Washington DC Economic Partnership Releases DC Development Report
DC’s Recovery Continues w $35.7B of Development in the Pipeline
April 28, 2022 (Washington, DC) – The Washington DC Economic Partnership, (WDCEP) is pleased to announce that the 2021/22 Edition of the Washington DC Development Report is now available. The Washington DC Development Report is a summary of major development and construction projects in the District of Columbia through December 2021 and those in the pipeline. The report is organized by asset class and provides insight into development across all of the city’s Wards.
“DC’s recovery is continuing to evolve, and the report reveals the depth of that recovery by asset class,” said Keith Sellars, President/CEO of the WDCEP. There was $9.3B of development under construction at year end 2021, representing 23M SF of space. “DC like many other cities experienced a slow down due to the pandemic during the past 24 months, however many projects proceeded, including 71which delivered in 2021. There is another $35B of new development in the pipeline across the city including anchor projects (The Yards, 20 New York Avenue NE, Northeast Heights, and St Elizabeth’s) and over 73,000 new residential units.”
This is the only report that provides this level of data on projects under construction and in the pipeline in DC. “The Development Report is the best snapshot that exists on the DC market for both current and planned development which is critical to understand the city’s progress in the economic recovery,” said William Rich, president Delta Associates. “Investors, developers and businesses use the data in this document to make informed decisions for every element of business and economic development.”
WDCEP published the first Development Report in 2002. The report is designed to provide critical market intelligence and analytics to support investment, business and economic development and business and tenant attraction activities across the city. Projects profiled cover every asset class including office, residential, retail, hospitality and investments that are considered quality of life as well as significant redevelopment projects.
Highlights from this year’s report include:
- 71 projects delivered in 2021, representing 9M SF and $4.1B of investment
- 95% job recovery in 2021 for all sectors as compared to 2019 employment level
- 9% commercial office vacancy Q421 (direct vacancy – not including owner occupied properties); 63K SF of net absorption in Q421
- There were 56 groundbreakings in 2021 up from 52 in 2020
- 117 projects were under construction as of 12/31/21, with 23M square feet, with a value of $9.3B
- Residential is the asset class with the largest percentage of development by square feet (14M SF, 15,275 units), followed by office (3.7M SF, 20 projects)
- There were 1,383 new hotel rooms under construction as of 12/31/2021
- There are 450 Projects in the pipleline: 125M SF, valued at $35.7B, scheduled to deliver in the near and long-term.
- Residential projects comprise neary 2/3 of the pipeline ( 300 projects, 60% of the pipeline) followed by 96 office projects (27% of the pipeline).
- The pipeline includes 73,474 new residential units and 6,257 new hotel rooms
- Retail represents 5% of the square footage under construction and 4% of planned projects.
Background: A 501(c)(3) organization, the Washington, DC Economic Partnership promotes business opportunities throughout the District and contributes to business retention and attraction activities. WDCEP is the first point of access for real estate and corporate executives seeking market and demographic information, information about the city and incentives, and real estate investment. WDCEP publishes several reports on the market including the DC Development Report and the Neighborhood Profiles. For more information visit www.wdcep.com
The DC Development Report is a summary of the major development and construction projects in the District of Columbia. WDCEP tracks major developments throughout the year and performs an annual “development census” in the month of December. This involves soliciting contributions from more than 80 developers, architects, contractors, and economic development organizations to provide updates to more than 300 projects. While our database of projects is constantly being updated, for the purposes of this publication all data reflect project status, design, and information as of December 2021. Although every attempt was made to ensure the quality of the information contained in this document, WDCEP and Delta Associates make no warranty or guarantee as to its accuracy, completeness, or usefulness for any given purpose.
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