The Camp Bowie District Board of Directors said Friday it launched an economic development initiative “to improve the scale of business along The Boulevard and provide resources for property and business owners.”
The District said it has hired a consultant to run an economic analysis of The Boulevard’s “current, past, and future projections.”
“The completed research will provide an in-depth analysis of the District’s economy, focusing on the identification of key opportunities and threats associated with the area’s current occupancy, consumer trends, and deficiencies,” the District said.
In the second phase of the plan, the District said it will use the information “to create a vision for an improved commercial corridor. The organization will then work with property owners to provide a crossover of communication that will assist them with valuable networking opportunities to find commercial audiences committed to doing business along the Boulevard.”
The District said it wants “to create a vision for Camp Bowie that public, private, and institutional partners can coalesce around and act on to drive investment and growth.”
The plan will position Camp Bowie to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the District said.
“We believe that with these additional resources we will be able to give our property owners, businesses and members intel that they otherwise would not have access to,” Wade Chappell, the District’s executive director, said in the release. “Our aim is to build a stronger business community for today and tomorrow.”
Mark Harris, Camp Bowie District chairman, said in the release, “as Fort Worth and its economy bounce back from the pandemic, the economic structure will continue to evolve as we adjust to the new normal. By actively staying ahead and understanding the economic landscape of Camp Bowie Boulevard, we can fulfill tactics that will increase the economic opportunity for businesses and property owners in the District.”
The District said it believes Camp Bowie’s “historic assets place the District in a position to compete with its peer districts (in Fort Worth), while repositioning itself to attract and retain new and old audiences. Building on the well-established line-up of merchants, the strategic plan only adds further enhancements to ‘level up’ the depth of the District to better compete with its peers (ex. Stockyards, Clearfork, Near Southside).”
Camp Bowie District is a not for-profit public improvement district. Contracted with the City of Fort Worth as manager of the city’s Public Improvement District No. 19, property owners pay an additional property tax to increase economic vitality and redevelopment along the Boulevard. Today, PID 19 extends from University to Lackland Road and includes portions of West 7th Street, Byers and Lovell.