Anacostia Business Improvement District (BID), a nonprofit designed to support businesses located in the Southeast Washington neighborhood, has recently come under fire for its approach to promoting commercial activities — with some entrepreneurs urging more intentional, coordinated efforts are necessary.
“I think a lot of the things that the Anacostia BID Executive Director Kristina Noell does, she does well,” said Ronald Moten, founder of the Go-Go Museum & Café. “But when she does things, she does not coordinate with the businesses. The Anacostia business community will never live up to its potential if we don’t work with the BID. I hope to meet with her soon so we can work together to make Anacostia the Black Renaissance the world can model after.”
Moten is voicing his sentiments about Anacostia BID as the District faces the financial conundrum of dealing with budget deficits due to lack of sufficient revenue coming into the city from collection of sales and commercial and real property taxes.
Additionally, the District faces a hostile Republican U.S. Congress and White House that refuses to fund local government services and operations to the point that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) has had to make midyear cuts in the 2025 fiscal year budget, and proposes major cuts to programs in her 2026 fiscal year plan.
Against the District’s struggling financial picture, Moten and other business owners and leaders in Anacostia are calling for a change in strategy from the BID that helps everyone prosper.
“We have two years to get this right,” said Moten, 54. “If we don’t get this right in two years, the economic activity in Anacostia will be gone. There will be no more investment in Anacostia.”
The Fundamentals of a BID
The D.C. Department of Small and Local Business website reports a Business Improvement District is “a self-taxing district established by property owners to enhance the economic vitality of a specific commercial area.” The tax is a surcharge to the real property tax liability.
There are currently 12 BIDs in the District and Anacostia BID is the only one located east of the Anacostia River.
BID expenditures, according to the website, are primarily used for purchasing supplemental services, which could include: keeping clean and presentable; increasing security for the safety of businesses and their customers; promoting the commercial viability of the district and its firms; aiding at-risk groups such as the homeless or youth; and making capital improvements such as street furniture and decorative lighting.
Noell, who was hired as the executive director in 2018 by the BID’s board of directors, did not directly address Moten’s concerns about her organization, but said there seems to be a misunderstanding of how it is supposed to operate.
“Perhaps we should wage a campaign in the community around what a BID is,” said Noell. “We don’t clean up the poop. We are not the police. We are not a grant-giving organization. We do infrastructure work and here in Anacostia, we are focused on arts infrastructure.”
Noell Talks About the Work of Anacostia BID
Noell said her focus has been twofold: aid the businesses in the BID and capitalize on Anacostia’s thrust to be an arts hub.
“Setting up the hub was intentional,” she said. “When I took this job, I went around to the businesses and the residents and asked what they wanted. They told me a neighborhood that was in touch with its arts history was what they wanted.”
Noell said featuring artwork in the form of murals, such as the one highlighting the late D.C. Mayor Marion Barry and other Anacostia sites that greet people who drive into the neighborhood from the 11th Street Bridge, is an example of the work of the BID. Another BID project includes painting a mural under the bridge of the street that connects Marion Barry to Anacostia Park, according to Noell.
The Anacostia BID director, who was honored by the Greater Washington Black Chamber of Commerce on June 30, said she has also worked on such issues as traffic control.
“I did what I needed to do with community support,” she said. “I will continue to do the work. Every time we do something, we make sure we put it out there.”
Noell makes her goal clear.
“I want to be helpful to the businesses,” she declared. “The business owners need to run their businesses, and I want to help them prosper.”
Moten and Busboys & Poets Owner and CEO Andy Shallal have voiced concerns about the lack of foot traffic in Anacostia.
“I think Kristina has done a decent job,” said Shallal, 70. “The BID does a great job with beatification and safety but what is needed is new foot traffic. These businesses need more business. The BID needs to do more marketing of the businesses in Anacostia.”
Moten agrees with Shallal.
“When we did our Juneteenth event, the businesses were packed,” said Moten. “We need that every day. The Anacostia corridor should be bustling with people, more than any other corridor in D.C.”
Noell does not disagree with Moten and Shallal on the issue of foot traffic.
“We are working with Destination DC on a program to include Anacostia as a place for people to visit when they come to D.C.,” she said. “Right now, Anacostia is a tiny piece of the literature that is distributed on visiting D.C. We need an identity shift. We want Anacostia to be seen as cool. We want it to be the place to go. When people in the other parts of the city say they want to go out to eat, do we want them to say, ‘Let’s go to Anacostia’ and not be afraid to go over there?”
Praise for Anacostia BID
Daniel Nguyen is the owner of Good Hope Hydroponics, located on Marion Barry Avenue SE, a store that specializes in growing plants with water-based nutrients instead of soil.
In a recent communication with the BID, Nguyen said Noell and her team are doing well promoting his business in Anacostia.
“On behalf of Good Hope Hydroponics, I want to sincerely thank the Anacostia Business Improvement District for its steadfast support and dedication in promoting our business and strengthening our community,” Nguyen, 34, said. “Your team’s strategic initiatives have played a significant role in elevating our visibility and success. The BID’s success is rooted in a clear and compelling mission: fostering a clean, safe, and vibrant commercial district; supporting small businesses; and building a dynamic arts and culture economy.”
Nguyen emphasized how critical the BID has been for Good Hope Hydroponics’ growth.
“Transitioning from a community-based growing operation into a public-facing enterprise would not have been possible without the Anacostia BID’s vision, consistency, and dedication,” he said. “We are grateful for the collaboration and excited to continue growing — together.”
Stephen Thomas, co-owner and chef of Sweet Tooth Café & Cakes located in The Clara apartment building close to the Anacostia Metro Station, told The Informer that the BID played a role in securing a grant from Booz Allen Hamilton that helped his business grow.
“The BID has been great information,” said Thomas, 63. “They are available when you need them. They helped us get our feet on the ground and have been helpful. We are appreciative of what they have done.”
Thank for this article! I live in Anacostia and I agree with several of the criticisms. One example is the Delta Sigma Theta convention happened in July 2025 in DC. This was a time when 20K+ Black women were in DC for the convention.
Anacostia is a growing hub for Black-owned businesses, so I don’t understand why there wasn’t an intentional effort to increase foot traffic to Anacostia while they were in town. I think there’s lots of opportunities to increase advertising efforts and coordinate with the CVB. In fact, I’d like to see a grant program that gives each business in Anacostia a marketing consultant and PR consultant.