Chicago Loop Alliance Annual Report Table of Contents
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CHICAGO LOOP ALLIANCE ANNUAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 Letter from the President & Chair 6 Enhanced Services 8 Planning & Advocacy 10 Placemaking & Management 12 Economic Development 14 Marketing 16 Membership 18 2018 Members 20 Illumination Gala 22 2018 Sources of Support 24 Leadership 26 Staff 2 | CHICAGO LOOP ALLIANCE 2018 ANNUAL REPORT | 3 DEAR LOOP STAKEHOLDERS The Chicago Loop continued to flourish in 2018, with new hotels, more Chicago Loop Alliance residential development, top-notch office space, diverse retail offerings, creates, manages, and, of course, world-class arts and cultural institutions. All of these amenities and more were enjoyed by Chicago residents, regional visitors, and promotes international travelers, and everyone in-between. high-performing Arts and culture was a major focus for Chicago Loop Alliance this year, with the release of our Arts in the Loop Economic Impact Study, which found that urban experiences, arts and cultural institutions in the Loop have a $2.25 billion annual impact. attracting people This study, the first of its kind, put numbers to something we’ve known all along: that arts and culture in the Loop is an indispensable sector, playing a and investment to huge role in tourism, real estate, employment, and more. the Loop. In addition to economic development, all of CLA’s program areas continued to grow over the last year. A customer satisfaction survey gave our clean and safe program high marks. ACTIVATE drew more attendees than ever with a 29 percent increase from 2017. We launched a brand new, highly visual website that is an essential resource for anyone who lives, works, or plays in the Loop. Chicago Loop Alliance Foundation’s 14th Annual Illumination Gala was one of our most successful to date, raising nearly $256,000 for free public art and cultural programing in the Loop. To top it off, CLA gained nearly 60 new members from a variety of industries. CLA will continue to build on these successes in 2019. Early next year, we will release an updated economic profile of the Loop, which we last completed in 2013. This report will provide data on how downtown investment, tourists, employees, and residents contribute to Chicago’s economic output. We will also strengthen our efforts to make State Street a safe and vibrant destination with our security program and regular meetings with the State Street Business Council. We will continue our work with the Wabash District Advisory Council and the Cultural Mile Association to ensure these pockets of the Loop thrive. And we will expand our destination marketing efforts to target the Loop worker. All of this would not be possible without our members and partners. On behalf of our Board of Directors, thank you for the support you have shown CLA. We look forward to continue working with you to make the Loop an exceptional destination to live, work, and play in the years ahead. Michael Edwards Judie Moore Green President & CEO Chair 4 | CHICAGO LOOP ALLIANCE 2018 ANNUAL REPORT | 5 ENHANCED SERVICES STREET TEAM AMBASSADORS Chicago Loop Alliance Chicago Loop Alliance kept its eyes and ears on State Street and parts provides constant and of Wabash Avenue once again through its Street Team Ambassadors. In its sixth year, CLA’s Street Team Ambassador program allowed for continued improvements monitoring on the streets, stronger relationships with local merchants and visitors, and meaningful assistance for people experiencing homelessness to the cleanliness, and poverty. In 2018 alone, the Street Team Ambassadors recorded more than 41,000 interactions on the street, and more than 2,300 business beautification, safety, check-ins. Each contact is logged in a weekly report and distributed to and maintenance of the relevant partners, including the Chicago Police Department and Loop aldermen. Seventy-four percent of State Street merchants surveyed said Loop’s sidewalks and the Ambassador program provided visible value to their business. common areas. CONNECTING THOSE IN NEED Another major function of the Street Team Ambassadors is to connect SECURITY PATROLS people experiencing homelessness with resources that could change their Chicago Loop Alliance took lives. In 2018, the Ambassadors made nearly 800 social service referrals and a huge step in keeping distributed nearly 850 Resource Guides to those in need. They also made State Street safe and vibrant in-person introductions between individuals experiencing homelessness and by adding security patrols to social service providers. its clean and safe program this year. Through a contract between CLEAN TEAM AMBASSADORS Streetplus and HLSA Security A major factor in having a positive experience in the Loop is its level of Services, two armed security patrols cleanliness. From removing graffiti and picking up trash to shoveling snow, monitored State Street over various the Clean Team Ambassadors left no corner of State Street in the Loop times and days to ensure the street unchecked. In fact, the Ambassadors tracked more than 50,000 blocks remained a safe place for all. covered with pan and broom and more than 20 tons of trash collected from CLA reported to the Chicago State Street in 2018. Police Department on a weekly basis all of the patrols’ relevant MAINTENANCE AND DESIGN OF STATE STREET interactions and incidents, Beautification of State Street continued to be a priority for Chicago Loop including everything from breaking Alliance. This year, CLA managed weekly power washing, yearly sidewalk up fights to apprehending an repair and sealing, and maintenance of the street’s enhanced design armed individual and detaining elements, including light poles, tree grates, and cast iron fencing. Nearly him until CPD arrived. 100 planters along the street remained vibrant thanks to seasonal flowers and continuous landscaping. These coordinated beautification efforts create a sense of arrival to State Street, giving this historic corridor an unforgettable visual identity. 6 | CHICAGO LOOP ALLIANCE 2018 CLA FACTS 787 Social service referrals made by the Street Team Ambassadors 2,401 Trash bags collected by the Clean Team Ambassadors 2,360 Business check-ins made by the Street Team Ambassadors to State Street merchants 3,318 Graffiti tags and stickers removed from State Street by the Clean Team Ambassadors 23,345 Directions given to Loop visitors by the Street and Clean Team Ambassadors 2018 ANNUAL REPORT | 7 PLANNING & ADVOCACY MAINTAINING A LOOP AESTHETIC Chicago Loop Alliance The Loop is a gorgeous urban destination, and Chicago Loop Alliance’s provides planning and Planning & Advocacy Committee met throughout the year to ensure all businesses followed ordinances meant to maintain the Loop’s aesthetic. project review and It hosted 12 signage and development reviews, led discussions of developing an updated State Street Master Plan, and co-hosted a community forum advocates for important with Alderman Reilly on the Aon Center’s proposed observatory. CLA is also working to land a seat at the table during discussions of the new State and Loop issues, improving Lake “L” station, the design process for which will get underway in 2019. the district’s ability to VISION ZERO CHICAGO compete for investment This year, Chicago Loop Alliance was invited to join the Downtown Task Force for the Chicago Department of Transportation’s Vision Zero initiative and for stakeholders to to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2026. The isionV Zero achieve their property and plan combines research and data compiled by more than a dozen city departments and other stakeholders to create action items that will result investment goals. in a safer transportation system. With its seat on this task force, CLA will continue to advocate for improved infrastructure and technology that will make the Loop a safer place to travel — whether by foot, bike, car, bus, or train. GAINING INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION Chicago Loop Alliance bolstered its international reputation in 2018. President and CEO Michael Edwards traveled to China to present at the Beijing Innovative Development Conference. He was also invited to be a founding member with the Global Business Districts Innovation Club, a new international association to mobilize resources and find innovative solutions that will allow business districts to remain attractive and competitive in a changing world. And he attended a retreat with the International Downtown Association (IDA) Board of Directors. In October, he and CLA Finance and Operations Director Abel Rodriguez sat on panel discussions at IDA’s annual conference, once again showcasing CLA on a global stage. 8 | CHICAGO LOOP ALLIANCE 2018 CLA FACTS 41 Years of service to State Street’s SSA#1-2015 40 Properties in SSA #1-2015 #7 Global Business District Attractiveness — The Chicago Loop ranked 7th among 16 other world-class business districts in EY and Urban Land Institute’s attractiveness study 9 Presentations by Chicago Loop Alliance at national and international conferences 12 Design and signage packages reviewed by the Planning & Advocacy Committee 2018 ANNUAL REPORT | 9 PLACEMAKING & MANAGEMENT LINGER LONGER Chicago Loop Alliance A major part of ACTIVATE’s appeal is its temporary nature, but CLA worked improves the quality harder than ever to encourage people to stick around the Loop in 2018 with Linger Longer. This year saw the most participation ever, with 55 of the public realm CLA members submitting promotions. New this year was a coupon book compiling these deals, 8,000 of which were handed out at ACTIVATE. by bringing a Attendees reported spending an average of $56.73 before or after each distinctive sense event — a 16 percent increase over 2017. of place and strong ‘THE SHAPE OF CHICAGO: JOHN MASSEY’S 1968 BANNERS REVISITED’ Fifty years ago, downtown Chicago was brightened by a campaign of sense of arrival into the graphic banners by designer John Massey. In 2018, State Street in the Loop once again came alive with his designs. In addition to the recreated banners, Loop while enhancing third-grade students at Philip D.