Loyola celebrates approval of York Corridor Business Improvement District

Commercial property owners voted to approve the York Corridor Business Improvement District (BID), a community advocacy and improvement organization intended to provide services that ensure a clean, green, and vibrant corridor. Loyola University Maryland was one of the entities associated with the BID when it was first proposed and has long supported the proposal. 

“This vote is an important step forward for our community, and our community partners have worked hard to bring this to fruition,” said Terrence M. Sawyer, J.D., president of Loyola, who has been involved in working toward the BID during his 24-year career at the University. “Loyola is proud to work alongside our neighbors in investing in this part of our city that we call home.” 

Creating the BID was a key recommendation of the 2015 York Road Commercial Corridor Vision and Action Plan, which the York Road Initiative helped shape. 

“The creation of a York Road BID is a culmination of years of hard work from a broad coalition of community leaders,” said Gia Grier McGinnis, Dr.PH., executive director of the Center for Community, Service, and Justice and York Road Initiative. “For Loyola, a BID will be an opportunity for our students, faculty, staff, and local alumni to re-envision the full York Road corridor as an extension of campus life and to form deeper connections with the York Road community.” 

The BID vote passed with 80% support among corridor business property owners who voted. The results were announced by 4th district Councilman Mark Conway at a Baltimore City Board of Estimates meeting. 

“The BID’s passage is a landmark moment for the York Road corridor and the 4th district. I want to thank the business and property owners along York Road for their questions, suggestions, engagement, and ultimately, their votes. I couldn’t be more excited about what the approval of this BID means for the corridor,” a statement from Conway’s office said. 

In 2019, a previous attempt to create the BID fell short of the threshold required for approval. The BID’s passage is a momentous occasion that sets up the York Road corridor to be a destination for positive investment and growth. 

Benefits of the BID will include: 

• Consistent trash and bulk trash removals, improving cleanliness 
• Maintenance of public green spaces and greenery 
• Promotion of the corridor as a destination, increasing traffic and revenue for York Road businesses 
• Coordinated advocacy for the interests of business and property owners 
• Capacity to apply for city, state, and federal funds to benefit businesses and the corridor

“Business improvement districts host special events, support business development, and make physical enhancements to their districts so that people from all walks of life can spend time and shop there,” Grier McGinnis said.