WHAT IS A MAIN STREET?
PUBLIC SPACE IMPROVEMENTS
Main Streets can help provide plantings, public art, clean & safe teams, and work with the city on sidewalk and street repairs and improvements!
PROMOTIONS,
MARKETING + EVENTS
Main Street helps to promote the street and the businesses, puts on events, and helps to market the area to locals and tourists
SMALL BUSINESS RETENTION + RECRUITMENT
The number one job of a Main Street is small business retention and recruiting to fill vacant spaces
HISTORIC
PRESERVATION
Preserving the history of the neighborhood and the local buildings is another key element of most Main Street programs
NEIGHBORHOOD INVESTMENT
Main Streets can be a great vehicle to help bring grant funding and private investments to a neighborhood
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
+ ADVOCACY
A good Main Street program facilitates conversations between business owners, building owners, and community members
WHY LOGAN CIRCLE?
Logan Circle is a neighborhood rich in history that has gone through something of a renaissance in recent years. During the 1900s and early 2000s, 14th Street NW has gone from a thriving automotive sales and service district to a challenged corridor with high vacancy rates to what is now a thriving dining, nightlife, and home furnishings district.
Unlike many other neighborhoods that have seen recent revitalization, the 14th Street Corridor has seen a strong influx of national anchor tenants interspersed with small, independent, locally-owned small businesses. However, as rents on the corridor continue to rise and much of the potential development on the street is built to capacity, some of these small, independent, locally owned businesses will need guidance and assistance as they plan their future on the street.
14th Street NW has seen unprecedented competition from emerging neighborhoods nearby - the resurgence of downtown DC and Shaw to the east, the revitalization of H Street NE, and the creation of NoMa, the Wharf, and the redevelopment of Union Market, among other new destinations. These spaces are developing with large new buildings without the historic preservation requirements or the limited square footage of some of the more traditional historic buildings found in neighborhoods like Logan Circle.
Using the Main Street Four Point Approach that has stabilized and strengthened hundreds of Main Street communities nationwide, 14th Street NW is uniquely positioned to utilize Economic Vitality, Design, Promotions, and Organization to help protect the small businesses along 14th Street from V Street NW down to Thomas Circle, NW from this new competition in the marketplace so that Logan Circle businesses can continue to serve the local community for decades to come.
WHO IS INVOLVED?
You are! The Main Street Approach works best when it has an equal representation of small and local business owners, building owners, and interested community members.
Following the allocation of funding for a Main Street program in the Logan Circle neighborhood by the DC Council in the spring of 2018, a new organization called the Logan Circle Alliance was formed. This organization, which is applying for a 501c3 designation, won a competitive grant award and a Main Street designation from the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development in the fall of 2018 to become Logan Circle Main Street, which will allow us to be the stewards of that money and invest it into our community.
Keep reading to find out how you can get involved! Main Streets perform the best when the largest cross-section of the community is engaged. Join us to help make sure this area thrives and continues to serve the neighborhood as best it can!
WHAT'S NEXT?
The timeline for the Main Street project will move quickly. We submitted an application in August of 2018 to secure the Main Street designation for our community. We were awarded the designation, and the associated grant, in September of 2018. In that same month, we hired Keri Douglas, a local Logan Circle resident, as our Executive Director. The program start date was October 1, 2018.
Logan Circle Main Street (LCMS) is a new non-profit organization which will use the "Main Street Four Point Approach" as described by the National Main Street Center of Promotions, Design, Organization and Economic Vitality to work to help retain and recruit small businesses to the 14th Street Corridor and side streets which intersect with 14th Street in Logan Circle between Thomas Circle and V Street, NW.
Logan Circle Main Street will be funded in part by a Main Streets grant from the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development, and also by voluntary stakeholder contributions.
CONTACT US +
GET INVOLVED
Washington, DC 20009
keri@logancirclemainstreet.org
Click here to volunteer with LCMS!
Online Donations to LCMS coming soon!