Proposal would upgrade Broadway Business Improvement Area with higher caps and a recurring annual bump for clean-up and promotion

The new proposed boundary changes are focused on only the removal at E Pike. The original BIA was formed with Area 1 and Area 2 boundaries shown here. Area 1 includes the parcels located just north of E Roy up to the lot lines before E Aloha. This area was drawn as a distinct sub-district at the time to separate it from the heavier service needs of the denser core to the south.

A Seattle City Council committee Friday will consider a proposal to adjust the Broadway Business Improvement Area boundaries and lift assessment caps to counter inflation. The plan would raise the district’s maximum annual rate from $3,500 to $5,000, expanding a historical $200,000 baseline budget before adding a recurring $200 annual increase starting in 2032.

Under the plan from Human Services, Labor, and Economic Development Committee chair Alexis Mercedes Rinck, anchor institutions like Seattle Central College and neighborhood bank branches would become standard maximum-rate payers to reinforce basic maintenance services managed by the BIA across more than 150 businesses along the Broadway commercial corridor.

According to the report on the proposal prepared by the Seattle Office of Economic Development, “the prior assessment limits no longer reflect current economic conditions, operating costs, or the scale of services” provided by the BIA.

The Broadway BIA assessment is structured as a business-tenant levy though property owners are directly involved in notification and billing. The assessment formula is levied directly on the commercial tenants and operators within the BIA boundary. The typical small-to-midsize business currently pays between $400 and $1,500 annually, depending on its size and reported gross revenue.

The changes including the much-needed bump in revenue from increased assessments and a surgical change to the BIA’s borders to remove one key building on the area’s southern edge come as city officials and neighborhood stakeholders continue to jockey for position around the formation of a possible new Capitol Hill BIA covering the Pike/Pine neighborhood. CHS reported in July on the emergence of a new core group of stakeholders in the effort. District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth has backed the Pike/Pine BIA initiative.

From the Broadway BIA’s presentation on the proposal

The formation of a Pike/Pine BIA would give the neighborhood three. The 15th Ave E BIA provides similar services from assessments collected along a core stretch of Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave E.

A decade ago, the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce backed down after a years-long fight against smaller Capitol Hill property owners over a planned expansion of the 1986-born Broadway BIA that would have grown the area to cover most of the Hill including the neighborhoods around Summit/Bellevue, Olive and Denny, Pike/Pine, 12th Ave, 15th Ave, and 19th Ave. The expended energy and flagging membership contributed to the chamber’s shutdown months later.

The new proposal would grow the Broadway BIA’s revenue but not necessarily its size.

While aggregate totals were not included in the city’s published analysis of the proposal, estimates based on historical amounts and the corridor’s 150+ commercial ratepayers suggest the changes will expand the Broadway BIA’s annual budget from roughly $200,000 to an estimated $235,000 to $255,000 during the initial five-year stabilization period. This near-term growth is driven by raising the maximum assessment ceiling from $3,500 to $5,000, bringing Seattle Central College to the full maximum rate, up from its previous $1,500 flat fee, and transitioning financial institutions to the standard top tier.

Starting in 2032, the long-term phase-in of a fixed $200 annual increase to the maximum cap is projected to inject an additional $4,000 to $6,000 annually, potentially pushing total district collections toward $260,000 to $285,000 or more as the top rate scales past $5,200 into the mid-2030s to help offset ongoing inflation.

The Broadway BIA is led by Director Egan Orion alongside a five-member governing board composed of local business owners and neighborhood representatives. The board is chaired by Tamara Asakawa of Magpie Thrift, with Lindsey Jensen of Hunters Capital serving as treasurer. Rounding out the board are Grant Bowker representing Seattle Central College, Rodrigo Parisi of Capitale Pizzeria, and Heather Caldwell of Kismet Salon.

Presentation materials submitted by Orion and the Broadway BIA explain that district revenue has lagged behind escalating expenses, noting specifically that “costs for garbage pickup and graffiti abatement have increased with inflation” while the assessment structure has remained unchanged.

Unlike larger commercial districts or proposed multi-neighborhood programs that aimed for $1.6 million budgets, the Broadway BIA has historically functioned on a more modest total to fund daily cleaning and seasonal activities.

Organizers say the new five-year stabilization period and subsequent $200 annual escalator will create “an equitable assessment for all” while offsetting inflation. Officials say that this incremental adjustment will safeguard the BIA’s operational health, allowing the BIA to keep up with basic sidewalk cleaning and trash pickup while bringing back budget for marketing and street beautification

There are also a few tweaks proposed for the Broadway BIA’s boundaries. The legislative proposal includes a carve out removing a single parcel at 910 E Pike because the business is “naturally part of Pike/Pine more than it’s part of Broadway.” The 1908-era building has been owned by prolific Capitol Hill real estate investor Ron Amundson since his $2.4 million 2007 purchase of the property. The building most recently has made a new home for $pent Studios, “Seattle’s newest underpriced vintage store.”

Amundson, meanwhile, will continue his close relationship with the Broadway BIA as a holder of several other properties still in the proposed updated footprint. The landlord is also likely to be part of whatever direction the proposed Pike/Pine BIA eventually takes.

Officials claim strong support for the Broadway changes. Outreach by the BIA board to stakeholders produced a “positive response from all who responded” and “no ‘no’s’ to amendment,” according to materials submitted to the city council. Seattle Central College, which previously held an exemption capping its annual assessment at $1,500, formally agreed to pay the full $5,000 standard rate.

Before taking effect, the proposed Broadway BIA legislation must proceed through a public hearing before the Seattle City Council and direct notifications to affected property owners. There is also a requirement for public announcements, legislated as formal public notices in The Daily Journal of Commerce and The Seattle Times. Lobby your local council member to include CHS in the bill.

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