Corpus Christi Downtown Management District (DMD) Managers of the Marina Arts District

May 2016 Activity Report

The Marina Arts District and the City of Corpus Christi had a “watershed” moment with the visit of First

Lady of Texas, Cecilia Abbott participating in the dedication ceremony

for us becoming a Texas Main Street program. Her participation and

the more than 200 stakeholders and community leaders who attended

the ceremony show the significance of the preservation-based

economic development program and the boost it will provide our

revitalization efforts. Many thanks for support from DMD board

members, City Council and City staff!

Additional revitalization progress in the District could be seen with the

ribbon cutting for completion of the $3.2 million project at the

Cooper’s Alley L-head. Corpus Christi Marina added more than 100

new slips and state of the pier system which is sure to attract more

boaters to the District.

This summer construction will begin on the $1 billion Harbor Bridge

project and DMD hosted a stakeholder briefing with the contractor,

Flatiron/Dragados LLC attended by nearly 30 stakeholders. DMD looks

forward to working with the Flatiron/Dragados LLC team to minimize

disruption to our businesses during construction and ensure that

Downtown is well connected to the new bridge and the rest of the

region!

Sincerely,

Terry Sweeney Alan S Albin Barbie Baker Executive Director

Finance & Operations Manager

Merchant and Special Events Manager

District Operations: Create a cleaner, safer, more beautiful and accessible District and Greater Downtown Area. I. Improve Cleanliness and Perceptions of Cleanliness.

A. Clean Team. DMD’s four-man cleaning crew recorded the following activity: 1. 657.5 Hours 2. 1,617 Block faces swept/cleaned. 3. 1,472 Bags of debris and trash collected. 4. 48 Block faces weeded/sprayed (block faces). 5. 23 Tree Beds trimmed. 6. 68 Curbs painted. 7. 42 Customer contacts. 8. 13 Graffiti sites removed/painted over. 9. 31 Contacts with transients.

10. 0 Code violations / Calls to Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD). 11. 77.75 Hours of Street Sweeper operation.

B. Monitored standing water problem on 400 block of Starr St. Brushed standing water to storm drain as required.

C. Worked with property owner on 700 block of Mesquite to address graffiti on premises. D. Ordered new Taylor Dunne vehicle to support cleaning and beautification efforts. E. Worked with S. Rybak, MDR and S. Hillard, Streetplus to develop branding for DMD vehicles. F. Worked with W. Peltier to schedule vehicles out of service for branding.

II. Improve Safety and Perceptions of Safety A. DMD Off-Duty Police Bike Patrol.

1. A. Albin, DMD and R. Zirbes, Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) officer developed and filled May schedule.

2. The patrol logged the following benchmarks:

175 Patrol hours.

10 Arrests, calls for service taken.

312 Customer contacts made or assistance provided.

70 Businesses contacted.

76 Cleaning and Safety Partnership members contacted.

65 Garages/lots patrolled.

70 Homeless, transient, public intoxication contacts.

8 Reported code violations. B. Clean and Safe Partnership meetings:

1. Began planning for the Bi-monthly Clean and Safe Partnership meeting at IBC Bank on June 9th

C. Surveyed Downtown Streetlight conditions and reported 15 items to AEP for action. D. Purchased 3 new two way radios for operations and event use. E. Worked with A&B Communications to update our FCC license to operate radios.

III. Improve Beautification. A. Improve Gateways.

1. Met with B. Dykema, Dykema Architects to discuss beautification project.

2. Contacted:

E. Martinez, Beautify Corpus Christi.

H. Villareal, landscaper.

IV. Improve Accessibility, Infrastructure and Connectivity (Multimodal Mobility). A. Participated in conference call with Enterprise car-share representative and M. Wisznia,

Wisznia Architects. B. Construction Mitigation:

1. Bond 2014 Projects

Water Street Signalization Project Continued to work with City staff and Frees Nichols.

Chaparral St. Phase II Continued to work with City staff and HDR team to draft ELR.

Streetscape Project Continued to work with City staff and Frees Nichols to draft ELR.

2. Monitored communications from the City regarding road closures and posted traffic alerts for relevant items on the Marina Arts District website.

C. Hosted Flatiron/Dragados LLC Harbor Bridge briefing to Downtown stakeholders attended by 28.

D. Researched Developing Bike Share Program. 1. Continued coordinating with local funding and

management partners. 2. Conducted follow-up phone calls with M. Sheppard,

Zagster. E. Improve parking and address stakeholder issues.

1. Attended Parking Services Advisory Committee meeting.

Develop and Improve Downtown: Attract new businesses, development and residences; increase sales activity and street level occupancy and improve existing buildings and urban design. I. Attract new businesses and development and increase street level occupancy

A. Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) #3 Administration in concert with A. Barerra, City 1. Reviewed revenue projections and professional services proposals. 2. Assisted C. Bernard, Urbana Market and Deli with renovation project.

B. Met with, contacted, assisted or provided information on Downtown development or business opportunities or responded to real estate inquiries:

1. T. Patterson, Starbucks. 2. M. Lopez, Little Shop of Vixens. 3. R. Deyoe, Realtex. 4. Ceci, Dos Camales.

C. Supported redevelopment of the City-owned Ward Building. 1. Posted RFP flyer on:

International Downtown Association website

Texas Downtown Association website

Texas Main Street listserve. 2. Sent flyer to 15 real estate professionals and developers.

II. Organize and support businesses and improve urban design

A. Convened Downtown Merchants Association meeting with stakeholders to develop programs to drive business. Hosted guest speaker from RTA regarding proposed new bus routes.

B. Texas Main Street (TMS) Program. 1. Hosted First Lady of Texas, Cecilia Abbott

for the Texas Main Street dedication ceremony.

Coordinated City services.

Coordinated site set up for May 6th TMS ceremony.

Provided decorations and signage for site of ceremony.

Hosted official greeting party for First Lady and provided official photo shoot with city and local government dignitaries.

Recruited and coordinated 24 volunteers with assigned checkpoint stations.

Provided restroom facilities for event site.

Hosted event press conference.

Coordinated public reception for First Lady of Texas to mingle after the official ceremony.

Coordinated Texas Main Street staff and First Lady security detail.

Coordinated the following participants and sponsors: King High School Symphonic Band U.S. Marine Color Guard Most Reverend M. Mulvey, Bishop of Archdiocese of Corpus Christi BNSN M. Lemus, U.S. Navy Dr. R. Hernandez, Superintendent Corpus Christi Independent

School District Cunningham Middle School Student Leaders Mayor N. Martinez M. Pusley, Nueces County Commissioner

Fulfilled sponsorship obligations and recognitions for: City of Corpus Christi Education Service Center L&F Distributors Inspire Magazine

First Lady Cecilia Abbott speaks to 200 people at dedication ceremony.

Water Street Seafood Co. B&T Rents Black Tie Roses AutoNation Chevrolet Cadillac, South Corpus Christi Business Interiors of Texas Texas A&M Agrilife

Provided cleanup of event site and re-opening of streets. 2. Contacted M. Afram owner of La Playa building which collapsed and provided

information on emergency engineering grants and offered additional assistance. 3. Began pursuing a grant, in partnership with City of Corpus Christi, from the Texas

Historical Commission (THC) under the Certified Local Government (CLG) program, to conduct a survey of downtown historic buildings.

Began reviewing contract with M. Clites, Texas Historical Commission (THC) A. Barrera and A. Dimas, City of Corpus Christi.

Briefed Corpus Christi Landmark Commission. 4. Discussed lunch and learn event with E. Russell, historic preservation consultant. 5. Completed monthly report.

C. Manage property improvement grant program. 1. Met with M. Treiber, Cassidy’s to discuss project. 2. Monitored progress of current projects.

D. Downtown Revitalization Alliance (DRA): 1. No activity.

Marketing and Events: Increase sales, visitorship and investment in the District and improve DMD visibility through strategic marketing and developing/managing events. I. The District and Businesses

A. Enhance the DMD website and DMD and District brands.

Developed four e-newsletters and sent to more than 2,000 recipients each week.

Logged the following website and social media benchmarks:

5289 visits to the Marina Arts District website.

24 posts on Facebook, 28,856 reached, and increased to 16,891 likes.

39 Tweets, 12.2K reached, and increased to 390 followers on Twitter.

39 posts on Instagram and increased followers to 1,700. B. Met with Caller-Times editorial board to discuss downtown. C. Scheduled interview with J. Kopp, Corpus Christi Business News.

II. Create, manage and support DMD and District events to increase Downtown visitorship, event attendance and event and business revenue. A. July 4th Big Bang Celebration

Met with City Intern, Dillon, to develop an event volunteer management plan.

B. Managed DMD Events:

ArtWalk:

Met with T. Lamantia and M. De Los Santos, L&F Distributors to discuss development of beer garden in La Retama Park.

Coordinated road closure permits with L. Gonzales and Traffic Engineering.

Continued to work with traffic engineering, CCPD and other City staff to ensure safety of Artwalk.

Obtained permit for footprint within downtown, using Peoples St from Chaparral to Mesquite, Mesquite from Peoples St. to Starr and Starr Street from Lower Broadway to Chaparral.

Managed online vendor, food truck, and musician applications and payments.

Created map of vendors throughout event area to be distributed during March Artwalk.

Assigned loading/unloading times and locations to each vendor.

Assigned times and locations to all entertainment participants.

Updated websites and social media regarding April event.

Recruited and managed volunteers.

Updated ArtWalk signage.

Assessed and evaluated the current vendor registration guidelines.

BridgeWalk:

Managed May BridgeWalk on Mother’s Day which attracted 375 participants.

Performed live news on site segments for promotion of downtown events going on for Mother’s Day with KRIS News 6.

Setup Bridgewalk signage for each event.

Obtained Permit for event

Coordinated police presence and stations on Harbor Bridge for patron safety.

Delivered waters for both events.

Lead volunteers for both events.

Managed raffle for May event.

Cleaned up after each event.

Uploaded May participant photographs to website gallery.

Implemented an updated BridgeWalk waiver form.

Utilized a “Sign up Genius” page for online volunteer registration.

Ritz Food Truck Park:

Coordinated seven weekend dates of Food Trucks to serve downtown patrons food from the Ritz Parking Lot

Provided trash cans, site set up and clean up for each date.

Provided signage and decorations for events

Promoted the dates via social media and email to downtown businesses.

Thanks to HEB for being a sponsor of

Artwalk and Bridgewalk!

Chamber of Commerce Lemonade Day

Sponsored and attended the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce Lemonade Day Kick-Off party in La Retama Park during First Friday Art Walk.

Provided overnight storage for event supplies in park tunnel as well as DMD office.

III. Support other District events.

A. Promoted Downtown Farmer’s Market B. Updated Marina Arts Calendar of events. C. Promoted other events including:

House of Rock Mic Night.

Rockit’s World Whiskey Day.

Joseph Casanova and the Amour Mystique concert.

The Ritz Theatre Open Mic Night.

4th of July Big Bang Celebration.

CC Gears Grand Opening Week.

Holiday Inn Terrace Lounge Re-Launch.

Art Center of CC Family Art Time.

Inspire Magazine Monthly Mixer.

Mesquite Street Comedy Club.

Water Street Summer Music Fest.

City of Corpus Christi Armed Forces Ceremony.

USS Lexington Battle of Midway Ceremony.

Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce Lemonpalooza. Organizational Management To proactively pursue the DMD Mission by building an organization with adequate resources, technology, professional staff and engaged leadership, board members, stakeholders and volunteers. I. Attract more financial and leadership resources to support DMD’s mission

A. Advisory Council management and development: 1. Hosted the May 11 council meeting attended by 12.

Sent reminders. Developed Agenda. Created presentation.

2. Contacted: D. Alternoff, Flint Hills. V. Agguire, Valero. D. Leyendecker, LNV.

II. Build DMD’s organizational capacity.

A. City Partnership and Interlocal agreement management. 1. Attended City Partner/Contractors meeting hosted by J. Ellington.

2. Provided reports and invoices to City for the service contracts. B. Board Management

1. Convened May Board Meeting.

Met with Executive Committee.

Posted notice.

Sent agenda and board packet.

Obtained financial support of proposed bike share program. C. Staff Management

1. Reviewed social media calendar. 2. Hosted weekly staff meetings.

D. Updated Office technology: 1. Transitioned to new phones and voicemail system. 2. Ongoing work with HighTouch Technology to install Microsoft 365 and transition

from Dropbox to the Microsoft Cloud

III. Network with and support collaborating organizations: A. Attended:

1. Attended leadership Corpus Christi new applicant mixer at Omni. 2. Attended Ribbon Cutting for the Corpus Christi Regional Transit (CCRTA) building

and participated in facility tour. 3. Attended Ribbon Cutting for Corpus Christi Marina new boat slips aboard the

Floridian Star Yacht. 4. Attended the Inspire Magazine monthly mixer and provided door prize swag.

IV. Financial Management:

A. Reviewed all financial items as they were received. B. Entered all financial items, invoices, payroll, etc. into Quickbooks. C. Processed payroll through ADP. D. Administered 401K thru American Funds website. E. Made bank deposits. F. Prepared check runs as required. G. Met with C. Lain and/or T. Heuston to have checks signed. H. Reconciled all bank accounts and produced monthly financial statements for DMD Board. I. Worked with T. Sweeney on cash flow document.