The Capital Region Development Authority is working to help local businesses establish a “business improvement district,” for the Parkville neighborhood.
Modeled after a roughly 14-year-old downtown Hartford Business Improvement District, a new Parkville organization could levy an additional tax on properties in the district to fund improvements, events and marketing efforts. It could also own property, apply for grants and lobby for more support for the area.
Proponents of the Parkville district have asked the CRDA to help organize and establish the district, according to material supplied to the CRDA Board of Directors by agency staff for its meeting on Thursday. A grant request for up to $30,000 to support this work has been made to the agency.
Parkville has seen significant development momentum in recent years. Developer Carlos Mouta is working to expand the popular Parkville Market and aims to complete a $91.7 million effort to transform a decaying factory building on Hamilton Avenue into 235 apartments and 45,000 square feet of commercial space. Efforts in Parkville are complemented by large-scale developments in a nearby section of West Hartford.
Mouta, a prime advocate for the district, said he imagines starting relatively small and then growing the distirct. He said the district will include business properties and not single-family houses. He believes properties in the district would see an additional $1 or $2 per $1,000 in assessed value on their tax bills, with the additional funds supporting improvements to the area.
“It’s a game changer,” Mouta said. “We desperately need it. We need people to lobby on our behalf. We want the streets clean. The small crimes that are happening — we want more of a presence that can work with police. We want to improve the quality of life for people in Parkville.”
Establishing a district would require approvals from the Hartford City Council and a majority of property owners within the district. Agency staff anticipate a district could be in place by the close of the calendar year.
The existing Hartford Business Improvement District, targeting downtown, raised and spent about $1 million in 2018 for marketing, cleanup, downtown greeters and other promotional work, according to its 2018 tax return.
