“Someone needs to sell downtown.”
The assertion came this week from Michael Berne, a retail planning and real estate consultant for nearly 25 years, to members of the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District.
Selling a main street like Hyannis' downtown can’t be done in conventional ways, said Berne, who's worked for the District for six years.
That’s where a new real estate brochure comes in. The aim of the brochure: to sell downtown Hyannis to retail tenants.
The six-inch by eight-inch brochure includes information on downtown Hyannis, its significance to the Cape, its seasonal and year-round population, county demographics, observations from downtown business owners and a plug for Barnstable, a town that’s known for “getting to yes.”
Downtown Hyannis in a snapshot
The brochure provides a snapshot of Hyannis and a projection of where it’s headed with data points to back it up.
It has the second-highest name recognition among Cape towns. Provincetown is first.
Fifty percent of its visitors come from outside Massachusetts.
Twenty-five percent of its 69,000 visitors in 2018 were international visitors.
The mile-long, seven-block Main Street is a hub for 230,000 year-round Cape residents and 6 million seasonal Cape visitors.
“Data is relevant,” Elizabeth Wurfbain, the District's executive director said during the presentation. "The brochure shows Hyannis has a vision. The BID will lead this piece as we try to bring together some curating of new tenants.”
According to Wurfbain, there are $145 million worth of properties in downtown Hyannis, contributing $10 million annually in property taxes. About 70% of Main Street business owners are from Barnstable.
What is the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District?
The Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District encompasses seven blocks. It stretches from from the intersection of Main Street and Yarmouth Road to the intersection of Main Street and Dumont Avenue. It includes portions of several side streets including Center Street, Barnstable Road, High School Road, Ocean Street and South Street. It includes 150 businesses and more than 50 restaurants.
The District bills itself as a management entity that provides advocacy with regulations and government relations, marketing, workshops and other services. It runs a 501(c)3 nonprofit, the Downtown Hyannis Community Development Corporation.
The nonprofit will lead efforts to showcase the brochure on the Cape, in New England and beyond to curate new tenants, Wurfbain said. It will be given to landlords, real estate agents and other business owners. The nonprofit will also reach out to potential candidates.