We spent three weeks with SSA 44's publicly available budget documents and mapped the assessment disbursement to the programs it funded.
62% of eligible merchants participated. We surveyed 38 of them three months later. The results split almost exactly along who did the work.
The filing deadline just passed. If you're operating in one of San Francisco's 32 neighborhood commercial districts and you didn't file, you have a problem. Here's how to fix it.
A corridor with a 7% vacancy rate generating less economic activity than it did during a pandemic shutdown is not a corridor with a 7% problem. It's a problem the vacancy rate can't measure.
More than 60 cities now maintain vacancy registries that require property owners to register and pay fees on vacant commercial storefronts. For merchants in managed corridors, the registry is leverage. Here is how to use it.
The on-again-off-again tariff announcements of Q1 2026 hit corridor merchants differently depending on category. Importers absorbed cost spikes before exemptions were announced. Here is what the whiplash means for merchant inventory decisions this quarter.
The protest period is not a formality. It's the gatekeeper for judicial review. What rights exist, when they must be exercised, and what happens if you miss the window. The practical guide to challenging assessments that merchants and property owners need to know.
For merchants in Los Angeles managed corridors: the World Cup brings an estimated $1.1 billion in regional economic activity beginning June 11. Here is exactly how to prepare your storefront, staffing, inventory, and payment systems for the 39-day window.
The Winter Garden sale displaced 23 long-term corridor merchants with 90 days notice. What their leases did and did not protect. What every merchant in a corridor property with an institutional owner needs to know before the next sale.
Main Street America's 2026 survey of 408 directors across 41 states found nearly 40% citing resource constraints. Merchants in Main Street districts need to understand what that means for the programs they depend on.
Service tenants — gyms, medical offices, nail salons, dog groomers — now occupy 34% of storefront space in monitored corridors, up from 21% in 2019. What the shift means for foot traffic patterns, spending spillover, and your own lease negotiation.
When the anchor pharmacy on your corridor closes, the immediate effect is foot traffic loss. The secondary effect is a vacancy that changes the corridor's character. Here is what merchants can do in the 90-day window before a pharmacy departure finalizes.
The Escanaba DDA chair owns a business on Ludington Street, which is currently under a major reconstruction project the DDA helped fund. The conflict-of-interest question is live. The governance response determines whether the district emerges with credibility intact.
The IEEPA refund program has $166 billion in unclaimed refunds. The average importer cannot collect. What the refund situation means for importers and corridor merchants.
The commercial rent stabilization bill has returned to Albany. What the bill means for merchants and property owners in New York.
The Five Points BID renewal vote produced an outcome where the district property owners voted for renewal while neighborhood residents voted against. What the split vote means for corridor governance.
Greenport's landlord math provides insights into commercial property economics. What the case study means for merchants and property owners.
Manhattan CB1 storefront vacancy tracker hit 22%. What the vacancy rate means for corridor recovery and merchant strategy.
Kansas City is running a World Cup storefront pilot with free or reduced leases for the 2026 window. What the pilot means for merchants and corridor activation.
Cambridge storefront vacancy dropped 12% in eleven months. What the vacancy rate change means for corridor recovery and merchant strategy.
Portland Maine has a vacancy ordinance that affects commercial property owners. What the ordinance means for merchants and property owners.
Skowhegan voters rejected a TIF proposal 2-1. What the rejection means for corridor development and district funding.
Casa Adela on the Lower East Side has become the named case in the commercial rent stabilization conversation, with rent escalation from $2,000 in 2003 to $11,000 in 2026.
Lark Street Albany had 41 vacant storefronts in 2025. The BID has restarted operations and is actively brokering merchant placements.
A familiar drive-in along Independence Avenue is getting a fresh look thanks to a CID reinvestment program aimed at strengthening one of Kansas City's commercial corridors.