The business improvement districts (BIDs) along Arlington’s major commercial corridors are evolving in response to a changing mix of office and residential development in those areas.
“We are the boots on the ground” in a shifting environment, said Mary-Claire Burick, president of the Rosslyn BID, during an Oct. 30 panel discussion on economic-development issues sponsored by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.
Burick held home-field advantage at the event, which was held atop Arlington’s tallest office building, located adjacent to the Rosslyn Metro station. She was joined for a panel discussion by Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, president/CEO of the National Landing BID, and Danette Nguyen, CEO of the Ballston BID.
An influx of multifamily housing has brought major changes to all three corridors in recent years, which BID leaders say they are working to address.
“We are piloting a lot of new initiatives and really trying to get out there in the community,” Nguyen said.
Rosslyn is now home to more than 11,000 residents, with even more development in the pipeline. It is a far cry from the concrete office canyon that started in the 1960s.
“We really are at that pivot point [and] we really had to adapt,” said Burick. “As the neighborhood has grown, our BID team has grown to meet the needs. We are creating places where people want to be.”
All three organizations are funded by surtaxes on commercial real estate within their boundaries. Current rates are 4.3 cents per $100 assessed valuation for the National Landing BID, 4.5 cents for Ballston and 7.8 cents for Rosslyn.
Gabriel said her organization, which began serving Crystal City and later expanded to include Pentagon City areas under the “National Landing” marketing umbrella, was working to bring more lively engagement to the corridor.
“Play and entertainment is where we really need to compete,” Gabriel said. “We need to champion big ideas.”
All three BID leaders said their organizations work well with the county government, including Arlington Economic Development (AED).
“We are a small team of four, so being able to partner with the county means the world to us,” Nguyen said.
In return, the local BIDs offer “the ability to amplify what the county is doing” by bringing those efforts to a more granular level, Gabriel said.
The forum attracted about 100 local leaders. Before the panelists took the stage, attendees heard from Marc McCauley, director of AED’s Strategic Investment Group.
McCauley said the challenges that Northern Virginia is facing in 2025 are just the latest to materialize. “Crises seem like the new normal,” he said.
Arlington’s past efforts to recruit and retain commercial tenants require changes that will reduce roadblocks such as lengthy development timelines, he said.
To do so successfully represents “both a process issue and a culture-change issue,” McCauley said to an audience that included three County Board members: Susan Cunningham, Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., and Chair Takis Karantonis.
Arlington Chamber of Commerce president/CEO Kate Bates picked up on that theme. She said that the county government’s recent efforts to streamline the development process have increased the county’s competitiveness, and she urged more of them.
“Getting out of the way” sometimes can be “exactly what is needed at this time,” Bates said.
