6/8/21 Washington, DC Mastermind Meeting

Washington DC June 2021 Key Take Aways

• Companies are navigating the issues surrounding returning to work, including safety, child care and a general interest for some employees of working from home as long as possible. Many are opting for a phased approach with an eventual mandatory return in the fall and some are coming up with big financial incentives for employees to get vaccinated and return. (Van Ness Feldman – Andrew Cooper, CoStar Group – Chris LeBarton, Cherry Bekaert LLP – Steven Kenney, Cherry Bekaert LLP – Rick Schneider, NAI KLNB – Marc Tasker)
• The Mayor of DC is taking advantage of federal funding from the Biden Administration to push development, including grocery store development east of the river. (Washington DC Economic Partnership – Derek Ford)
• A lot of excitement surrounds a big project in East Hill where the DC General Hospital used to be. The district is releasing parcels and has received proposals for Home Depot, Marriott and others. (Washington DC Economic Partnership – Derek Ford)
• Office vacancy is the highest it’s been in decades. Gerry Widdicombe is looking into options to take down 1-2 million sq. ft. of office space and replace it with residential. (CoStar Group – Chris LeBarton, NAI KLNB – Brian Ball)
• Labor shortages, supply chain shortages and construction costs continue to be a challenge. Many are expecting an avalanche of work late in the year but concerns over whether companies will be able to keep up. (Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond – Andy Bauer, CoStar Group – Chris LeBarton)
• There is a lot of concern and uncertainty regarding changes to the tax law and infrastructure plans from the federal government. There are also issues with PPP loan forgiveness and continued interest in Opportunity Zones. (Cherry Bekaert LLP – Steven Kenney, Cherry Bekaert LLP – Rick Schneider. Cherry Bekaert LLP – Larry Kline)
• Extended stay hotels did better than many other hospitality segments, with stable occupancy throughout the pandemic. There are a variety of reasons, including lack of available open restaurants, safety concerns and the residential seller’s market. (Cherry Bekaert LLP – Rick Schneider)
• Anecdotally, New York has come back in a big way over the past few weeks. (Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond – Andy Bauer)
• There is plenty of available capital at attractive rates, but investors are picky about projects with special attention being paid to business plans. (Phillips Realty Capital – Mark Remington)
• Some are concerned about inflation, but there appears to be small upward pressure on short term rates and the fear of inflation may be overblown. (Phillips Realty Capital – Mark Remington)
• Industrial continues to be hot and available land continues to be gobbled up by data centers. (NAI KLNB – Marc Tasker, NAI KLNB – Keenan Woofter)
• The Loudoun County Department of Economic Development is a full-service economic development organization, with a large staff available to provide a variety of support to developers. (Loudon County Economic Development – Kevin Welch)
• Rivanna at Innovation Station is a large project on the border of Louden and Fairfax Counties that is slated for delivery in 2024. It will be walkable, accessible, and environmentally friendly and will feature 2000 multi-family housing units, 1.8 million sq. ft. of Class A office space, a retail village, a hotel, amphitheater, farmer’s market, underground parking and an 11-acre park. (Loudon County Economic Development – Kevin Welch)