$50B of development in Washington, DC's pipeline

Dive Brief:

The Washington, D.C. Economic Partnership has issued its latest report on the state of construction projects completed, in progress or on the way in the District of Columbia, and, according to an analysis by Bisnow, the district is looking at a development pipeline of $50 billion.
In a breakdown of construction and development activity, WDCEP estimated that 2018 will see groundbreakings totaling 10 million square feet, which is the 10-year average in the district. Residential projects account for most of the development, but office space is No. 2, with 31 projects totaling 6.2 million square feet under construction. There are 15 hospitality projects under construction, and those total 1.8 million square feet. Retail is also booming in the district with 1.5 million square feet underway. Projects not yet under construction total 124 million square feet and $38.4 billion.
The developer with the most projects in the area is JBG Smith, the development partner for Amazon’s $2.5 billion National Landing (Arlington County, Virginia) headquarters. JBG has completed 18 projects since 2013, has five under construction and has 10 more to come. Clark Construction leads the pack of district contractors with 56 projects, followed by Hamel Builders, Whiting-Turner, Grunley Construction and Turner Construction.

Dive Insight:

The WDCEP report did not include the Amazon project in JBG Smith’s numbers because the project, while still in the D.C. Metro area, is in a Virginia suburb. Amazon will lease about 500,000 square feet of office space from JBG Smith and has agreed to purchase several parcels that will see 4.1 million square feet of development, with the option to expand to 8 million square feet.

Amazon is already in the pre-construction phase for its first office building, with construction expected to start in 2019. JBG controls 7.4 million square feet of additional development space, excluding the land Amazon has said it will buy.

A major feature of the new Amazon headquarters in Virginia is the 130,000-square-foot Central District Retail, an entertainment and shopping development that will include a 49,000-square-foot Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a specialty grocer, restaurants, bars and experience-based retail stores. Central District Retail is expected to start construction before the end of this year.

The biggest office project going on right now in the district, however, is the $1.2 billion second phase of The Wharf, which will feature 547,000 square feet of office space. The first phase of the project features Pier 4, the first pier-top office building in the city. The 28,000-square-foot building is next to a 3.5-acre park and extends 260 feet over the water.