Chair Thomas-Henry questions Khan on investigating high vacancy areas and landlord behavior
Thomas-Henry asks whether SBS investigates why landlords in high-vacancy areas aren't leasing spaces. Khan describes walkthroughs with electeds, BIDs, and community stakeholders, and notes commercial district needs assessments help map community needs, though reaching landlords can be difficult.
Going back to vacancy rates, has SBS looked at, especially in areas of the city where they're
significantly high, have you guys been on the ground to kind of investigate to see why these landlords are not leasing these spaces?
We've had walks.
We've had walkthroughs with electeds.
We've had walkthroughs with business improvement districts.
We've had walkthroughs with key community stakeholders who may be related or connected to landlords.
It's difficult.
It's sometimes hard for even tenants, as Council Member Brewer mentioned, to get a hold of a landlord.
So it's tough.
But we do conduct these on-the-ground assessments of what's happening in that community.
And when our neighborhood development grants include a commercial district needs assessment component, that further deepens our understanding of what's happening in the community.
What do the customers want?
What are the shoppers interested in?
What are the biggest concerns of the businesses, the neighbors, et cetera, important stakeholders in that neighborhood to help us map out the needs of that community?
I did want to clarify, I misspoke on the loan and the affordable lending options.
We do also connect businesses to banks, larger banks, not just the CDFIs.
It depends on the needs of that business, what's available in the market, and what they're interested in.
But as you said, many businesses would prefer a grant program, but that then is subject to a budget process and resources.