Earlier this month the West Chester Business Improvement District, now known simply as Downtown West Chester, released its annual report for 2023. The Business Improvement District, a kind of industry organization for the downtown businesses, was established in 2000 with three goals –  increase customer traffic and sales, retain and recruit viable businesses, and lobby government agencies on behalf of the business community.

At the time of its formation, downtown West Chester looked markedly different than today with only a handful of retail stores and virtually no restaurant scene. Today, Downtown West Chester supports more than 300 businesses including more than 65 restaurants but its goals remain the same. In some ways, so does its approach: give them a reason to come out. That would have meant recruitment 25 years ago. Now it’s all about the event.

“One of our main focuses is to attract more customers to downtown West Chester by increasing the number of community events and deploying an aggressive media campaign,” Downtown West Chester Executive Director John O’Brien shared in the report’s opening letter.

“We believe this has been very effective,” John said in a post-report email exchange. “Recently we had the Clydesdales in town which drew several thousand. We had a great turnout for First Friday last week. We know that because the garages were completely full and turning people away, and we had over 75 people come out for our Yoga on the Street event.”  

It’s hard to name them all and Downtown West Chester is responsible for almost all of the Borough’s smaller events – think First Friday, Restaurant Week, the Spring and Fall Gallery Walks, World Music Day, West Chester Taps, Oktoberfest, Small Business Weekend and new last year, Christkindlmarkt. The manageable size, it turns out, is intentional.

“We want to create events that draw people in but then don’t feel overwhelming so they have time to shop and dine in town,” said John.

Here are some other takeaways from the report:

23 new businesses opened. The current commercial vacancy rate for the business improvement district is 4.23 percent. This is a slight increase over 2022 when the vacancy rate sat at 3.33 percent but still well below the national average of 19.6 percent (it hit a 45-year high last year).  At the start of 2023, there were 14 available listings for office space, six listings for retail or restaurant space, and three commercial buildings for sale. By year-end, there were 17 listings for office space with no change reported in retail/restaurant space and commercial buildings.

In the report, Downtown West Chester explained the increase in part on several large office spaces that became available for lease.

“One driver,” John said, “was 220 W. Gay Street which was bought and completely renovated in 2023.  That added 12,550 square feet [of office space].  Without that new building, our vacancy rate would’ve been 3.53 percent.”

At the end of May, the vacancy rate had dipped to 3.91 percent. Whether it stays there through the end of 2024 is hard to say.  “There is always a degree of fluctuation with these numbers,” said John.

Businesses are feeling optimistic. As part of the success metrics, Downtown West Chester included a survey of 40 companies they serve. It was a fairly even mix of restaurants, retail, personal care, and professional service businesses. Of those who responded, half reported seeing higher sales in 2023 while 12.5 percent saw sales drop. Businesses reported their top challenges as parking (shocker), competition, marketing and advertising, and employee recruitment and wages.

Despite the lingering challenges, optimism is carrying (cautiously) into 2024.

“2024 has been going pretty well,” said John.  “The biggest challenge for us is event costs.  Our budget is funded primarily through a commercial property assessment, so it has been fairly stagnant for the last 10 years.  We work hard to supplement that through sponsorship of events, so we are always open to new companies that want to get involved in 2024. We have a lot of great events coming up that we hope people will attend!”

And you’ll get your next chance soon enough. The Gay Street Open Air Market is now open. West Chester Taps is going strong on Wednesdays, and World Music Day is next Friday.

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Originally published on June 14, 2024

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