Tues. April 24, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC – About 200 analysts, property owners, developers, commercial tenants, investors, policymakers, and Downtown stakeholders turned out yesterday for the DowntownDC Business Improvement District’s (BID) Fifth Annual State of Downtown Forum, where the BID officially released its 2011 State of Downtown report.
The report, published annually, shows Downtown’s economic trends and how they relate to the larger DC and regional economies. It provides the best information available on the Downtown economy for BID members and other stakeholders and interested parties.
The State of Downtown Forum, held at the Newseum, featured a panel of distinguished Downtown stakeholders: Cathleen Kronopolus, regional commissioner for Public Buildings in the General Service Administration’s National Capital Region; Darian LeBlanc, executive managing director at Cassidy Turley; Lisa Mayr, treasurer at LivingSocial; and Jonathan O’Connell, economic development reporter for the Washington Post and Capital Business.
This year’s theme, “Robust Core: Growing, Diversifying and Leading,” set the pace for the hour-long panel discussion and overview of key report findings by Steven Jumper, director of corporate public policy for WGL Holdings, and chairman of the DowntownDC BID. Richard Bradley, the BID’s executive director, moderated the panel discussion.
Some key points made by panel members Kronopolus, LeBlanc, Mayr and O’Connell:
- The report is robust in its data presentation.
- Downtown’s revitalization since 1997 has been impressive.
- The Downtown and DC economies’ diversification, currently led by LivingSocial, is extremely healthy–leading to a virtuous circle that helps grow the number of young, entrepreneurial companies and an entrepreneurial workforce.
- The federal government remains the foundation of the city’s economy. Its well-educated workforce provides future employees for new employers, including LivingSocial, and has sufficient income and interest in supporting theaters, museums, other cultural programming, restaurants and additional Downtown and DC amenities.
- There is an undeniable trend toward less space per worker: GSA’s regional planning office is at 98 SF per person and LivingSocial’s target is 80 SF per employee. This density fosters increased employee collaboration and acknowledges that many workers are not in the office daily (thus, they can “share” space with co-workers). In addition, GSA’s movement toward fewer SF per employee will save the American taxpayer billions of dollars over the next ten years.
- Downtown and DC face increasing competition, both on cost and amenities. The city needs to focus more on costs to retain Downtown businesses and organizations.
- Downtown and DC’s “value proposition” includes proximity to the federal government; excellent public transit; density that leads to more sustainable sub-markets; and a highly-educated workforce that likes urban living.
- Committed funding for infrastructure and economic development initiatives needs to continue.
- Five years from now Downtown and DC will:
- Have significant population and resident diversity growth, including reverse commuting residents;
- Be “greener” and more vibrant;
- See a behavioral shift for federal employees toward smaller and open/collaborative workplaces and shorter commutes;
- Have more Internet-based businesses that feed off the success of LivingSocial and like-minded companies that create a more diversified Downtown and DC economy;
- Continue to work to lift the city’s extreme poor out of poverty; and
- Have a partial verdict on DC Streetcar as a public transit supplement to Metrorail, Metrobus and the DC Circulator.
To obtain copies of the 2011 State of Downtown report, contact Jeannette Chapman at sod@downtowndc.org or 202-626-1131. The report also is available on the DowntownDC BID website at www.downtowndc.org/state, and will be available soon via the iPad by downloading a new app which provides the report in a digital format. The link to the app will also be available soon at www.downtowndc.org/state.
In addition, a video shown at the Forum and featuring interviews with key stakeholders commenting on various aspects of the Downtown economy is available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/downtowndcbid.