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Businesses and arts leaders back Anacostia BID expansion and ask council for dedicated funding
Summary
Testimony overwhelmingly supported Bill 26‑247 to expand the Anacostia Business Improvement District to include 11th Street Bridge Park, portions of Berry Farm and other corridors; advocates asked the council to pair the expansion with dedicated annual operating funds to sustain marketing, safety ambassadors and the BID's village model for small businesses.
The committee heard broad support Dec. 3 for Bill 26‑247, which would permit the mayor to approve an expansion of the Anacostia Business Improvement District boundaries to encompass additional parkland, corridors, and exempt property owners. Christina Noel, executive director of the Anacostia BID, said the expansion aligns the BID footprint with how residents and visitors already move around the neighborhood and would connect parkland, the 11th Street Bridge Park, Berry Farm and commercial corridors into a cohesive Arts & Culture District.
Noel told the committee the BID currently serves 344 businesses and that the expansion would add approximately six existing businesses now tied to Berry Farm development. Durell Simpson, chair of the ACE (Arts, Culture, Education and Entertainment) council, noted the 11th Street Bridge Park is projected to attract about 1,200,000 visitors annually and said integrating the park into the BID would help convert visitation into sustained economic opportunity. Multiple artists, cultural leaders and small-business owners testified that the BID's village model provides marketing, technical assistance and event programming that materially increases visitation and sales; several witnesses urged the council to consider dedicated annual funding to sustain these services.
