NEW YORK CITY-The Hudson Square district is arguably best known as a magnet for advertising, media, architectural and design firms both larger and smaller. As a case in point, Jack Resnick & Sons earlier this month announced that its 375,000-square-foot 250 Hudson St. is nearing 100% occupancy, thanks to a pair of expansions by Gluckman Mayner Architects and the International Group of Cos., among the world’s largest advertising and marketing services companies.

Landlords such as Resnick and Trinity Real Estate have been attracting tenants like these since the 1980s, when the owners began converting massive, disused printing facilities into high-quality office space. In an interview with GlobeSt.com this past spring, Ellen Baer, president of the Hudson Square Connection, called the neighborhood “the creative center of Manhattan.”

Yet as the current year draws to a close, the Connection, a business improvement district launched in July 2009, looks back on the past 12 months as a time of achievement in establishing the area as a full-blown neighborhood. “We spent 2010 focusing on immediate, easily achieved changes to the district that will lead to larger improvements down the road,” Baer says in a release. “The neighborhood programming and traffic management improvements made thus far, combined with the relationships and connections we’ve formed this past year have put Hudson Square on the map while setting the stage for 2011.”

Among other things, over the past year the Connection selected a design team, led by Matthew Nielsen Landscape Architects, responsible for producing a green streetscape that will include open spaces. The goal of the program, according to the BID, is is to “prioritize the environment for pedestrians, thereby enhancing retail opportunities while making connections between Hudson Square and its neighboring districts.”

Earlier this year, the Connection completed a traffic management study to improve relations between Hudson Square pedestrians, Holland tunnel-bound drivers and local bicyclists. The Connection already has made a number of traffic management improvements, such as bringing the city’s Department of Transportation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey together to remove delineators that interfere with crosswalks along Varick Street.

To help generate business for area retailers, the Connection in ’10 launched the Connection Card, a district-wide incentive program offering local workers exclusive discounts and promotions at participating Hudson Square stores, restaurants and attractions. The program is a free benefit that encourages these employees to support the neighboring businesses in their area, according to the Connection.

As part on an ongoing effort to make Hudson Square a more eco-friendly area, the connection has planted 67 live trees to date throughout the district. In addition, during the holiday season, the Connection decked Varick Street with dozens of fresh holiday trees, with building tenants decorating them in ways that represented the character of their businesses and the district.

The past year also saw the unveiling of 50 new street banners, identifying the neighborhood and displaying the words “work,” “play” and “connect.” Additionally, the banners contain 2D scans that, when photographed with a smartphone, lead to more information about Hudson Square. Finally, the BID launched a new website and produced an informational DVD for the benefit of both brokers and potential tenants.