Today we’d like to introduce you to Malaika Rivers.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am the Executive Director of the Cumberland Community Improvement District (CID), an organization that engages strategic public-private partnerships with commercial real estate investors, politicians, governments, and media in order to align interests, advance infrastructure, and build thriving communities.
My career started in Washington DC when I joined a company to market and promote transportation demand management services around the region (an industry with which I was initially unfamiliar.) After a brief stint with a boutique consulting firm in the same industry, I was asked to relocate to Atlanta where this effort was just starting to gain momentum. I moved to Atlanta and joined the Atlanta Regional Commission in 1995 to help develop and launch their regional effort.
Part of my responsibilities was to work with business groups and that’s how I met leadership from the Cumberland CID. At the time it was the only CID in Georgia (now there are two dozen) and they were interested in activities that improved the supply as well as the performance of the transportation network. Their commercial properties depended on it.
I was hired as their first staff member (it had been board led between 1988-1996) and have since led – along with the board – strategic planning, financial modeling, work program development, government and investor relations, media engagements, communications, and more.
The Cumberland CID is widely regarded as a model public-private partnership around the state and it has been a pleasure being a part of that success.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Aligning technical, financial, and political tracks is always a challenge but necessary to be successful. Because projects take years to go from concept to construction, it’s usually a predictable and manageable process. But if an endangered habitat is discovered, or a funder doesn’t come through with enough money, or a politician isn’t in support, it can derail a project for years. Having said that, with enough patience, most every project can get built. Otherwise, juggling limited resource for vast needs is always a challenge but one we have been successfully maneuvered.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Cumberland Community Improvement District – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
To date, we have the CID has helped advance an estimated $2 billion in constructed or in-process improvements leveraged from a business investment of $140 million. This has helped to increase real estate values by more than $5 billion over the years.
Specific project successes include roads, bridges, and interchanges, such as the $300 million, 5-mile Cumberland Boulevard loop road and the $75 million Cumberland Boulevard interchange off of I-75. In addition, we’re building a trail system to connect 60 miles of urban and greenways trails around the community, investing tens of millions into beautification efforts, and generally addressing mobility, connectivity, and beautification.
The relocation of the Atlanta Braves from downtown to Cumberland is a great example of how investing in infrastructure and community needs can attract additional investment.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Now that the Atlanta Braves’ stadium has successfully opened (and the four years leading up to it spent planning for that outcome) it’s transforming the Cumberland from primarily commercial to one that includes dozens of new multifamily units. This is changing the community from office and retail heavy, to a community where people come to work, shop, dine, watch a ball game, see a play, and live by the Chattahoochee River. That requires a new outlook and a new set of plans.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cumberlandcid.org
- Phone: 770-859-2347
- Email: info@cumberlandcid.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cumberlandcid/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cumberlandcid
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CumberlandCID
Image Credit:
Flip Chalfant
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
