Multifamily Improvement Districts (MIDs) are a new innovative tool and process for cities and property owners to finance and coordinate apartment neighborhood improvements.

The City of Bellflower, CA has a large multifamily apartment neighborhood that has historically been considerably less desirable than the remainder of the community. This area has been responsible for a much higher share of total City services than the healthier portions of the community.

Dysfunctional multifamily neighborhoods typically suffer from many ills. These may include substandard building conditions, overcrowding, accumulated piles of trash, poorly maintained buildings and landscape, low income tenants, serious criminal activity and poor community image and reputation. Such neighborhoods have earned their reputations as the “bad parts of town”. As such, it becomes increasingly difficult to attract good tenants and good owners to these areas. Just as most good people do not want to be residents of a problem neighborhood, most good property owners do not want to own property in problem neighborhoods. This combination of bad building owners and problem tenants can soon destroy a multifamily neighborhood. For these areas to have lasting improvements significant, coordinated, corrective actions are required from many directions.

The solutions to such problems extend well past the resources of any one city department. Sure, police actions are required to remove criminals and code enforcement is necessary to correct building deficiencies and the Redevelopment Agency powers may be required; but none of these actions, in isolation from others, will have a long term impact.

A carefully crafted sequential action plan must be implemented over an extended period of time. It must first get the attention of owners and residents demonstrating the City’s long term commitment to improvement of the area. Secondly, police and Code Enforcement must make their presence felt. They must be tough on bad owners and residents while being supportive of good owners. Next is cooperation. The owners must demonstrate to each other and the City their willingness to improve their properties and work together. The City must demonstrate its commitment to support and protect the owner’s investment.

The two most common complaints heard from owners in such neighborhoods are:

1. “I can’t afford to make expensive improvements to my buildings because the owners of neighboring buildings will not improve their buildings and their tenants cause problems for my tenants”
2. “I can’t attract good tenants because of poor neighborhood conditions.” They ask why make an investment when no one else is."

The owners will also be quick to point out that any improvements they have made in the past were soon destroyed by their tenants or neighboring residents. To get a good owner to improve requires an assurance that other owners will do the same and that the improvements won’t soon be destroyed.

There is not one detailed blueprint that can be followed to successfully improve a dysfunctional neighborhood. However, there are certain principles which experience has demonstrated must be followed. The process and these principles must remain innovative and fluid to respond to the ever changing owner/resident needs and wants of different neighborhoods.

The successful improvement of a multifamily neighborhood must be built on the foundation of more profits for the owners. Success for the residents in such a neighborhood is a higher quality of life. Success for the City is a neighborhood which does not create a demand for an unreasonable percentage of City services and funds.

The Multifamily Improvement Districts legislation provides a new tool to make the improvement of multifamily residential neighborhoods more likely. It is not the only possible approach, just the newest. It also requires for the owners to participate in the improvement process and also makes it easier for this cooperation to be attained.

The City of Bellflower and the property owners on Eucalyptus Avenue are currently working on the creation of one of the first and the most aggressive MID in the State of CA. The process is continuing but already is paying dividends in the form or improved living conditions and better property owner cooperation.

For more information on this Bellflower program or to find out more on Multifamily Improvement Districts, please contact Fleener Associates.

Bellflower Multifamily Improvement District 1 (4,427 KB PDF file)

Bellflower Multifamily Improvement District 2 (4,911 KB PDF file)