WASHINGTON, DC-The Washington DC area is under-retailed, a shocking state of affairs when one considers its demographics and relatively low level of employment. It is especially under-retailed in the city’s core, according to Edens & Avant’s Jessica Brunner, as well as in outerlying areas such as the Aberdeen Proving Group, says St. John Properties’ Al Cunniff.
That may change as retailers push potential expansion projects into reality, ChainLinks Retail Advisors research director Garrick Brown tells me. ChainLinks just released its spring 2011 national retail report, which details trends in 40 retail commercial real estate markets. At the top of the list is the Washington, DC area.
The company bases its projections on a number of economic indicators, Brown says, such as employment, local incomes and, most importantly, retail demand. Bargains in the retail space, coupled with still stellar employment is proving irresistible to retailers in all categories, from discounters to luxury, he says. A separate metric, the company’s Retailer Demand Index, shows that retail demand is up 40% in the area compared to last year, Brown adds.
Other reports reflect similar trends. Delta Associates, for instance, has been preaching about the lost opportunities of DC’s under-retailed economy for years. The District has 8.5 square feet of retail per capita, compared to the national average of 23.4 square feet, it has reported.
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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.
