Over the past year, Aurora staff have worked on developing a citywide retail strategy, assessing business throughout the city and outlining goals to move forward as retail sales tax levels flatten.

Sales tax revenue in Aurora has remained flat over the last two years, causing the city to move toward a budget deficit in coming years, budget officials told councilmembers in March.

Between 2020 and 2021, there was an almost 15% increase in sales tax revenue, from about $210,000 to about $250,000. There was then a 9.4% increase between 2021 and 2022, an almost 5% increase to 2023 and a less than 4% increase between 2023 and 2024, according to data from budget officials.

Retail sales taxes make up more than half of the city’s general fund budget, and Aurora’s retail centers are facing various challenges, including deferred maintenance, large vacant spaces and safety concerns, council documents said.

Late last year, Councilmember Francoise Bergan sponsored the development of a citywide retail strategy, the process for which included evaluating retail areas across the city and coming up with goals to strengthen and improve Aurora’s economy and livability.

The goals, as developed by city staff, are to strengthen or redevelop existing retail centers, improve appearance and safety of commercial areas, promote balanced tenant mixes and encourage frequent visitation at retail centers, Jeannine Rustad, Aurora’s planning and business development director, told councilmembers Monday.

While retail is private-sector driven, the city still has a role in creating an environment that supports reinvestment, adaptability and customer confidence, Rustad said. This includes maintaining public streets, sidewalks and lighting around commercial areas and providing incentives to businesses.

“There are things we can and cannot do,” Rustad said. “We cannot act as a broker, but we can act as a matchmaker.”

Both the COVID-19 pandemic and shifts in consumer behavior have changed the retail industry significantly, with online shopping as important now as in-store experiences.

To address challenges and the impact they have on the city as a whole, staff formed the retail strategy. Now, staff will gather early next year to decide how to implement their findings.

“We need to look at … how we help these shopping centers that maybe have fallen into a little bit of disrepair and need some love,” Rustad said. “And we need look at vacant spaces and how we can incentivize them to bring something that will be good for the city.”

Rustad’s team’s first goal is to strengthen, reactivate or redevelop retail centers. This includes prioritizing reinvestments in aging centers with long-standing vacancies, explore ways to allow for “pop-up” retail, regularly reviewing sales reports, vacancy listings and other data to watch for signs of change and communicating closely with center ownership and businesses to know where assistance from the city is needed.

Part of the first goal is also incentives, Rustad said, offering assistance with fees, taxes and other financial challenges to encourage companies to come into Aurora and stay there.

Their second goal is to improve the appearance, safety and walkability of commercial areas. This includes addressing safety and cleanliness through collaboration with police and code enforcement, offering grants for security improvement and reinforcing distinctions between public and private property maintenance responsibilities, the strategy document said.

In Ward I in particular, theft is a major concern for businesses. In retail, an expected theft is 3% to 4%, Rustad said. In some areas of Ward I, retailers were seeing theft at 7% to 8%, she said. Addressing these kinds of concerns is vital to ensuring retail development.

Goal three is promoting a balanced tenant mix that increases convenience and community identity. This could include working with developers to attract businesses to growing areas and partnering with master developers to ensure that space is reserved in the right places for successful amounts of retail, service and entertainment.

The fourth goal is to encourage frequent visits of retail centers through coordinated events and customer-oriented services.

Aurora’s recently voter-approved Colfax Downtown Development Authority is an example of activation efforts that fall under this goal. Other strategies could include partnering with local and regional organizations to do digital marketing and encouraging “buy local” campaigns that highlight businesses.

Rustad called retail areas the “heart of our communities.”

“Retail isn’t just about shopping, it’s about where we gather, where we meet,” she added. “So we want to make sure Aurora is the best we can be.”

The council initially approved the effort in Monday night’s study session.

Once the council casts final approval on the retail strategy early next year, Rustad’s team will reach out to businesses to discuss market trends and conditions, then develop an implementation plan for council review and policy direction, she said. This will happen in the first quarter of the new year.

Implementation of the plan will happen through next year and beyond, city documents say.