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District of ColumbiaSoutheast

US Hiring Slowed to 143,000 Jobs in January, BLS Reports

by Kristin Harlow

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 143,000 jobs in January, falling short of the 169,000 figure projected by economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that employers added 111,000 private sector jobs, while government sector employment grew by 32,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in January was 4 percent, down from 4.1 percent the prior month. The BLS noted that neither the wildfires in Southern California that began in early January nor the cold weather across much of the country for a significant portion of the month had any discernable impact on national payroll employment, hours and earnings. In January, job gains occurred in healthcare, retail trade and social assistance. Employment declined in the mining, quarrying, and the oil and gas extraction industry. More specifically, the healthcare sector added 44,000 jobs in January, including gains in hospitals (+14,000), nursing and residential care facilities (+13,000), and home health care services (+11,000). Job growth in healthcare averaged 57,000 per month in 2024. Retail trade employment increased by 34,000 in January. Job gains occurred in general merchandise retailers (+31,000) and furniture and home furnishings retailers (+5,000). Electronics and appliance retailers lost 7,000 jobs. Retail trade …

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District of ColumbiaLeasing ActivityOfficeSoutheast

Freshfields Signs 117,000 SF Office Lease at Midtown Center in Downtown DC

by John Nelson

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freshfields US LLP has signed a 117,000-square-foot lease at Midtown Center, a two-tower, 869,000-square-foot office property in downtown Washington, D.C. The global law firm will relocate its D.C. office from 700 13th St. NW to occupy floors six through eight in the West Tower at Midtown Center. Amy Bowser and Brooks Brown of CBRE represented the landlord, Carr Properties, in the lease negotiations, along with internal staffers Kaitlyn Rausse and Ryan Lopez. Rob Copito and Harry Stephens of CBRE represented Freshfields in the lease. Built in 2017, Midtown Center is now 80 percent occupied. Carr plans to add new amenities to the West Tower, including a rooftop penthouse and new conference and entertainment facilities. Existing amenities and features at Midtown Center include pedestrian bridges connecting the two towers, a two-level fitness center, rooftop terrace and restaurants on the ground level including Shoto, Grazie Nonna, Dauphines and Blue Bottle.

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AcquisitionsDistrict of ColumbiaMixed-UseMultifamilyRestaurantRetailSoutheastVirginia

Jamestown Unloads Stake in Georgetown Renaissance Portfolio in DC to Acadia Realty Trust

by John Nelson

WASHINGTON, D.C. AND ALEXANDRIA, VA. — Atlanta-based Jamestown has sold its stake in The Georgetown Renaissance Portfolio, a collection of 22 boutique retail and residential buildings in Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood and a lone property in nearby Alexandria, Va. New York-based Acadia Realty Trust, already a minor owner of the portfolio, purchased Jamestown’s stake for an undisclosed price. Eastdil Secured represented Jamestown in the transaction. Jamestown originally acquired its interest in The Georgetown Renaissance Portfolio in 2011. The firm had previously sold off a portion of its interest to EastBanc, which used acquisition funds from Acadia Realty Trust, back in 2016. The portfolio is now home to several retail and design brands such as B&B Italia, Poliform, Molteni, Lululemon, Patagonia and Design Within Reach.

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District of ColumbiaMarket ReportsRetailSoutheastSoutheast Market Reports

No Boogeyman in Sight for DC’s Retail Market, Yet

by John Nelson

In the summer of 2012, fresh out of college and starting my career in retail brokerage at KLNB, a seasoned retail broker-turned-developer warned me to consider other careers.  “Retail is dying,” he said. “Why would people go to stores when it’s so easy to order online?” Well, it’s been 12 years since that moment, and I’m still waiting for the retail boogeyman to appear. As I write this, I’m happy to report he hasn’t arrived — and the data suggests he’s nowhere in sight. The Washington, D.C., metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is now in its tightest fundamental position on record due to limited new supply and continued demand from national, regional and franchised concepts.  In the Washington, D.C. market, we have the second-lowest retail square footage per capita among major MSAs, with new retail supply representing just 0.4 percent of total inventory. This places the Capital Region in the bottom quartile of retail real estate inventory growth among national MSAs that have more than 100 million square feet of existing inventory. The result? Retail availability in the D.C. metro has decreased to 4.8 percent (compared to the national average of 4.7 percent), down from 5.1 percent year-over-year and 5.3 percent …

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District of ColumbiaMarket ReportsOfficeSoutheastSoutheast Market Reports

DC Office Market Presents an Opportunity for Reclassification and Innovation

by John Nelson

The Washington, D.C., office market is facing challenging times, marked by unprecedented vacancy rates, dwindling demand and a significant supply-demand imbalance. Within these constraints, the flight to quality trend is reshaping how investors and lenders view office assets and should lead to an inventory reclassification.  The divide between high-quality assets and lesser properties widens almost daily, creating a bifurcated market with fierce competition for quality space. Meanwhile, older, less desirable properties languish, accumulating vacancies as they fail to meet current occupier expectations.  Without intervention, the less desirable properties will continue to drag down the market’s perception, obscuring the success of top-tier spaces with a headline vacancy rate. To contribute to the stabilization of the market, office participants must acknowledge this divide and assess distressed assets not as liabilities, but as opportunities to reset and reclassify properties based on realistic usage and demand. Lenders are central to this process as they control a substantial portion of distressed office stock. After years of extending loans to stave off foreclosure during uncertain times, many are now realizing that relief is unlikely to materialize organically. As a result, foreclosures are already up 121 percent in 2024 year-to-date over 2023 in Washington, D.C. On average, …

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DevelopmentDistrict of ColumbiaMultifamilySoutheast

Akridge, National Development Welcome First Residents to 384-Unit Byron Apartment Community in DC

by John Nelson

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Akridge and National Real Estate Development have begun welcoming residents to The Byron, a 384-unit apartment community in southwest Washington, D.C. The Byron is Phase I of The Stacks, a six-acre mixed-use campus. Upon completion, The Stacks will include 2 million square feet of space, including a hotel, offices, apartments, shops and restaurants. The development team for The Stacks includes Akridge, National Development, Bridge Investment Group, Blue Coastal Capital and institutional funds managed by National Real Estate Advisors. Amenities at The Byron include a 10,000-square-foot Flex gym that features a sauna, recovery room and outdoor workout space, a multi-sport simulator, two rooftop pools, pet spa, serenity garden, TV lounge with an adjoined terrace, chef’s catering kitchen and gathering spaces. Additional conveniences include Capital Bikeshare and bike maintenance stations and an onsite resident market that is scheduled to open this summer, as well as The Passage, a pedestrian-only cobblestone street. According to Apartments.com, the 14-story building offers studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 432 to 1,565 square feet. Monthly rents start at approximately $2,230.

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AcquisitionsDistrict of ColumbiaMultifamilySoutheast

Clear Investment Group Acquires 681-Unit Marbury Plaza Apartments in Southeast DC

by John Nelson

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Clear Investment Group has purchased Marbury Plaza, a 681-unit apartment community located in southeast Washington, D.C. The Chicago-based investment firm plans to rebrand the property to Langston Views and upgrade the amenity package to include a new fitness center, onsite convenience store and renovated pools and locker rooms. This is the fifth investment for the buyer’s Clear Opportunities Fund I. The seller and sales price were not disclosed.

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District of ColumbiaSoutheast

US Economy Surpasses Expectations With 256,000 Jobs Added in December

by John Nelson

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 256,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This figure exceeds the 155,000 jobs that Dow Jones economists forecasted for the month, according to CNBC. The total caps a year in which U.S. employment grew every month, with a monthly average of 186,000, according to the BLS. The December total surpasses the 212,000 jobs added in November, which the BLS revised down from 227,000. The BLS also revised the October jobs total up from 36,000 to now 43,000. Additionally, the U.S. unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.1 percent. According to the BLS, the unemployment rate has either been 4.1 percent or 4.2 percent for the past seven months. December’s job creation was concentrated in healthcare (+46,000), leisure and hospitality (+43,000) and government (+33,000). Retail trade added 43,000 new jobs in December, a month after the sector saw net job loss. Employment changed little in other major industries, including construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, professional and business services and transportation and warehousing.

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District of ColumbiaIndustrialMarket ReportsSoutheastSoutheast Market Reports

Resilient DC Industrial Market Is Growing But Softening as Vacancy Rates Creep Higher

by John Nelson

The U.S. industrial real estate market continues to sustain, with national vacancy rates steadily creeping toward 7 percent (6.8 percent at the time of this writing). Over the past three years, the industrial real estate market continued to set records and became known as the darling asset class within the commercial real estate community. However, the market is showing signs of reversion to historical velocity and vacancy rates. The industrial vacancy rate is steadily climbing in the Washington, D.C., metro area as demand softens for third-party logistics in second-quarter 2024. Vacancies are up to 6.5 percent after reaching an all-time low of 3.8 percent at the end of 2022.  The market remains tight by historical measures. However, normalized leasing velocity, a few large tenant moveouts and reduced demand is expected to provide upward pressure on the vacancy rate in 2025. Subleasing activity trended upward in the past six to 12 months to over 1.3 million square feet. A few examples of large sublets include 393,000 square feet put on the market at Capital Gateway in Brandywine; Builders First Source moved out of 135,000 square feet at Plaza 500 in Alexandria; and in the second quarter, Western Express vacated 102,000 square …

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Affordable HousingCompany NewsDistrict of ColumbiaMultifamilySoutheast

US Justice Department Adds Six Landlords to Rental Price-Fixing Lawsuit

by John Nelson

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ), along with 10 state attorneys general, has filed an amended complaint in its antitrust lawsuit against RealPage. The complaint targets six of the nation’s largest property managers, alleging that the companies used RealPage’s pricing algorithms to share sensitive data and coordinate pricing strategies, which the DOJ states resulted in artificially inflated rents. The DOJ stated that the landlords had colluded with one another by directly communicating with competitors’ senior managers about sensitive topics such as rents and occupancy; conducting “call arounds” to discuss sensitive information and pricing strategies; and participating in “user groups” hosted by RealPage, where landlords would allegedly discuss how to modify the software’s pricing methodology as well as their own pricing strategies. The DOJ’s co-plaintiffs are the Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington. The six landlords included in the amended complaint are Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC; Blackstone’s LivCor LLC; Camden Property Trust; Cushman & Wakefield Inc. (formerly operating independently as Pinnacle); Willow Bridge Property Co. (formerly Lincoln Residential); and Cortland Management LLC (Cortland). Altogether, the six companies manage approximately 1.3 million apartment units across 43 states and Washington, D.C., …

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