Downtown DC is a storefront ghost

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a big market for small cheap apartments in downtown DC. Well designed studios with plenty of built-ins of 300 sq feet that rent for $1500/month would be snapped up by tons of biz travelers, Hill interns, WB and IMF staff on short-term contracts, US and diplomatic staff on TDYs, someone who wants a pied-a-terre, etc.

153 of 166 apartments at the Elle at 20th and L - which is scheduled to open this summer (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-large-scale-office-to-residential-conversion-in-dcs-downtown-nears-completion-302085578.html) - are still available. If these apartments don't rent, I wouldn't bank on too many developers undertaking similar conversions.

The building doesn't open until July. No sh#t they are not rented yet.

Did you read the New Yorker article above? It takes the developer 6 months to rent out a converted building. I will expect the same at The Elle, as new people arrive to DC by September.

TBH, the Elle should offer rental of furniture packages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a big market for small cheap apartments in downtown DC. Well designed studios with plenty of built-ins of 300 sq feet that rent for $1500/month would be snapped up by tons of biz travelers, Hill interns, WB and IMF staff on short-term contracts, US and diplomatic staff on TDYs, someone who wants a pied-a-terre, etc.

You people crack me up. Experts in everything apparently.

Residential housing is significantly costlier to build and rents for significantly less per square foot.

Using your example, the worst possible apartment in downtown nets 10x less monthly rent than commercial office space, which averages $50 per sq ft.

The commercial office RE is not coming back. $50/sq foot is done. I am downtown 5 days/week and so many of the buildings and parking garages are dead empty, except for Wednesdays. If you have a current $$$$ office lease and its only bustling on Wednesday, you are looking to permanently downsize.

Better to rip the band aid off and get the land/structure productive again with housing, hotels, etc. No one wants to work in these giant office buildings. The labor market has spoken.

Do the math. Only 10% occupancy of an office building nets the same income as an entire apartment building of equal size and you don’t need to take it off the market for years and pour millions of capital into it for a costly conversion that may not even be practical due to the depth of the floor plate.

The only condition where a conversion makes sense if the the building is fully depreciated and purchased at land/development rights value AND it is a corner building with an appropriately sized floor plate. Everything else is fantasy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad I own a modest row house in DC because I need to know that I'll always be able to afford the property taxes. I think a decade from now the people who own the Milion+ homes are going to feel the pain of property taxes like NY and NJ.

The moaning has already started. This gem was on the ChCh listserv because of the *possibility* of graduated property taxes!

So, let me understand, those of us who bought our homes years ago at was is now considered, way below todays values, in our case 45 years ago, a home we could never afford to buy today! We paid $186,000, the then fair rate, and because the city says it would now be worth over $1,500,000, and we are now retired and on a lower yet steady yet moderate income, we may now be penalized because our property is worth so much more, yet that value could only be realized if our home were to be sold, and we have no interest in selling at this point!

Am I missing something here? Maybe I could see a special tax when our property is sold, but to tax us more now is ridiculous!

Are people trying to drive the seniors who have supported this city through its ups and down out of the city? This will never drive me out but time will tell!

Let’s look for equitable tax sources, this one is insane for long-time owners who have lived in the city for years and with the current crime situation are receiving less!

Oh, you poor, victimized person whose home has increased *at least* 8x in value over 45 years (btw inflation was only about 4x).... /tiny violin.

[Anonymous]

Why do people who never come downtown feel compelled to answer? Metro and many restaurants are busy again. I haven’t been to that stretch of L in a while though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people who never come downtown feel compelled to answer? Metro and many restaurants are busy again. I haven’t been to that stretch of L in a while though.

You talk about downtown like it’s one contiguous place. Some parts are okay and have always been okay. Other parts are not and it’s mainly the parts that we’re struggling before but have gotten worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people who never come downtown feel compelled to answer? Metro and many restaurants are busy again. I haven’t been to that stretch of L in a while though.

So it sounds like you haven't been downtown either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people who never come downtown feel compelled to answer? Metro and many restaurants are busy again. I haven’t been to that stretch of L in a while though.

So it sounds like you haven't been downtown either.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out: storefronts and bricks and mortar stores

In: high density urban living and restaurants / eateries

Out: high density urban living where the last pandemic spread like crazy and the next one will too.

In: living exurban or rural on a big piece of property and working from home.

This is just nonsense. During the pandemic, Montana had the highest death rate for a couple of months. I wondered how people could get covid when your nearest neighbor was miles away.

[Anonymous]

Why do so many homeless people want to be in the downtown city anyway? I’ve often wondered about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people who never come downtown feel compelled to answer? Metro and many restaurants are busy again. I haven’t been to that stretch of L in a while though.

So it sounds like you haven't been downtown either.

3-4 days a week, just not close to that stretch of L.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The tax situation in DC is going to become dire. CRE is the foundation of the services we have come to expect.

What services are there really in DC, besides just funding the vagrant-industrial complex? You go to the suburbs and they have tons more actual communities amenities like rec centers, cultural events, workshops, etc.

Nobody cares about what you have in your suburb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out: storefronts and bricks and mortar stores

In: high density urban living and restaurants / eateries

Out: high density urban living where the last pandemic spread like crazy and the next one will too.

In: living exurban or rural on a big piece of property and working from home.

This is just nonsense. During the pandemic, Montana had the highest death rate for a couple of months. I wondered how people could get covid when your nearest neighbor was miles away.

Nice “urban” legend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do so many homeless people want to be in the downtown city anyway? I’ve often wondered about that.

Free stuff, plus it’s legal to camp anywhere you want in DC, thanks to your radical progressive city council.

Stop complaining. You voted for this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do so many homeless people want to be in the downtown city anyway? I’ve often wondered about that.

Not just downtown, but warmer downtown. You can't live on the street in Potomac, can you? Boston winter would kill you too if you don't have shelter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out: storefronts and bricks and mortar stores

In: high density urban living and restaurants / eateries

Out: high density urban living where the last pandemic spread like crazy and the next one will too.

In: living exurban or rural on a big piece of property and working from home.

This is just nonsense. During the pandemic, Montana had the highest death rate for a couple of months. I wondered how people could get covid when your nearest neighbor was miles away.

Nice “urban” legend.

Just google monthly stats 2020-2021 instead of being lazy.