Sprucing Up the Neighborhood Can Pay

Small business owners have a hard enough time getting customers in the door. But the merchants of West Washington Boulevard in Venice had an even tougher time because there are several other Washington streets or boulevards around Los Angeles.

“I’d given directions to enough people through the years to be very frustrated,” said Carol Tantau Smith, who has been selling jewelry and gift items on the boulevard for about eight years.

Two years ago, Tantau Smith helped spearhead a successful drive to rename the street Abbot Kinney Boulevard, in honor of the wealthy landowner who founded Venice and built canals resembling their Italian counterparts in the early 1900s.

The name change was the catalyst for an overall effort by business people to spruce up the district in hopes of boosting business.

Changing the character of your neighborhood isn’t easy, but business owners nationwide are teaming up to rub out graffiti, clear trash from vacant lots and brighten their surroundings.

Every dollar invested in fixing up your business district can generate up to $17 in additional income, according to Matt Hussman, a program associate for the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington. Over the past 10 years, the Trust’s Main Street Center has helped 661 communities from Boston to Hollister, Calif., revitalize their commercial streets.

“The projects across the country have generated thousands of dollars and created thousands of jobs,” said Hussman.

Involving local residents who shop in your store is critical to insuring the success of any revitalization plan, according to Mark Futterman, director of urban design and planning for Urban Innovations Group in Westwood. He also recommended contacting local city planners and politicians to gain support.

Futterman, who chairs the urban design committee for the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects, said AIA chapters around the country can serve as resources for business owners seeking help.

Redevelopment experts say what is happening along Abbot Kinney Boulevard is typical of revitalization projects elsewhere. Once the physical area is improved, rents go up and the caliber of businesses generally improves.

Although the street is still tricky to find, the general feeling along Abbot Kinney Boulevard is that business is perking up.

“It just feels different,” said Tantau Smith. “There is a real energy.”

Within five short blocks, visitors can find a plumber, travel agency, grocery store, liquor store, barber and beauty shops, a kick-boxing school, several antique stores, a contemporary lighting gallery, a vintage clothing store, a myriad of art galleries and a millinery shop.

Dozens of palm trees are due to be planted along the parkways to soften the harsh lines of many of the older brick and concrete buildings.

“The quality of merchants is a clear cut above what we’ve had here before,” said Richard Rosenthal, principal broker and real estate consultant for Richard Rosenthal and Associates. “The energy along the boulevard is created by the rehabilitation and new construction.”

Sunya Currie, a jewelry designer and antique dealer, bought the old Elk’s Club building at 1130 West Washington Blvd. in 1968. In the 1970s, she ran her antique business in the airy space. In 1981, when the boulevard’s energy reached a low ebb, she moved to Beverly Hills.

Currie returned to Abbot Kinney Boulevard in September, determined to be part of the renaissance.

“I just had a feeling this area was ready to take off,” said Currie. “There is a feeling of the original Venice here, with artists living and working in the same space.”

Lori Henle, a modern-day milliner who specializes in traditional techniques, said she is very busy with retail customers when she opens her door on Saturday and Sunday.

She moved her studio to Abbot Kinney Boulevard in July and is about to move into an apartment behind her workshop. “Everybody on the street is really pulling together,” said Henle, who worked as a fashion stylist before turning her skills to hat making. “I’m just happy to be down here.”

For information on the Main Street Center, write the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Main Street Center, 1785 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington 20036. The center sponsors several conferences a year and publishes affordable booklets on how to revitalize your business district. Both government agencies and business owners can contract with the center for its services.

Chamber of Commerce Slates Outlook Session

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce’s 42nd-annual Business Outlook Conference is set for Nov. 9 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. All aspects of the local economy will be addressed by experts in various fields. The session runs from 7:30 a.m. until lunch time. Kent Kresa, chairman and chief executive of Northrop Corp., is the featured speaker. The fee is $120 for Chamber members, $140 for non-members and $25 for students. The luncheon alone costs $50. For information, contact the Chamber at 404 S. Bixel St., Los Angeles, 90051-1696. Or call (213) 629-0619.

BANDING TOGETHER * Set up a meeting of neighboring business owners to gauge interest in fixing up your block.

* If you don’t have one, try to form a merchants association.

* Talk to other business owners who have spruced up their businesses to gather names of competent architects and planners.

* Ask your customers how you can improve your neighborhood. Would they like more parking spaces? Better night lighting?

* Ask local government officials if there is any state or federal grant money available for community rehabilitation and revitalization.