ROCKVILLE, MD-Neiman Marcus is opening the second national location for its new discount brand, Last Call, at Congressional Plaza, a 332,000-square-foot retail center here owned by Federal Realty Investment Trust. Neiman Marcus Last Call is taking 13,300 square feet at the center, which is anchored by Whole Foods. Federal Realty is also adding DC favorite Matchbox, a pizzeria, and Bark!, a pet food store.
In general, retail in the DC area has fared well during the recession, with only minimal cuts in jobs and occupancies. According to a recently released report by Delta Associates and the Rapppaport Cos., the retail sector cut 800 retail jobs in the Washington Metro area, a decline of 0.3%, during the 12 months ending February 2010. This compares to a national decline of 2.1%.
The Washington Metro area also posted the lowest shopping center vacancy among large metro areas at the end of the first quarter of 2010. The overall vacancy for all types of shopping centers was 5.7% in the metro area, up from 4.6% one year ago, compared to the national average of 9.5% at March 2010.
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
