The Columbia Board of Realtors® has received a $5000 Placemaking grant from the National Association of REALTORS® to help fund a portion of the Business Loop Community Improvement District’s Corridor Plan. The funds will help build a bike repair station near the new MKT‐Parkade Bike Boulevard, transforming an unused section of a parking lot into vibrant public space for the community to gather and enjoy.
Placemaking grants are awarded to local and state REALTOR® associations to help them and their members create new public spaces and destinations in a community, like turning a parking spot into a people spot (parklet) or a vacant lot into a pocket park or garden.
The grant will help fund a bike repair station, an air pump, a bench, and signage in a section of parking lot abutting the sidewalk near Firestone Complete Auto Care and Just Jeff’s Street Food. Not only will this give cyclists a place to gather, it will help enliven a section of the street.
The Columbia Board of REALTORS® will be partnering with The Loop CID and the adjacent business regarding the location and installation of these amenities, which will also include potted landscaping and colorful sidewalk graphics.
Pam Socha, 2019 CBOR President said of the project, “Placemaking can help foster healthier, more social and economically viable communities. It creates places where people feel a strong stake in their neighborhoods and are committed to making things better. This grant will help enhance and revitalize the Business Loop, an area of our city that has been neglected for far too long.”
“We’ve been pleased with level of excitement the community has for this project and are thrilled to have the Columbia Board of Realtors® helping us beautify the corridor,” said Carrie Gartner, executive director of The Loop. “This bike station will be a great amenity for the students, workers, and residents in the area and will offer a pleasant stopping point for anyone traveling down the new bike boulevard.”
For more information on the Loop Corridor Plan visit http://theloopcomo.com/loop‐corridor‐plan. To find out more about National Association of Realtors® placemaking program visit, https://realtorparty.realtor/community-outreach/placemaking.
Columbia Board of Realtors® The purpose of our organization is to enhance our member’s ability and opportunity to conduct business successfully and ethically, and to promote the preservation of the right to own, transfer, and use real property. We recognize that we sell and market more than individual homes, land or businesses; we also sell quality of life. This quality of life extends beyond the legal boundaries of our property.
The Business Loop Community Improvement District is an organization dedicated to creating an attractive and authentic multimodal corridor; attracting and retaining dynamic and innovative businesses, employees, and investors; designing a street that is safe, vibrant, and healthy; and communicating the importance of the area to Columbia. We recently completed a 10‐year Corridor Plan to revitalize The Loop which includes this bike station.
