Trendlines: Today's DC Requires Smarts

WASHINGTON, DC-It is rare to give more than cursory attention to the choice of words in the title of a business report. In the case of Delta Associates and Transwestern’s latest tome for their annual Trendlines conference–Trends in Washington, D.C. Commercial Real Estate – A New Playbook–that would be a mistake if it leads you to gloss over the word “playbook.” As it has in the 16 other Trendline reports and conferences, this year’s gathering looked at the trends of the year before and the issues expected to impact commercial real estate in the coming year. But this year’s conference also came down hard on the “playbook” part.

“As we enter 2014 DC commercial real estate players will need a new playbook,” said Greg Leisch, CEO of Delta Associates and the keynote speaker at the Thursday evening event. “We face a more competitive environment with other markets attracting attention from investors that typically would come here.”