NEWS

Washington Property Company (WPC) of Bethesda, MD leased 168,000 square feet of commercial property during 2020 throughout its Washington, DC metropolitan area portfolio. More than 60 percent of those leases were inked in the fourth quarter in an unanticipated uptick despite the pandemic and economic recession.

“Total leasing for the year was down only about 12 percent from our five-year average,” said Joshua Gurland, WPC’s Senior Vice President of Leasing. “We believe that office tenants are gearing up to get back to whatever ‘normal’ is going to be.”

“As a direct result of the pandemic, we are seeing slowing of the decades-long move to fit more people into smaller spaces,” Gurland continued. “Tenants are still seeking smaller footprints, but are increasing the number of private offices and the sizes of open workstations to create more personal space for workers.”

Gurland attributes WPC’s recent spike in leasing, in part, to the search for value. “Tenants are in shock from the pandemic and are reluctant to commit to rents above $60 per square foot in Class A offices when they can occupy adequate space in well-located Class B and C buildings for half that price.”

WPC also maintained occupancy in its retail properties throughout the year. “While the retail sector has been hit hard by the pandemic, we have experienced net positive absorption in our portfolio,” Gurland noted. “We believe that our success has been due to having well-located properties, a carefully curated tenant mix, and a willingness to work with tenants that experienced short-term cash flow issues as a result of the pandemic.”

WPC leased a total of 123,056 SF in nine Maryland properties, and 45,341 SF in three Virginia properties.

Now in its 16^th year of operation, WPC has developed more than eight million square feet of residential, commercial, retail, and mixed-use space, and has another 1.6 million SF in its development pipeline. In a recent interview, WPC founder Charles K. Nulsen, III said that a strategy of product diversification has been key to the company’s success. In 2010, WPC broke ground for the first of four Solaire-branded luxury apartment towers; a fifth is under construction for delivery next year. Last month, WPC completed its rollout of a new residential management division, nearly doubling the organization’s staff over a short period of time. Under the leadership of Vice President Leslie Catlin, the new division has launched a new integrated digital management platform for Solaire residents, as well as an integrated human resources platform to manage the workplace life cycles for all of WPC’s nearly 100 employees.

Washington Property Company (www.washproperty.com) is a full-service commercial real estate company.  Established by Charles K. Nulsen, III, WPC is involved in a full range of real estate investment services including acquisition, land use, development, property management, leasing, and construction management. WPC has developed more than eight million square feet of residential, commercial, and mixed-use space in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and currently has over 1.6 million residential square feet under development. WPC is actively pursuing office, multi-family, retail, and mixed-use development opportunities throughout the region. Through its management company, WPC Management, LLC, Washington Property Company manages over 1.8 million square feet of commercial space.