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New Downtown Partnership CEO lays out plans for 2010
(by Kara Krekeler - February 03, 2010)
In late September, the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis announced that after a nationwide search, it had chosen Maggie Campbell to replace the recently retired Jim Cloar as the organization’s president and chief executive officer.
After several months of getting acclimated to downtown’s needs and potential — as well as St. Louis’ chilly winter weather — Campbell is forging ahead with plans to rebrand and revitalize the district.
“I’m definitely getting the impression that there’s a lot happening, and a lot left to do,” Campbell said. “It’s a work in progress.”
Much of that work was started by Cloar, who announced his July retirement in February 2009. Cloar arrived in 2001 and helped shepherd much of downtown’s recent revitalization, particularly as a residential district. Campbell said she plans on continuing that effort.
“There are a lot of people who share the belief that downtown can be strong,” she said, adding that “folks want to be part of it. They want to see the energy and momentum be sustained.”
Prior to taking on St. Louis’ downtown district, Campbell served as the president and CEO of the Old Pasadena Management District in Pasadena, Calif., and, most recently, as president of the Arlington Downtown Management Association in Arlington, Texas.
Pasadena had a very successful urban district prior to Campbell’s tenure there, so most of her work was dedicated to maintaining and managing things such as transit and garbage control for restaurants. Arlington, on the other hand, was just emerging as a district, so Campbell had to coordinate plans for infrastructure to “prove it needed investment,” she said. “I worked a lot with developers and the city.”
Campbell said that her work in St. Louis would be something of a combination of what she did in Pasadena and Arlington. “We’re not starting from scratch here, but it’s attractive to work in an environment where I can make a difference,” she said.
Campbell said that one of the biggest challenges downtown faces is attracting local and outside investment, particularly with a slow real estate market. She said that she plans on being more aggressive in recruiting businesses and working with them to find locations downtown.
Part of that is proving to the businesses that it’s worth their investment to go downtown; Campbell said that while last year’s All-Star Game significantly increased the number of visitors to the district, downtown needs to work hard to keep that momentum.
“We need to give people more reasons to come downtown like they did during the All-Star Game,” she said, noting that she hopes to increase the musical, artistic and other cultural events that take place Downtown.
Campbell said she has high hopes for the redesign of the Arch grounds, a competition for which launched in December. One of the goals of the redesign is to create a pedestrian-friendly connection between the Arch grounds and downtown proper.
“I think that if they get it right, with a fabulous design to connect downtown to the Arch grounds … it will be a game-changing opportunity for the physical environment downtown,” she said.
Campbell said that by including Kiener Plaza in the scope of the redesign area, those behind the competition are encouraging designers to integrate the Arch into downtown, drawing visitors to the Arch into the city and vice versa. A winner is set to be announced in October of this year.
Campbell said that some of her major priorities for 2010 include working to renew downtown’s community improvement district status, which expires this year. She also hopes to develop an active committee structure for the boards she works with and create a new branding campaign to make downtown more attractive to investors, residents and visitors.
In the longer term, Campbell said she’d like to see the success of Citygarden continue throughout the Gateway Mall by making public spaces more active. She said she also plans on creating goals for achieving more density — both residential and commercial — throughout downtown.
Currently, about 90,000 people work downtown and 10,000 live downtown. Campbell said that by 2020 she could see 150,000 downtown workers; she wouldn’t pin down a goal for residents, however, noting that it will be determined through committees this year.
“There’s a lot going on and a lot to be excited about right now,” Campbell said.
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