1. Creating a Building and Business Inventory

A building and business inventory provides a foundation for describing, understanding, and restructuring the economy of your downtown area. This section covers the types of data that should be included in each of these inventories. Additionally, the discussion explains how to build the inventories as a computer database and describes the types questions about buildings and businesses that can be asked and answered interactively by maps and reports generated by the database.

The downtown database will help downtown professionals and volunteers truly manage their downtown. With the database, they can better serve as an advocate for renting and selling downtown property. They can better assist the community, realtors, developers and new businesses in efficient site selection. Ultimately, the downtown database will be crucial for evaluating the current supply of products and services. The eventual combination of this information with consumer demand will help determine business expansion and recruitment opportunities.

Data about Downtown Buildings

The building inventory portion of the downtown database should include information about each building in the downtown area including assessed value and taxes, last sale date and amount, availability for sale or rent, total square footage, building amenities, zoning class, historic status, and building condition. All of this information is clearly valuable for marketing available properties to potential renters and buyers. Wise renters and buyers will compare and contrast available properties based on this and other information before making their investment. However, the information is also valuable in other ways for ongoing management of the downtown.

Being able to calculate and report the total assessed value for all downtown properties is valuable for conveying the magnitude of the financial investment already present in downtown buildings. Determining if the value is going up or down, and by how much, is important for tracking the relative success of downtown economic development efforts. Being able to calculate and report the total real estate taxes paid by downtown property owners is important for conveying the positive impact of downtown on the city or village operating budget.

Knowing historic status and building condition is valuable in providing design assistance and marketing available incentives such as historic preservation tax credits. Simply maintaining contact information for all downtown building owners is necessary for effective communication with these important stakeholders.

Data about Downtown Businesses and Residences

The business inventory portion of the downtown database should include information about each of the businesses in the downtown area including unit condition and amenities, business classification & primary products/services, date established, business hours, space use, employment information and job availability. Information on downtown businesses and residences is as valuable as building information for ongoing management of the downtown.

Being able to calculate and report how many square feet of retail, office, storage, public, and other space is located downtown is useful in analyzing market supply of products and services. Knowing each business’s primary products and services is necessary for developing retail events, cooperative advertising, and downtown business directories. Tallying how many establishments of each type are located downtown is required for comparing your business mix with the business mix in a similar community’s downtown. Mapping relationships between nearby businesses, or business clusters, is helpful for strategically siting businesses within a downtown or business district. Recording hours of operation for all downtown businesses is the first step toward being able to manage and promote those hours.

In addition to businesses, the downtown database should include information about each of the residences in the downtown area including unit condition and amenities and residential amenities. The ability to calculate and report the number of residential units can be used to analyze the market supply of housing.

Setting up the Inventory as a Computer Database

The best way to set up your building and business inventory is as a computer database. Paper filing systems, and even computer spreadsheets, do not provide the ability to easily search, sort, query, or report information from the inventory. Below are the recommended steps for setting up your downtown inventory as a computer database.

Step 1: Determine where database will reside

The downtown inventory should reside at a location easily accessible to downtown business and building owners as well as realtors, bankers, developers and businesses prospects. The local Main Street office, Chamber of Commerce office, city hall, or related economic development office would be a logical choice. The office needs to be equipped with a computer capable of running Microsoft Access or a similar database. The office should also be open to the public and staffed by someone capable of quickly outputting inventory reports.

Step 2: Determine who will enter and maintain data

While it would be ideal to have the person who outputs inventory reports also enter and maintain the data, this is not necessary. In many cases an office assistant, intern or volunteer can adequately enter the pertinent data. Comfort level with computers and databases is the crucial criteria for selecting data entry personnel.

Step 3: Enter readily accessible data

Always start filling your downtown inventory with data that has already been collected. This will not only save you time, but will reduce the effort required of building and business owners. Some municipalities may already have a computerized record system or even a geographic information system (GIS) containing data on the downtown. It is often possible to transfer data stored in these systems directly into a computer database.

The city assessor is probably the most valuable resource for building data. The assessor should at least have information on assessed value, last sale date and amount of sale for each building in the downtown. Many assessors will also keep notes on building amenities, building condition and number of floors, commercial units, and residential units. While they may have an estimate of total square footage, this information will most likely need to be supplemented. The city clerk/treasurer should be able to provide information on assessed taxes, zoning class, and historic status.

Step 4: Enter business owner survey data

Because some of the information collected in the business owner survey is also important to the building and business inventory, it is best to administer the business owner survey, discussed in section 3 of this toolbox, before moving on to step five. The main piece of additional information for the building inventory acquired through the business owner survey will be total square footage. Information for the business inventory acquired through the business owner survey will include business owner contact information, business classification & primary products/services, date established, business hours, space use, employment information and job availability. The new information collected from completes business owner surveys will need to be entered into the database.

Step 5: Print reports for each building/business

The Wisconsin Main Street Program has developed a downtown building and business inventory database using Microsoft Access. This database includes pre-designed forms that can be printed and used to collect building and business data. Each printed form is designed to include all information for the particular building or business entered into the database and blank spaces for recording incomplete information. Blank forms from this building and business inventory (as well as the downloadable Microsoft Access file) are included in Appendix B at the end of this section.

Step 6: Hand deliver reports

The printed reports from Step 5 need to be hand delivered to the respective building and business owners. The goal is for a 100% response rate to Step 7. This can only be accomplished by hand delivering reports and explaining to building and business owners how to provide the missing information.

Step 7: Have building and business owners correct and add data

It will be easier for building and business owners to correct or add data than trying to provide all the information desired in the inventory. This step can either be completed while the individual delivering the report waits, or the report can be left with the building or business owner. If the report is left, a time should be scheduled for when the report will be hand collected.

Step 8: Hand collect revised reports

Again, the goal is for a 100% response rate and that can only be accomplished face to face. If the building or business owner has not completed their task by the scheduled time, the individual collecting the report should have the building or business owner make their revisions while they wait. It is not uncommon for building and business owners not to know square footage of their buildings and spaces. The individual collecting reports should be prepared to pace off or use a measuring wheel to estimate square footage.

Step 9: Enter new data

Once the printed reports are updated and collected, the new information will need to be entered into the database. Ideally, the same person who entered data in Step 3 and 4 will also enter the new data.

Step 10: Print specialized reports

Using the downtown database, you will be able to output a variety of reports to answer questions about the downtown posed by the community, existing businesses, realtors, bankers, developers and businesses prospects. Example reports include:

• The total assessed value for all downtown properties
• The change in total assessed value from year 1 to year 2
• The total real estate taxes paid by downtown property owners
• The downtown properties designated as historic
• Mailing labels for all downtown building and business owners
• The square footage of retail, office, storage, public, and other space located downtown
• The primary products and services available downtown
• The typical hours of operation for downtown businesses
• The residential units located downtown
• What properties meeting specific criteria, such as a specific amount of floor space, are for sale or for rent?

While not all the specialized reports are completed at this time, standardized reports are being designed that will automatically present the information above. As new reports become available, they can be copied into your existing database and put to work immediately.

Step 11: Update when changes are known

The downtown inventory will always be a work in progress. It is never complete. The more data in the inventory, the more powerful and useful it will be. You should not let a response rate of less than 100% or a missing type of data (such as building condition) stop you from using the inventory. By nature, some data will become outdated, such as availability for sale or rent. This data can be updated through regular communication with local realtors and building owners.

Step 12: Reprint reports for each building/business

Remember to share information from the downtown inventory with your building and business owners. Mail them the revised report for their building or business along with a copy of the specialized reports discussed in Step 10. Sharing this information is an important business retention activity. The reports will demonstrate the importance of the time they spent correcting and adding data, as well as suggest ways they might personally use the inventory in the future.

Enhancing a Building and Business Inventory with GIS

A building and business inventory built as a computer database is a powerful tool. However, a traditional computer database is limited in the ways a user can view information. Adding geographic information system (GIS) capabilities to the building and business inventory will allow the user to map and query information in visual, intuitive manners. It can be used to:

• Retrieve information about a building or unit by simply clicking on a map
• Visually search for buildings that meet certain criteria such as size, vacancy and condition
• Visually analyze the relationships among the buildings and businesses
  (see the sample maps that follow in this section)

It should be noted that building and business inventory information can be mapped either using commercially available GIS software packages or GIS software linked to the Microsoft Access database described above.

How to Add GIS to a Inventory Database

Combining a building and business database with GIS functionality requires GIS technical knowledge and programming abilities. The necessary level of GIS expertise will differ from community to community according to the type of database, the GIS software being used, and the available types of GIS data. While most downtown professionals are not experts in database and GIS programming, some consultants and city planning departments can offer the technical assistance that is needed.

There are two ways you can merge your building and business database with GIS, each with their own pros and cons.

1. Link the inventory data to a desktop GIS program. To do this, the user must be proficient in their chosen GIS software package and know how to effectively use the files from the inventory database. This method is the most accessible, especially if you have GIS experience. However, it requires an investment in a commercial GIS package and could involve extensive training.
2. Program and operate a customized GIS mapping application within your database program. This method requires minimal GIS experience from the inventory user. However, creating a customized GIS program requires outside programming and development of a GIS application intended specifically for building and business inventory analyses. Having a custom application developed can be costly, but allows for the user to tailor the GIS to their specific needs.

Both methods require building and business data such as that found in the inventory developed by the Wisconsin Main Street program (see Appendix B). Furthermore, these methods require building footprint files in a standard, commercial GIS file format. These formats can include CAD-based files (such as .dxf or .dwg files), ESRI Shapefiles (.shp files) and Arc/Info coverages, or MapInfo files (.mif files). Additional geographic data such as road centerlines, blocks, parks and other features can be added according to the user's needs. Regardless of the GIS software used, there are a number of ways that inventory information can be utilized. Three specific applications are examined in the following discussion; mapping building and business inventory information, visually examining the business mix, and GIS as a business clustering tool.

Mapping Building and Business Inventory Information

The addition of GIS functionality to the computer database allows almost any information stored within the building and business inventory to be shown on a map. Depending on the information recorded in the inventory, some typical maps that could be generated include building square footage, assessed value, zoning category, and historic status.

Exhibit 2.1 – Downtown business map showing weekday opening hours

The ability to visualize this wide variety of information will aid in managing and promoting your downtown or business district. As an example, consider the problems associated with managing and promoting downtown business operating hours. In addressing this problem, operating hours can be mapped to determine which businesses are open at different times. The maps will show every business’s operating hours at the same time and will allow the viewer to identify any problematic areas. Exhibit 2.1 shows the weekday opening hours of a sample business district. Similar maps could be created showing business closing hours, weekend hours, and hours by individual days of the week. Used in conjunction with each other, these maps will create a useful picture of current operating conditions.

Visually Examining the Business Mix with GIS

A business mix analysis involves comparing the types and number of establishments located downtown with the mix in a similar community’s downtown. An example of a business mix map is shown in Exhibit 2.2. This map of downtown West Bend, Wisconsin depicts building uses by general categories such as retail, personal and business services, and government. The map shows that there are numerous different business types in the downtown area as well as several distinct clusters of retail and financial institutions. Business mix analysis is discussed in more detail in Section 4.

Exhibit 2.2 – Downtown Business Mix Map

GIS as a Business Clustering Tool

Clustering involves strategically siting businesses within a downtown or business district to take advantage of relationships between nearby businesses, a management practice used extensively by shopping centers. To implement a clustering strategy, it is necessary to know where building vacancies exist and what types of businesses surround those vacant sites. Frequently used clustering strategies include locating businesses near compatible businesses, complimentary businesses, competitive businesses, or traffic generators. Clustering is discussed in more detail in Section 18.

For an example of using GIS as a business clustering tool, consider a business district trying to identify the best location for a shoe store. To determine a compatible site, GIS can be used to map the location of each vacant store. Additionally, existing stores can be identified that comprise compatible, complimentary and comparison clusters. These clusters can be added to the vacancy map along with any potential traffic generators that may benefit a new shoe store.

An example of a shoe store cluster map is shown in Exhibit 2.3. In contrast to the other sites, Site 2, located near the top and center of the map, is surrounded largely by businesses in each of the four cluster types. As a result, the map visibly shows that Site 2 is the most suitable shoe store location from a clustering standpoint.

Exhibit 2.3 – Map showing a shoe store cluster analysis

Appendix A - Sample Press Release

For Immediate Release
(Enter Date)

Contact: (Enter name and phone number of primary contact)
(Enter name and phone number of secondary contact)

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DATABASE WILL HELP DOWNTOWN COMPETE WITH SHOPPING CENTERS

(Enter city)--(Enter main street organization) is taking a significant step toward competing with successful shopping centers by managing the downtown more like those shopping centers. Shopping centers typically have a competitive advantage over traditional downtowns because they own the real estate, research the market, manage the business mix, actively recruit, require uniform hours, cooperatively advertise, monitor business performance, and insist on frequent store makeovers.

(Enter main street organization)’s economic restructuring committee has already begun to bridge the competitive gap by kicking off a downtown market analysis. However, (Enter main street organization) will never own the real estate, so their first priority in managing downtown is to thoroughly know the downtown real estate and the downtown tenants.

Volunteers will begin inventorying downtown buildings and businesses next week to create a valuable downtown database. The database will include information about each of the buildings in the downtown area including assessed value and taxes, last sale date and amount, availability for sale or rent, total square footage, building amenities, zoning class, historic status, and building condition. The database will also include information about each business in the downtown area including the category of business, age of business, hours or operation, volume of foot traffic, busiest times, type of goods and services, and business assistance needs.

Using the downtown database, (Enter main street organization) will be able to output a variety of reports and maps to answer questions about the downtown posed by the community, existing businesses, realtors, bankers, developers and businesses prospects. What is the total assessed value for all downtown properties? Is the value going up or down and by how much? What properties meeting specific criteria, such as a specific amount of floor space, are for sale or for rent? How many square feet of retail, office, storage, public, and other space is located downtown? What are the strengths and weaknesses in the business mix? Where are the strong or weak business clusters in the downtown?

The business owner survey will also ask downtown business people about their most typical customer. Based on their collective responses, (Enter main street organization) will create a profile of downtown customers and determine the geographic area from which the downtown draws most of its traffic; otherwise known as the downtown trade area. The profile of downtown customers will then be compared with census information from the downtown trade area to discover differences and similarities that will indicate business opportunities.

The downtown database will help the Main Street manager truly manage the downtown. The manager can serve as an advocate for renting and selling downtown property. The downtown database will assist the community, realtors, developers and new businesses in efficient site selection. Finally, the downtown database will be crucial for evaluating the current supply of products and services which when combined with consumer demand will help determine business expansion and recruitment opportunities.

Interested parties may volunteer for the downtown market analysis team by calling (Enter name of committee chair) (Enter phone number). For more information on the downtown market analysis or on (Enter Main Street Organization), contact (Enter Main Street Manager Name), at (Enter phone number).

Appendix B - Wisconsin Main Street Program's Building and Business Inventory Program

The Wisconsin Main Street Program has developed a building and business inventory using Microsoft Access. Blank input forms and the downloadable Microsoft Access file are provided in this Appendix.

Blank Input Forms

As indicated earlier in this section, pre-designed forms are included in this section to help you input data into your inventory. Forms are provided for general building and unit data (Exhibit 2.4), commercial tenant data (Exhibit 2.5) and residential tenant data (Exhibit 2.6).

Downloadable Microsoft Access File

An electronic copy of the Microsoft Access file is downloadable and available for conditional use.

Users agree to reference the Wisconsin Main Street Program as the source of this market analysis tool and not to delete any references built into the tool without their permission. Users agree to share with the Wisconsin Main Street Program and UW-Extension a copy of any results that are generated through the market analysis tool. Users agree not to reproduce or distribute the market analysis tool but to direct other interested parties to this web site.

(Database file is being updated and is temporarily unavailable)

Exhibit 2.4 – General building and unit data input form
For a printable version (PDF) of this input form click here.

Exhibit 2.5 – Commercial tenant data input form
For a printable version (PDF) of this input form click here.

Exhibit 2.6 – Residential tenant data input form
For a printable version (PDF) of this input form click here.