Georgetown is home to lobbyists and politicians, high-end shops and restaurants, and to the University that shares its name. Georgetown is one of Washington, DC’s oldest and most prestigious neighborhoods with waterfront real estate. Despite all this, Georgetown has struggled in recent years to adapt to changing trends and competition from other submarkets in DC.

Lack of metro access combined with excessively high retail rates have led to negative net absorption over the past 3 years, this despite no supply-side pressure. Historic preservation groups make it extremely difficult to build in Georgetown evidenced by the fact that there has not been a new delivery here since 2006 nor are there any scheduled for the next 2 years. The majority of Georgetown’s office inventory is within a quarter mile of the intersection of Wisconsin and M, is roughly 4,100 square feet, and was built in the early 1900s.

Rents in Georgetown are among the highest in the DC metro area at around $50 per square foot but finally saw an end to their roughly 3% annual growth from 2014-2017 and were negative in 2018. This trend may continue as landlords attempt to backfill recent vacancies.

For detailed information on the Georgetown submarket please contact Ryan Rauner, CCIM at Ryan@RealMarkets.com.