Georgetown BID Formally Launches ‘Georgetown 2028’


The Georgetown Business Improvement District, with the formal launch of the Georgetown 2028 15-Year Action Plan, reports that it is taking “a strategic approach to building an economically stronger and more sustainable commercial district.”

While the plan has been reported on for months in various media, including in The Georgetowner, the Georgetown BID is already moving ahead for some of its more eye-catching recommendations — there are 75 — that include: accelerating the schedule to bring Metro to Georgetown, revitalizing the C&O Canal and considering an aerial gondola between Rosslyn and Georgetown.

According to the BID, “the Georgetown 2028 Plan was eight months in the making, anchored by a 21-member task force and supported by three working groups that focused on transportation, economic development and public space. More than 200 community members, representing a broad spectrum of the neighborhood, contributed ideas and suggestions. The community successfully collaborated, reaching consensus, on the necessary steps to enhance the Georgetown experience for visitors, residents, business owners and the people who work here.”

“The Georgetown 2028 Plan preserves what is great about Georgetown, fixes what is broken and creates what is missing,” says the BID’s CEO Joe Sternlieb. “The plan allows for more economic activity with no additional negative impact on the community.”

The BID says that work has already begun on 30 of the 75 recommendations, including:

— A partnership agreement between the BID and the National Park Service to raise funds for a new C&O canal boat to replace The Georgetown.

— Securing private pledges for 50 percent of the cost for a feasibility study for an aerial gondola lift connecting Georgetown with the Rosslyn Metro Station. The BID is working with DDOT on matching transportation funds. D.C. Surface Transit, Inc., is the fiscal agent.

— Creating a Georgetown Streetcar Partnership between the BID, DDOT and Georgetown University to study options to extend the streetcar to Georgetown University.

— Locating and updating the approved Georgetown wayfinding signs that were originally ordered as part of the 2003 Georgetown Streetscape Project. The signs will be installed by March 15, in time to welcome visitors for the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

The full Georgetown 2028 Plan is available on BID’s website at georgetowndc.com

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