What is downtown missing that would move us forward and have a stimulating effect on our economy in downtown? What will we wish we thought of in 20-30 years? Would more meaningful and bolder connections to nearby parks be catalytic? What are the areas of potential projects? Infrastructure? Entertainment? Sports? Arts and culture? E-sports? Strategic re-positioning of key sites for new land use? Is there an opportunity to nurturing or enhance our existing venues for performing arts in meaningful ways to help downtown’s economy? Are there any projects that would serve to differentiate ourselves? Is there a housing-related idea that could have a major impact and serve as a catalytic project? Stakeholder ideas and feedback on what would be most impactful for downtown’s economy. Analysis of potential economic impact of idea based on similar experiences and projects in other cities to help articulate why recommended ideas would be impactful. POTENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ANSWER, ANALYSES, AND INFORMATION TO COLLECT: Identification of catalytic ideas and projects with articulation and analysis of how and why they would stimulate downtown’s economy. Plan for next steps on key catalytic ideas to move them from ideas to reality with a focus on the most impactful and most urgent ideas. Identification of areas or categories of additional potential catalytic projects for further study and exploration. DELIVERABLES: Identification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities in each area of study Clear recommendations to address needs that have accounted for the unique context of downtown Raleigh Strategy for implementation with partners identified Interviews with the business community, downtown residents, and downtown economic development partners; as well as any and all relevant stakeholder engagement for that area of study Capacity assessment of organization and available resources Awareness and acknowledgment of relevant pre-existing guiding documents and plans Peer research and national best practice guidance This study will be delivered in two parts with the first section regarding Fayetteville Street and downtown’s retail economy delivered before the remaining elements of the study. This timeline is necessary to address the more immediate concerns and vacancies along and near Fayetteville Street. Work is expected to commence on all portions of the study and be conducted simultaneously, but the first area of study is the first priority for execution and delivery. Below are listed the deliverables for each section, as previously laid out in the document. For each section, the final deliverable to address each focus area of this study should include an articulated strategy document outlining the deliverables below and tactics for implementation. Strategy elements should be tailored to capacity and prioritized for focused implementation. In all these areas of study, the analyses should have the following: FAYETTEVILLE STREET & RETAIL ECONOMY: Strategy for reinvigorating Fayetteville Street into a successful main street with high storefront occupancy, renewed attractiveness for visitors and coordinated policies and investments aligned with vision for the street’s future. Retail Economy Analysis: An overview of the gaps in downtown’s retail and storefront economy with identification of strategies and recommendations to improve downtown’s storefront economy in a way that reduces vacancies, makes downtown a more compelling place to live and work by filling in retail gaps, and makes downtown retail a more viable and successful economy. OFFICE MARKET: Clear articulation of downtown Raleigh competitive profile as an office market including strengths, opportunities, as well as understanding of weaknesses and recommendations on how to address those weaknesses. Includes identification of talking points for downtown’s competitive edges in office market to better market downtown as an office destination. As part of this an articulation of potential recruitment clusters to define downtown’s best potential competitive edge in the market. Strategy for how to position downtown Raleigh for opportunities in office space such as life science, innovation or any other potential submarkets/niches that may be appropriate. Identification of potential strategic branding of downtown’s office market strengths in to more specific districts, such as in Innovation or Sustainability, where downtown likely has competitive edges over other parts of the region that have yet to be fully articulated and marketed. Could include ways to create a “Sustainability District” or “Innovation District” in downtown. MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS SUPPORT & STRATEGY: Strategy with recommendations on specific ways to reduce barriers to entry and create opportunities for MWBE businesses in downtown through programs, space, networks and intentional efforts to improve the number of MWBE businesses in downtown. Recommendations on ways to improve inclusivity among downtown employers to increase diversity of employees and leadership among downtown’s corporate citizens and employers through networking, intentional internship/externship programs and other means. CATALYTIC IDEAS: Identification of catalytic ideas and projects with articulation and analysis of how and why they would stimulate downtown’s economy. Plan for next steps on key catalytic ideas to move them from ideas to reality with a focus on the most impactful and most urgent ideas. Identification of areas or categories of additional potential catalytic projects for further study and exploration. Background Information: Introduction to Downtown Raleigh Downtown Raleigh has been on a rapid rise over the last decade plus, thanks to a combination of strategic public investments and significant private development. For more than half of the 20th century, Downtown Raleigh was a thriving downtown with numerous stores, restaurants and offices all centered on the historic state capitol and state government campus. Like many center cities, though, Downtown Raleigh experienced a rapid decline in the 1960s and 1970s with a loss of many retailers to outlying malls and commercial centers. The downtown area largely was a 9- 5 government office center with little activity at night and on weekends. During this era, downtown’s main street, Fayetteville Street, was turned into a pedestrian mall, which ended up as a failed experiment in urban placemaking. FROM 1971- 1977, DOWNTOWN LOST 44% OF ITS RETAILERS Beginning of Revival: In the early 2000s, city leaders and private sector partners came together to form a plan for renewing Downtown Raleigh. The Livable Streets Plan focused on five major recommendations for revitalizing Downtown Raleigh, including the re-opening of Fayetteville Street to vehicular traffic, a new convention center, regulatory reform to speed up development in downtown, improve the pedestrian environment through actions such as conversion of one-way streets back to two-way streets, and build marketing programs for downtown. Even today, this plan is considered a resounding success with the conversion of Fayetteville Street, new convention center and conversion of one-way streets all considered major elements of aiding downtown’s growth and comeback. Also beginning in the early-mid 2000s, downtown started seeing an influx of residential development with a wave of condo developments built, bringing new life to downtown. In 2008, downtown saw the opening of the tallest building in the Triangle with PNC Plaza (then named RBC Plaza) opening at over 500 ft and featuring residential, office and retail in one signature tower. Additionally, Downtown Raleigh began hosting large-scale events, as a means for generating new activity, such as Hopscotch Music Festival and IBMA Wide Open Bluegrass, which brought thousands back to downtown. Downtown’s employment market has evolved from being a government center to having a dynamic tech and creative sector. In the past 15 years, downtown also had several major economic development wins with the recruitment of Red Hat, a large cloud-based software company now owned by IBM, coming to downtown in 2012. In 2014, another tech company, Citrix, opened a large office in downtown’s Warehouse District. Initial Residential Influx: CONVENTION CENTER FAYETTEVILLE ST AND CITY PLAZA CONVERTING ONE-WAY STREETS Evolving Employment Center: Downtown also has incubated rapidly growing tech companies, such as Pendo, which began with 4 employees in one of downtown’s co-working spaces in 2013, and now anchors a new Class A skyscraper with hundreds of employees. Additionally, downtown has more traditional office tenants and employers more associated with a state capital such as state and local government, law firms, nonprofits, Duke Energy, regional offices for banks, and large concentration of architecture and engineering firms. Downtown and this entire region is still less oriented towards Fortune 500 headquarters than some peer markets such as Charlotte and Atlanta. Downtown entered the pandemic as the Triangle’s densest office market, offering a unique urban environment in a region defined by one of the most successful office park developments in the U.S. with Research Triangle Park. Over the course of the previous decades, downtown also has developed several unique districts within itself that have their own character and dynamics, based on their building stock, development patterns, density and major anchors. Fayetteville Street is the core of downtown featuring both the tallest skyscrapers in the city, as well as some of the oldest buildings. To the east is Moore Square, centered on one of downtown’s original squares with historic City Market and Marbles Kids Museum. Distinct Districts: The north-central section of downtown is known as the Capital District, which is primarily composed of the state government campus. On the western side of downtown, the Warehouse District has been downtown’s most rapidly evolving district with historic brick buildings serving as the setting for arts, retail, residential, and co-working spaces. This district is also home to Raleigh Union Station and the future adjacent bus terminal, making it Raleigh’s most concentrated, transit-oriented development area. Recent Rapid Growth Since Great Recession: As Raleigh and downtown emerged from the recession, development shifted from condos towards more office and multi-family rental developments. Since 2015, downtown has seen 3,415 residential units delivered, dramatically transforming parts of downtown into residential neighborhoods. Additionally, new class A office towers opened not just in the Fayetteville Street corridor, but in Warehouse District and Glenwood South. And with new residents and workers came new restaurants and retail with downtown becoming a dining destination with the region’s largest collection of James Beard Award nominated restaurants, as well as the largest collection of locally-owned retail in the region. Downtown’s attractions saw a more than 50% increase in visitors from 2009-2019. Downtown’s growth also brought the much-sought after grocery stores to services a rapidly growing population. Transportation Investments: Over the past decade, Raleigh has made significant transportation investments in downtown Raleigh and positioned downtown as the center of an expanding transit system. In 2016, Wake County passed a transit referendum that will fund four Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines that will run along major corridors in/out of downtown. The first line will begin construction in early 2023. In 2018, Raleigh Union Station, a $120 million multi-modal center and train station in a former warehouse, opened and has daily Amtrak passenger rail trips to Charlotte, Richmond, Washington DC and other cities. The station is primed to host commuter rail trips, if proposed lines are built out, and additional train travel. The neighboring warehouse is now under construction for an adjacent bus terminal that will host regional bus trips. Additionally, the City has invested in new bike lanes and converting one-way streets to two-way traffic. Challenges and Growth Since 2020: In 2020, the onset of the pandemic and then damage from civil unrest created a new paradigm for Downtown Raleigh, as it did for many other center cities across the country. Offices emptied out, streets became quieter and storefront businesses struggled. Near term recovery is occurring, but the pandemic, as well as persistent issues before the pandemic, have raised questions on how we move forward and stay competitive as a city center. In 2022, Downtown Raleigh has seen a major increase in foot traffic and sales, but is still seeing less office workers and activity than before the pandemic, particularly in our core. Our activity has shifted more heavily towards weekends than prior to the pandemic, with weekend activity now well exceeding pre-pandemic in terms of sales and foot traffic. Since the onset of the pandemic, downtown has seen a shift in activity towards the west side of downtown with the central and eastern portion of downtown still seeing a lower level of activity. Our main street, Fayetteville Street, has more than a dozen vacancies and is in need of a refresh with some issues even pre-dating the pandemic. Downtown also has a significant amount of office space that is dealing with the same trends across the country of considering how to be re-positioned in a new world of hybrid work and in a very competitive office market regionally. Additionally, downtown continues to need more diverse business ownership to better reflect our larger community and looks to emerge from these crises both better and different than before. After 2+ years, Downtown Raleigh’s strengths and challenges increasingly seem settled into more hardened patterns with some areas thriving, while others continue to struggle. Some issues can be addressed, such as public realm investments and ensuring stronger service delivery in cleanliness, safety and other areas that help bolster confidence and improve the experience in a downtown. But downtown is in need of a strategic pivot to both fully recover and really be repositioned for the future. As such, this study will be concentrated around the need for recovery in our core district, plan for positioning our office space moving forward, improving opportunities for all, and the need for the next great ideas to really stimulate our downtown economy. Downtown Raleigh has benefited tremendously over the past two decades from forward- looking planning and then alignment with the community on execution of those plans. As detailed above, Downtown Raleigh’s recent growth and trajectory began with the 2005 Livable Streets Plan and execution of its five main recommendations. That plan stimulated several hundred million in investment in downtown through the Convention Center, Fayetteville Street, and conversion of one-way streets. A decade later, in 2015, DRA and the City of Raleigh jointly funded a 10-year Downtown Master Plan for future growth and development. That plan made a series of recommendation on land use, transportation investments, greenspace and regulatory changes. That plan also included an economic development component that is now largely obsolete, as it mostly focused on recruitment of grocery stores and standing up grant/loan programs to facilitate retail. Grocery stores were successfully recruited and both DRA and the City have grant programs to benefit new and expanding storefront businesses. Additionally, most of the major projects included in that plan have been built or are underway, leaving downtown in need of its next big idea. Rather than wait for another master plan and while still within the 10-year timeframe of the previous plan, DRA is studying downtown economic development in the context of changes that came during the past two years. This plan will examine challenges and identify strategies and solutions to help downtown’s economy recover. The final product would have recommendations and strategies for achieving identified outcomes for the main four areas of study that are aligned to our greatest needs of today. 2018 Downtown Transportation Plan Provides guidance for transportation investments in downtown, including Bus Rapid Transit, cycling, pedestrian improvements. 2030 Raleigh Comprehensive Plan This plan guides Raleigh’s growth and is used in zoning and land use decision making by Raleigh’s municipal government. DRA Quarterly Market Report DRA releases regular quarterly reports on downtown’s economy including sales, new developments, pedestrian traffic, announcements, storefront openings and other metrics. Wake County Destination Strategic Plan Visit Raleigh is the region’s convention and visitors bureau with this plan setting strategic direction for how to increase visitation in Raleigh through major investments and positioning. 2015 Downtown Plan Most recent downtown master plan, in need of updating the economic development recommendations, as well as identify next generation of catalytic projects. 2005 Livable Streets Plan Downtown plan the led to Fayetteville Street re-opening and Convention Center among other recommendations. 2022 State of Downtown Report Most recent report on downtown’s economy with population trends, development pipeline, and future projects all laid out. New report published in August 2022. 2021 Downtown Raleigh Public Realm Study Intended to guide City on how to to handle long term future of pandemic- related public realm policies such as outdoor dining and curbside access, plus provided ideas on ways to reinvigorate public space to bring people back downtown. AVAILABLE RESOURCES: https://goraleigh.org/downtownplan https://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR22/CPUSection15DowntownRaleigh.pdf https://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR22/CPUSection15DowntownRaleigh.pdf https://ctycms.com/nc-raleigh/docs/dtr-market-report-q2-2022-min.pdf https://www.visitraleigh.com/partners/destination-strategic-plan/ https://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR22/DowntownPlan.pdf https://www.scribd.com/document/68478510/Livable-Streets-Downtown-Plan https://downtownraleigh.org/sod-2022 http://server/DRA/public/Economic%20Development/Research/Economic%20Development%20Strategy/%E2%80%A2https:/ctycms.com/nc-raleigh/docs/dra-public-realm-study-small.pdf THANK YOU www.downtownraleigh.orgWebsite Address 333 Fayetteville St, Suite 1150 Raleigh, NC 27601 marysell@downtownraleigh.orgEmail