Last February, two months after celebrating his 10th anniversary of serving as executive director for the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association (BKBIA), Blair Cohn had an epiphany about the staff who have been overseeing operations for the organization in the decade he’s been there.
“All the staff that have been involved with it have been artists or have been involved in the arts,” Cohn said. “I’m the only business major.”
He said no other business district in the city can say the same and that’s what distinguishes the BKBIA from others– how arts play a role in what the association does, and how it executes those endeavors.
“It’s interesting because it gives us a different eye, a different approach to things,” he said. “It’s how we look at the district– from the trees and the sidewalks and the advertising and the posters and the marketing to the murals, the [art] alley– all of this, incorporating the arts into everything we do, how it looks, how it plays, how it makes you feel.”
Cohn said the arts-minded approach has helped the BKBIA in achieving its two-tiered goal: first, to ensure that the business district is clean, attractive and the best place to do business; and second, to provide its membership with resources, opportunities, marketing and other assistance as needed.
“We can’t run someone’s business,” he said. “But we’re here to help.”
Cohn mentioned that it may not be obvious to some business owners– for example, those who are service-based or work on higher floors of larger buildings, who aren’t able to easily see workers picking up litter and painting or the security team patrolling– just how much the BKBIA does.
“We have to remind them that what we’re doing is for the district as a whole– our major efforts,” he said. “You have clients come, and they should feel, ‘Wow! What a great place– clean, safe, the best place to be.”
Cohn said that in the last decade, he and his staff have been able to “fine-tune” the ways they reach out to their membership and how they activate the community members.
“I always say the same thing,” he said. “If we don’t have an engaged and connected community, then there’s no support for our business corridor.”
It’s something Cohn seems to be thinking about quite a bit lately, as the redevelopment funding, which has enabled the BKBIA to operate to the degree it has, is nearing its expiration date. The BKBIA’s contract for (now former) redevelopment agency (RDA) funding will end in two years, so the association must now plan carefully for the future and maximize the value of those funds, he said.
Cohn stressed that it is critical to have those resources in order to achieve the aforementioned goals in supporting the district because the RDA money helps to fund: the BKBIA’s staff; security patrol; all façade improvements, including painting building exteriors, signage and installing and repairing security lighting; landscaping, including trimming trees, pulling weeds and installing new plants; murals; and events, such as the First Fridays Art Walk, Concerts in the Park(ing Lot) and Knights of the Round (Turn)Table, to name a few.
As for First Fridays, Cohn said, although the BKBIA ended– at least temporarily– its sponsorship of the monthly event last spring, several of the businesses carried on with it by keeping their doors open late and hosting arts-related receptions. However, on the first Friday of this month, the association got a bit more re-engaged in the event, by reopening the arts center, showing new work in the art alley and providing a trolley for transportation.
In the meantime, as for the businesses the BKBIA assists, Cohn said there have been quite a few changes in the last few months.
Near the northern part of the district, a Smart & Final Extra! store will open. The company’s website describes that particular type of store a, “Much larger than our traditional warehouse stores, Smart & Final Extra! combines the high-quality, fresh produce of a farmer’s market, the low prices of a discount grocer and the large club-size products of a traditional club store.”
Cohn said the company has experienced some construction delays in the building, which sits on the site of a former Orchard Supply Hardware store, but that the new store should be open in about a month.
The project involves additions as well as a reconfiguration of the space, so that other sections can be leased out.
Just south of that shopping center, at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and E. San Antonio Drive, George’s ‘50s Diner has reopened, after a fire damaged the eatery in late 2016.
Cohn said he hopes to utilize the restaurant’s parking area for special events, such as Concerts in the Park(ing) Lot.
Catty-corner to George’s is the Bixby Business Center, which is undergoing façade improvements.
Moving south on Atlantic Avenue, directly across from the BKBIA’s headquarters, is Bixby Tattoo, a new shop that Cohn expects to open in a few weeks, now that the city council has loosened regulations on where such businesses can be located.
“It’ll probably be October or November, by the time [the owner] goes through [the process of acquiring] all his health permits,” Cohn said.
Slightly south of that location, Bixby Joe coffee shop has opened in the former spot of DRNK, which was previously It’s a Grind.
“They’ve done a great job out of the gate,” Cohn said. “They have people in there all the time. It used to be empty.”
Another change has been the addition of two ramen eateries: Hero Nori and Ramen Hub. Although locals will enjoy having both options for ramen noodles, they may be overwhelmed by choices when they decide on Mexican food, since the district has become saturated by Mexican restaurants, according to Cohn. He said that ramen and Mexican eateries are examples of two types of businesses that are expanding.
“We have a proliferation of both,” he said. “We have plenty.”
Another business type that has been popping up is the brewery restaurant.
In the 4000 block of Atlantic, Ambitious Ales will soon open. Cohn is hoping it will be soon enough that the brewhouse can participate in the BKBIA’s Walktober Fest next month.
“When they open, we can take a subsection of our whole district and start a marketing program called Brewery Knolls,” Cohn said, explaining that the event would highlight the various breweries in the area by making use of a trolley to take residents to and from the different locations that specialize in making craft beer.
Another development in the works is that of Bixby Knolls Animal Clinic, which is expanding and has purchased the building just south of it. Cohn said that Sunshine’s Hair Place, Rick Wicked’s smoke shop and the former site of a specialty shoe store are part of the purchase.
“In an undetermined amount of time, based on leases, from what we hear, those leases won’t be renewed,” Cohn said, expressing pleasure in the success of the clinic but disappointment in losing more retail.
The former Nino’s restaurant space, located at 3852 Atlantic, has been under renovation and is being built out, and the owner is looking for tenants, Cohn said, adding that there are a few possibilities for how it will be configured and the types of business that will move in.
Across the street, Willmore Wine Bar will be expanding to accommodate retail and classes, but Cohn is unsure of any dates on that development.
The former Abrams & Clark Pharmacy and Medical Supplies store is vacant, and the broker is seeking a new tenant.
The former location of Baja Sonora restaurant has been reopened as Hortencia’s, one of the aforementioned Mexican eateries in the area. Likewise, at 4262 Atlantic– the former location of the restaurant called 4262, and before that, Atun– a new Mexican restaurant called O’ Paloma has opened.
As for how Bixby Knolls will receive the influx of new Mexican options, with so many already having been available, Cohn says, “In time, the market and the neighborhood will speak.”
He stressed that he wishes every business success, but, eventually, it will play itself out.
“I know the neighborhood is seeking variety,” he said. “Everybody’s asking for an Italian place now, a fresh-salad place, seafood and steaks. So, we can only try our best to educate the entrepreneur, the broker and the property owner, but, ultimately, I’m not the czar who says, ‘This goes in, that doesn’t go in.’ It’ll play itself out through the market.”
Cohn also said that both Baskin-Robbins locations in the district have been sold to new owners.
Another recent sale took place when the owners of goFetch Dog Daycare and Training bought the property where their business has been.
Heading west, over on Long Beach Boulevard, Laserfiche software development company is expanding and will likely hire 500 more employees, Cohn said, adding that the BKBIA is working with the company on a mural project on former oil property nearby.
“Not only will it enhance the corridor with a beautiful new building and a great gateway into the district through Long Beach Boulevard, but all the employees will be here to enjoy goods and services,” Cohn said.
Nearby, Stone Age Farmacy is now among the dispensaries in Long Beach that are allowed to sell recreational cannabis. Cohn said there haven’t been “any issues” with the business.
“There have been no calls for service,” he said. “It’s in a good location, if we’re going to have one in the district. There are no red flags. They have done everything legally. They’re functioning and operating just like everybody else.”
As for now, the greatest concern, according to Cohn, is what will happen when those RDA funds run out.
“What’s our biggest challenge? Continue our discussions amongst ourselves and all layers of the City, about continuing the redevelopment funds after our contract ends in the next two years,” Cohn said. “What will happen with the BKBIA when we lose the $200,000 a year of now former redevelopment money?”
The executive director said there have been discussions about whether to install parking meters and use the revenue generated from them to fund the association. In the meantime, it needs to continue booking events at the Expo Arts Center, the facility where it is located and which it operates, to raise funding, Cohn said.
“If we don’t have [the replenishment of former RDA funding], there will be a business-improvement association, but it will shrink back down to either one person or one part-time person. And that’s it,” he said. “The red light is starting to really flash, and we have to come up with a solution.”
