Many Denverites know and love Broadway as a popular place to shop, eat and drink. You might eat a Michelin-recognized meal at MAKfam, catch a local music act at the Hi-Dive or hit up one of the many thrift spots on the road.
But the corridor is also experiencing major change. Since the pandemic, high rents have pushed long-standing local businesses, like Fancy Tiger Crafts and Mutiny Information Cafe, out of the corridor.
Just this month, two popular Broadway breweries, Banded Oak Brewing and TRVE Brewing, announced they would close. The Underground Music Showcase, which has brought indie music to big stages and makeshift venues alike along Broadway, is also expected to end in its current form after this summer.
Luke Johnson has operated Luke and Company Fine Pet Supply on Broadway for nine years. While he knows there are a lot of elements out of his control, he’s one of a few local leaders pushing to form a self-taxing General Improvement District that they hope will preserve the Broadway he knows and loves.
"I think that we're going to continue to lose businesses if we don't have an improvement district," he said in a recent interview.
First, what’s a General Improvement District?
General Improvement Districts, or GIDs, are self-funded quasi-governmental entities that collect revenue through property taxes within a specific boundary.
In this case, the Broadway GID would cover a strip of Broadway from 6th Avenue all the way south to Interstate 25. The west boundary would be the alleyway behind Broadway and the east boundary would be Lincoln Street. A small part of Alameda Avenue from Broadway to about Cherokee Street would also be included in the GID’s borders.
The property taxes collected from GIDs are typically used to fund hyperlocal services, like street teams that tackle “crime and cleanliness,” marketing for businesses and general beautification of the surrounding area.
Broadway’s GID proposes collecting 8.96 extra tax mills on the assessed value of both commercial and residential properties. For a commercial property worth $1 million, that’s about $2,400 extra per year under current tax rates. A $1 million residential property would see a hike of about $560.
If approved, the GID would be governed by an 11-person advisory committee, composed of business owners as well as members of local registered neighborhood organizations and city officials.
Forming the GID stems from a place of frustration.
While Johnson has credited Denver Mayor Mike Johnston for trying to fix the "complex ball of wax he inherited," he said fellow business owners and residents have been frustrated by the a lack of support from the city since the pandemic.
“A lot of parts of the city felt like there's just some needs that weren't being met that should’ve,” Johnson said. “Cleaning of the streets from trash, from people littering, and trash cans and replacing trees that go dead.”
Johnson said a conversation with former Denver City Council representative Jolon Clark convinced him to look into forming a GID and funding the change he wants to see through that instead.
A majority of the proposed $1.1 million annual budget of the GID would pay for a 24/7 private security team to tackle safety issues in the neighborhood — a long-desired amenity for businesses.
“It's drug use that really fuels a lot of the problems on Broadway,” Johnson said. “And so it's not uncommon to see someone clearly under the influence swinging a metal pipe or yelling or walking in the middle of the street naked or something of that nature.”
Private security teams are popular amongst General Improvement Districts, like the newest one in the Ballpark neighborhood. Johnson said he envisions the team would help connect struggling residents with city services and protect neighbors during extreme situations.
But, homeless advocates have critiques about those kinds of programs, arguing they can quickly become less about support and more about kicking unhoused people out of neighborhoods.
The GID boosters also plan to pay for a crew to keep the district free of litter and upkeep the landscaping and trees along the sidewalks.
About 5 percent of the budget would be allocated to marketing and programming. That could ensure the once at-risk Broadway Halloween Parade will be funded in, essentialy, perpetuity. The GID could also raise additional money.
What has to happen for the GID to be fully approved?
The GID has already passed its first few tests — the group was already able to drum up enough support and funding to successfully petition the city to support the bid, and the proposal has already passed through its first vote in Denver City Council.
Once it makes its way through the city bureaucracy, those who either own property or live in the GID’s borders will vote during the November election whether to approve the self-taxing district.
Johnson said he’s confident they’ll make it through all of the remaining steps and start operating in 2026.
“I think we would have given up a long time ago if we didn't feel like there was enough support for it,” he said.
If approved, Broadway would join a select group of GIDs in a city dominated by Business Improvement Districts, which operate under a similar model but only tax commercial properties. It could potentially be joined by residents of Cherry Creek, who are discussing the possibility of forming a GID.
What are your thoughts about the potential GID? Email [email protected].
