4 Takeaways from DC’s Neighborhood Profiles
The DC Neighborhood Profiles is a comprehensive tool to discover opportunities to start and expand businesses throughout Washington, DC neighborhoods.
WDCEP publishes an annual overview of the Washington, DC neighborhoods with insights into DC neighborhood characteristics including number of grocery stores, cultural or art highlight, and detailed demographics and market intelligence.
Here are four takeaways from 2017’s edition:
1. The DC population is growing and increasingly more millennial
DC’s population has increased by 13% since 2010 to more than 681,000 – its highest level since the 1970s. Residential growth is expected to continue with projections estimating DC’s population to reach more than 842,200 by 2030.5 Combined with DC’s daytime population in excess of one million people and 21.3 million annual visitors, developers and investors have been building new retail centers to meet this growing demand.
2. We’re going to be seeing a lot more retail in Washington, DC
There is currently 1.3 million retail square feet under construction in DC.
The neighborhoods that will see the most retail & restaurant space delivered in 2017 (by square feet) will be the Southwest Waterfront (195,000 SF, anchored by The Wharf ), Capitol Riverfront (140,540 SF in six mixed-use projects), and Fort Totten (104,701 SF – all in ART Place at Fort Totten).
3. DC’s culinary scene is booming
Leading the retail expansion in DC have been restaurants with 150 openings be- tween January and September 2016.7 In addition, Bon Appetit named DC its “Restaurant City of the Year” in 2016 and 106 restaurants were listed in DC’s first Michelin Guide with 11 earning at least one star and 19 making the Bib Gourmand list.
4. DC saw $12.7 billion in taxable retail and return sales in 2015 – a 28% increase since 2010
With thousands of new residents, new grocery stores, restaurants, and entertainment/cultural options DC’s retail market continues to mature. New investments are occurring beyond the downtown and revitalizing several sub- markets at the same time. Neighborhoods such as Capitol Riverfront, Mount Vernon Triangle and NoMa have transitioned from emerging to established mixed-use districts, and corridors such as 7th and F Streets in Downtown DC, 14th & U Streets as well as H Street, NE are re-establishing their historical status as shopping and entertainment destinations.
There was also a growth of 57,400 jobs in the DC DC metro area, 82% of the job growth is attributed to the private sector.
WDCEP works with the Office of Planning and Economic Development, the Office of Planning, and the Department of Small & Local Business Development of Washington, DC to determine which commercial corridors and nodes to profile. WDCEP does not define boundaries of neighborhoods, but generally tries to identify points of interest within reasonable proximity of the center of commercial corridor.