On April 8th the Downtown Berkeley Association invited all property and business owners to its Annual Meeting at the Magnes Collection and presented the following Powerpoint presentation regarding 2013 operations and plans for 2014. The financials were prepared from the Compilation and Summary of Financial Statements by our Accountant Max Ranjbar and are also included in the attached material. We have also included more detail from our annual Stakeholder Survey in the attached material.
As you will see, 2013 continued to be a good year for Downtown Berkeley and the Downtown Berkeley Association. Our Ambassadors under the direction of Operations Lance Gorée, continue to clean, welcome, and beautify the Downtown with increased satisfaction and productivity. And under the guidance of Marketing Manager Shifra Benedictis-Kessner, the DBA produced more events and welcomed more new business to the Downtown.
Our efforts of a cleaner, more welcoming and prosperous Downtown--along with a booming Bay Area economy and new Downtown Area Plan--are beginning to pay off. As you will see in the attached slideshow, there are now eleven new projects in the pipeline for the Downtown and surrounding areas, totaling almost 1,500 new dwelling units, which will bring approximately 3,000 new residents to the Downtown. Moreover, the new Berkeley Art Museum will open in 2016, and the renovated BART Plaza and surrounding areas in 2017.
To read more on the good news story about Downtown Berkeley, please see our retail attraction brochure "Have you been to Downtown Berkeley lately?", as well as the recent cover story from the San Francisco Business Times, "Berkeley Grows Up" featuring Downtown Berkeley.
2014 looks to be even better, as we see continued improvements in Ambassador operations, more events from the DBA and outside parties, and continued upswing in new businesses and retailers in the Downtown. Please be sure to contact me, Lance or Shifra if you have any questions or suggestions for continued improvement in creating and sustaining a welcoming, vibrant, and prosperous city center.
Sincerely,
John Caner, CEO
510.549.2230 x12
