What's Missing From Downtown DC?
Downtown DC is in a constant state of flux these days, as office tenants vacate old buildings for new and the gap between the haves and have-nots grows. Ask around, and you'll hear one thing developers truly want in the CBD: stability.
Instability comes in many forms. It can be in an office market that is still unsure of itself, as the GSA's leasing backlog doesn't seem to be getting any smaller, while law firms continue to downsize and move to brand new construction.
It can also come from the global financial markets, which has caused foreign investors' appetite for DC office property to grow exponentially in recent years. New, fully leased office buildings downtown expect to sell for around $1k/SF, a major jump from even pre-recession prices.
But these days, the instability most on the minds of Downtown DC's hundreds of thousands of office workers—almost all of whom live far outside the neighborhood's boundaries—is that of Metro. The system's SafeTrack work begins on Saturday, when the commutes of the region will take a major, yearlong hit.
No one quite knows how SafeTrack will affect commercial real estate—which has been laser-focused on sites near Metro for about a decade—but for those who commute downtown, everyone knows rush hours for the next nine months or more are going to be even worse than before.
