the rendering is small but it shows the rehabbed...gulp...Macy's and the MAX lines with the new train
Light rail, heavy impact
by Kennedy Smith
09/05/2006
In 2003, when Esmeralda Caldera first heard about construction of the MAX light-rail yellow line in North Portland, she was nervous about how the project would affect her business, Exodus Spa, on Interstate Avenue, south of Skidmore Street.
To mitigate any customer slowdown at her eight-year-old salon, Caldera said she "signed up for everything": Portland Development Commission grants, help from a small business loan provider, student assistance from the University of Portland and TriMet business assistance programs.
"I was adopted by the university," she said. "Six kids that were earning their master's in business helped me to get my business plan started by doing a spot analysis. Then I got (a loan) through PDC, and they helped with a storefront improvement matching grant."
With the $20,000 grant from PDC and a $25,000 loan from financial institution Cascadia Revolving Fund, Exodus was able to weather the construction and even gain new business from it. The spa gets about seven new customers a week because it's on the MAX line, Caldera said.
Teaming up again
Now, TriMet, the PDC and Portland State University are hoping to hear the same kinds of success stories with their small business support program for downtown's transit mall revitalization.
The program is modeled after the Interstate MAX support project, said Jennifer Nolfi of the Development Commission.
During construction of the Interstate MAX line, TriMet, PDC and the University of Portland awarded 15 loans to businesses. The transit mall program, Nolfi said, will be much larger in scale.
There are about 300 businesses along the transit mall, which stretches along Fifth and Sixth avenues from Union Station at the mall's north end to the Portland State campus at its south. Businesses eligible for assistance must be within a half-block east of Fifth or west of Sixth, or on cross-streets between the two avenues.
The challenge is that "all businesses are going to be impacted, but there are limited resources," Nolfi said. "We need to identify additional funds for the greater downtown area, collect that data and begin the process perhaps by next year."
The business outreach program will be run by Portland State, with financial support from TriMet and the PDC.
The Development Commission will provide tax increment funds to TriMet for its construction project, and TriMet will divert some of its construction money to the loan program. PSU will ultimately decide which affected businesses are best suited for assistance, said Mary Fetsch of TriMet.
"TIF funds are restricted on how we can use them," Nolfi said. "We made an agreement to make street improvements that (TriMet) was going to pay for in order to make funds available for loans. It's a legal, transparent way to make funding available."
The program, Nolfi said, will be two-pronged.
First, Portland State will identify which businesses are least likely to survive construction along the transit mall and then provide technical business assistance, "one-on-one help developing a business strategy, like deciding whether the business should have less inventory or make staffing changes," Nolfi said.
Second, a TriMet program will offer businesses low-interest loans.
"We're anticipating a 30 percent decrease in revenues (for impacted transit mall companies), so what we need to do is to determine a way to help mitigate that through small loans with low interest rates and favorable terms, as well as looking at options for marketing, looking at personnel expenses," said Gary Brown, director of PSU's business outreach program.
Same program, different businesses
Another, perhaps more open-ended, dilemma is how to model the program after the Interstate MAX plan while keeping in mind that businesses downtown are vastly different from those on Interstate.
"It's a different business community," said Ann Becklund of TriMet. "Typically (downtown) we have more established businesses that are larger, have been there longer, and are more sophisticated in terms of business and clientele. It requires different tools than we (used) on Interstate."
After canvassing the area and performing preliminary outreach, Becklund said, TriMet determined businesses downtown are most worried about marketing strategies.
Those concerns will be addressed, she said, through a TriMet campaign publicizing all of downtown. Plus, staff and student teams from PSU will provide personal assistance to individual businesses, she said.
Success on Interstate
On Interstate, Exodus owner Caldera was aided by her business' location within an urban renewal district. It's the same case for businesses along the transit mall, which extends through the South Park Blocks, Downtown Waterfront and River District URAs. The PDC may have to juggle funds from those URAs to contribute to the loan program, according to Nolfi.
"Being on Interstate, I had more grace from the city as far as permitting," she said. "The inspectors were kind and gracious and patient with me. I had a different vision - I wanted to revitalize this piece of land, and it was going to cost $700,000, and that wasn't feasible. They helped me see I needed to be more realistic."
Said TriMet's Fetsch: "We learned some valuable lessons from Interstate. We'll try and minimize the impact on businesses, by doing construction on three- to four-block segments for up to eight weeks."
Like those of the Interstate project, the transit mall's sidewalks will remain open, and in some areas crews will work double shifts to speed construction.
The transit mall bus relocation is slated to begin in January 2007 and finish by 2009.
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