Push for Business Improvement District Falters

Despite a major setback, Ronald M. Druker refuses to bid adieu to his BID. The president of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board and a major landlord in the city’s Downtown Crossing shopping district, Druker has been leading the charge for implementation of a so-called Business Improvement District for the bustling retail sector. Under a BID, the city would levy special surcharges on property owners to pay for such things as added security or street cleaning. “Downtown Crossing is really in terrific shape, [but] I think the BID could make it that much better,” says Druker. “It would be a real plus for the district.”

Despite that sentiment, the city’s home rule petition to establish a BID has failed in past years to make it through the Massachusetts Legislature, and the just-concluded session is no different. After early momentum, the measure stalled in committee and never made it to the floor for a vote.In killing the bill, opponents such as State Rep. Marie Parente (D-Milford) questioned the need for a BID vehicle in one of the region’s strongest shopping districts, while the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association criticized the plan by claiming the private security force would actually compromise safety.

Druker dismisses those arguments, noting that BIDs have been established in thousands of other cities and towns nationally and have been credited with reinvigorating many of those urban shopping areas. The BID is often cited as a linchpin in the rebirth of New York City’s Times Square, for example, while a BID in Springfield has reportedly helped stabilize that Western Massachusetts community.