Downtown Crossing set to promote more retail business, improvements

The Downtown Boston Business Improvement District Corporation set plans to promote Downtown Crossing and network with retailers at the Global Retail Real Estate Convention in Las Vegas in late May, officials said.

BID marketing chief Maria Morelli said in an email interview BID is sending a representative to the convention, running from May 20 to May 23, as part of a collaborative effort with the City of Boston to attract investors.

“We serve a critical role because of the considerable research we do to understand the demographics in our trade area and current retail demand in order to develop a retail strategy district wide,” Morelli said.

Over the course of the convention, BID is expected to take part in presentations for retailers at the convention, as well as network with those whose goods meet demands in the Boston area, Morelli said. The representative will include key statistics and characteristics about Downtown Crossing trade and customer base.

The International Council of Shopping Centers will host RECon, the annual global convention for the shopping retail industry, in May.

With more than 30,000 retailers and 1,000 businesses attending, RECon is the industry’s largest worldwide convention, Morelli said.

“Developers, shopping center professionals, brokers and economic development professionals attend RECon to meet with retailers to attract them to their centers or districts,” she said.

While deals are not necessarily sealed at one convention, Morelli noted, key contacts are made to begin the process of attracting retailers.

“Very little has been understood about downtown’s current consumer base, and therefore it has been frustrating for property owners working alone to attract the retailers they want,” Morelli said. “By presenting an accurate picture of our customer base and retail demand, we can better interest retailers who need to be convinced we have the customers they want.”

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has attended the ICSC event in the past, but Morelli said this is the first year a BID representative will attend.

If successful, the convention may be the best thing for Downtown Crossing since the firm Millennium Partners agreed in February to fill the former Filene’s Basement space with a tower.

The BID, a nonprofit corporation created in 2010, works to “progressively revitalize downtown through a series of programs and supplemental services,” Morelli said.

Downtown Crossing already has a significant amount of customers that potential retailers would find “attractive,” Morelli said.

The district has more than 160,000 office workers, more than 3.5 million tourists using the Freedom Trail running through the center of the district and 100,000 commuters that take public transportation through the district, Morelli said.

The area’s success story, Morelli said, is the Macy’s located on Washington Street.

In the past year, the store has broken a retail record, “a remarkable feat during an economic recession,” Morelli said.

Downtown Crossing has a retail vacancy rate of only 4 percent, Morelli said, but has growing markets.

In the past 10 years, thousands of luxury condo-units have emerged from Back Bay to the suburbs, Emerson College and Suffolk University have built thousands of dormitory units and three major theatres have provided evening entertainment, she said.

Downtown Crossing has recently “been experiencing a great deal of momentum,” Morelli said.

Since the summer of 2011, half a billion dollars in real estate sales occurred, Morelli said.

Washington Street has seen more than $200 million invested in development projects in addition to another $700 million in newly planned developments, she said.

“For the first time in its history, downtown is becoming more than a retail and finance center, but a 24/7 neighborhood with a growing residential community and cultural and entertainment center,” Morelli said. “This positive shift marks a new direction for retail, which the BID is working diligently to promote.”