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Why is DC so under-retailed? This is one of the most affluent cities in the country based on per capita income, yet all over the city, there seems to be empty retail spaces. I'm continually shocked at how many empty stores there are in downtown. Even the eagerly-awaited CityCenter is almost completely built, and to my knowledge, there have been no major retail announcements, leading me to believe that the developers have been unable to attract high-caliber retailers to the center. And it's not just downtown. Look at Navy Yard, which despite all the new construction and expensive housing still has empty retail spaces abound. I always hear the argument that the rent is too high, but cities like New York and San Francisco have thriving retail even in with high rents. Further, isn't rent driven by supply and demand? If there's a high number of vacant storefronts, then you'd expect that rents would fall, but that doesn't seem to have happened here. Another argument is that poor neighborhoods are not good marketplaces, but poor people shop too, and even in places like the Bronx, there is tons of retail everywhere. So why are we so under-retailed?
Probably because more wealthy people in the region live in the suburbs of VA & they are served by Tysons Mall which has several high end retailers. Maybe they see no need to move into the city that has less rich people when they are doing fine in Tysons.
DC will be even more under-retailed once Metro's Silver Line is complete. This will lead more shoppers into Tysons Corner, causing many DC retailors to lose money & shut-down!
Location: YOU are NOT a Washingtonian. YOU are a GENTRIFIER from the CVS, Whole Foods, Starbucks & Condos era.
367 posts, read 642,279 times
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Originally Posted by Curbed Enthusiasm
Why is DC so under-retailed? This is one of the most affluent cities in the country based on per capita income, yet all over the city, there seems to be empty retail spaces. I'm continually shocked at how many empty stores there are in downtown. Even the eagerly-awaited CityCenter is almost completely built, and to my knowledge, there have been no major retail announcements, leading me to believe that the developers have been unable to attract high-caliber retailers to the center. And it's not just downtown. Look at Navy Yard, which despite all the new construction and expensive housing still has empty retail spaces abound. I always hear the argument that the rent is too high, but cities like New York and San Francisco have thriving retail even in with high rents. Further, isn't rent driven by supply and demand? If there's a high number of vacant storefronts, then you'd expect that rents would fall, but that doesn't seem to have happened here. Another argument is that poor neighborhoods are not good marketplaces, but poor people shop too, and even in places like the Bronx, there is tons of retail everywhere. So why are we so under-retailed?
You do realize things were not always this way right?
Block after block DC used to be filled with every single type of retail that you can imagine.
I personally believe those days could return but store rents are too high and not worth the risk to many smaller retailers.
So ultimately who is going to occupy many of those vacant storefronts?
Probably more CVS, Starbucks & Whole Foods stores.
DC's sales tax is lower than VA. It's 5.75% in DC and 6% in VA.
Depends on where you shop in VA. The sales tax set by the state i 5.3% (4.3% goes to the state, 1% goes to the local towns) and then in some NoVa localities there is a .7% tax added on, making 6% the absolute maximum. The .7% was just added on last year too and a lot of people don't know about it. But very few areas of NoVa actually have the 6% sales tax. So in most areas of VA it is 5.3%
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