Report: DC Area Economy To Grow 14.4% Over Next Five Years

A new report from Colliers International points to signs of optimism for the office market in the DC area.

The company’s economic outlook for DC in relation to the rest of the country projects a local economy that will continue to grow by 14.4% over the next five years, which will place the District at No. 5 of the top 10 largest metros, coming in behind Dallas, Atlanta, Boston and Houston.

Continued economic growth will lead to a bump in jobs as well, with employment growth pegged at 6.5%. Additional jobs are always a positive note for the local office market, which Colliers expects to perform strongly through 2020.

We spoke with Rob Hartley, director of research for Colliers, to gain some additional insight on the office market in the DC area.

Rob says that market will continue to be driven by small to midsized offices, with the CBD and East End expected to continue leading the pack. NoMa will benefit the most in terms of overflow from those two areas, while Tysons would be his top pick for a suburban hot spot.

The tech sector will continue to play a big role in helping to drive demand, with Rob noting how well-positioned the area is in the field of cybersecurity, but there’s another sector that he feels pretty strongly about. Rob states that he is “bullish on defense contracting,” provided there are no major problems at the congressional level.

Rob also mentions the trend of “doing more with less, especially at the government level,” with a nod to the efficiency in buildings and employee productivity as big drivers in that regard. You can read the rest of Colliers’ report on the DC Office Market for Q4 2015 here.