As your neighbor, I agree. This seems to be a unifying proposition for the residents and businesses in our neighborhood, but I am not sure it will mean much. I would like to know what the actual difference in tax revenue would be for the city.
Yeah DC is certainly lacking in the sterile office building environments. There's no better way to add vibrancy to a neighborhood than by bringing in the 9 to 5ers.
Funny you should say that. On my flight tonight, I was reading Jane Jacob's Death and Life of Great American Cities, a pivotal book in the history of urban planning. One of the things she hammered home most is that great neighborhoods HAVE to have a diversity of uses, that have people out and about at all times of day. From the comments, an office that brings people into the area from 9 to 5 is EXACTLY what the area needs, to complement the primary uses already in place.
No, I'm all for the stadium. I just don't see why the city cant stipulate that the Reeves center doesnt just turn into more luxury apartments (which seems to cause rent to rise for all of the rest of us) or more bars. We have that covered as is, I want more actual offices located in the neighborhood. And for the New Yorker that asked what's wrong with AdMo--Nothing, I guess if you're a crazy college kid that is comfortable walking through vomit every morning and the all to frequent incidents of petty crime in that neighborhood.
Umm ... I no longer live there but I was a long time resident of that neighborhood. Sorry but I'm allowed to not like office buildings. It's one of the features I loved most about U street. A totally urban city street with no suits. And really no buildings with a profile of above around 4 levels. I could do with fewer luxury condos too though. But if I still lived there I'd be excited about more mixed retail/nightlife use on the ground level. If luxury condos are an inevitability I've always been a fan of a 20% low income unit mandate for the developer.
That's reasonable, and I can understand why you don't like it. But those businesses in the area don't survive overly well on just a few hours each day. The important part is not the offices themselves, but the ability for the businesses to get business throughout the day. The 9 to 5 crowd brings in more business just before and after work, as well as at lunch time.
Interesting that you say this because it hasn't stopped restaurants from continuing to open on 14th street like there is no tomorrow.
I'll confess I know exactly nothing about the area. But from the article linked earlier: I wonder if they could do something with street level retail, middle floors offices, top floors luxury condos? I wonder if that would make everyone happy. Edit: And, even if restaurants keep opening, I suspect the need for more spread of business will start forcing some to close.
You don't have to know anything about the area, the simple fact is that businesses of any type prefer less competition to more competition. While normally restaurants can't prevent others from moving into an area, since the building is city owned they have a chance. A candidate for mayor who owns restaurants about a block away has also come out against the swap.
But it isn't the additional restaurants that they are worried about. They are complaining about the condos. About something that theoretically will bring them more business. That should be a clue that their concerns are real.
I don't think any multi-unit housing in the area has been built without ground-level retail (which means restaurants) on any of the commercial streets in the area.
The DC office market is pretty soft these days. Long term there's probably too much office space in the District, because businesses and the government are reducing their per employee square foot needs. On the other hand, DC isn't building enough housing to keep up with population growth, which is one of the reasons why housing costs are going up here. And I'm kind of stumped why you would think building more housing leads to an increase in housing costs.
The businesses on U Street do very, very well. DC has one of the lowest retail vacancy rates in the country, and U Street has one of the lowest vacancy rates in the District. The boom on U Street (and the resulting high rents) have driven to the expansion of retail up 14th Street as well over on H Street. These restaurants want more daytime business, and that's fine. But more office space isn't really something we need here.
If restaurants are such a drag why not a grocery store? I'd loooove a Trader Joe's there. There's some competition in the greater area but really nothing on U St or 14th between P and Columbia Heights. Could have a nice following IMO. Also maybe an Apple Store. Apple has to do enough business in DC to expand beyond the Georgetown location. Anyways the developer is free to negotiate with his potential anchor tenants. Partnering with a popular retailer probably does more for the property value that a bunch of locally owned bars and restaurants.
And that bringing in more office space without more housing somehow wouldn't. Those people gotta live somewhere, and I doubt everyone working in an area with only surface street access is commuting in from Rockville.
Gray officials propose forgoing taxes for DC United stadium in exchange for revenue cut Washington Post
Isn't there already debate on putting a Trader Joe's or something similar on Florida Ave across the street from Duffy's?
I dunno ... not living there I'm out of the loop. Just spent a few weeks in DC but I was mostly busy stuffing Ethiopian food in my face, chugging Yuengling and main lining Berger cookies ... all stuff that's hard to find in Minnesota ... and of course soaking up the tropical 40 degree weather. Either way a large-ish trendy retailer at 14th & U would be a nice addition to the neighborhood. Trendy retailers do more for potential property values for the developer than bars I would think.
I do PR and am no expert on commercial real estate so I have no way of rebutting you regarding DCs current office space availability. Nevertheless, I just find it hard to believe that with all of the organizations in this area that there is zero demand for more office space. As for rent, it may be counter-intuitive and I have no way of proving this statement, but the more luxury condos that get built here, the more popular the area seems to become. The more popular the area becomes, the more demand there seems to be for apartments here. Additionally, the more high priced apartments in the area, the more the median rent for the area rises, the more the rent rises for the rest of us. That's what I feel like I'm observing.
Sure, new office lease get signed all the time. But, by all indications, there's no real need for new office buildings in the District. There is enough vacant space for the foreseeable future, and the way office tenants will use their space in the future means a lower square foot per employee ratio in the future. You're mixing up cause with effect. Developers are building condos and apartment buildings because there is a demand for housing in the District. The reason rents are increasing is because developers aren't building enough new housing to meet the rising demand. There's no evidence that the District's population growth is going to stop any time soon. We either build more housing to accommodate those people, or we'll see rents keep going.