After ceding ground to upstart neighborhoods, one of the oldest retail destinations in D.C. has mounted a comeback. Georgetown has seen retail vacancy fall by 7 percentage points since it peaked at 20% in the spring of 2021, according to Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors. The submarket has roughly 1.6M SF of total retail space. Direct-to-consumer brands and […]

Retail vacancies have begun to come down from their pandemic highs across the Metropolitan Washington region, but not in Downtown D.C. The District’s central business district’s vacancy has risen from 6.6% in winter 2020 to 20.7% this summer, according to new research by retail advisory firm Dochter & Alexander. The East End‘s vacancy rose from 9.2% to 21.2%. Combined, there […]

Certain areas of the city are recovering more swiftly. While downtown and other office-heavy districts remain soft, the 14th Street corridor continues to be an active place, said Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors principal and co-founder Dave Dochter.But within those submarkets lie further particularities, Dochter said. “Is it a well-positioned corner with good ceiling heights and […]

A rebooted version of what Alexandria’s Carlyle Club was meant to be is coming to downtown D.C. Owner Brennan Reilly has leased the 12,000-square-foot former Pennsylvania 6 restaurant at 1350 Eye St. NW, where he’s working on plans for a pair of concepts, event venue Carlyle Room and Brennan’s Bar. It’ll be a return to […]

Washington D.C. is getting into the esports game. Gallery Place, a 660,000-square-foot power center in Downtown D.C., is adding District E Powered by Ticketmaster, a 14,000-square-foot live theater under the Monumental Sports & Entertainment banner…

Amazon Fresh is open for business in the D.C. region. The first of Amazon.com Inc.’s full-size branded grocery stores in Greater Washington opened its doors Thursday morning to a crowd of more than 300 who started showing up around 4:30 a.m. They were greeted by green-and-white balloons, security directing motorists in the parking lot, music playing from […]

Amazon has opened the first location of its grocery store concept in the D.C. area, with several more in the works. Customers lined up as early as 4 a.m. Thursday for the opening of the Amazon Fresh store in Franconia, Virginia, NBC Washington reported. The 30K SF store features a selection of grocery items and prepared foods, and it has technology that […]

Online mattress retailer Saatva has struck a deal to open its first local bricks-and-mortar retail store along D.C.’s 14th Street corridor, part of a larger physical presence for the New York e-commerce company founded a decade ago. The company has signed a full-building lease at 1714 14th St. NW, a mixed-use development by Coba Properties […]

Washington, D.C.-based Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors recently conducted a comprehensive overview of retail units in Downtown D.C. and along the high-street retail corridors, including Georgetown and 14th Street, examining the pandemic’s impact on the retail sector.  Its findings showed vacancy rates of 22.6 percent for Downtown D.C., 16.6 percent for Georgetown, and 11.0 percent for […]

Many restaurants in D.C. and across the country have been paying little to no rent over the last 14 months as the pandemic has depressed their sales. Now, with the warm weather and vaccinations bringing more customers, and with cities like the District lifting their capacity restrictions, restaurants will soon have larger bills to pay. But the difficulty […]

The D.C.-area retail market has suffered from rising vacancy during the coronavirus pandemic, but a new report shows a surge in prospective tenants that could begin to fill that space. Eighty-six retail operators began seeking D.C.-area space in the first three months of the year, followed by another 45 tenants in April, a significant increase […]

Houstonians won’t find “regular” ice cream at Van Leeuwen Ice Cream. When the Brooklyn-based producer opens its first Houston location in Rice Village this Saturday, May 8, they’ll find every pint is labeled “French ice cream.”..

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many businesses across Greater Washington and the country to close up shop, leading to a fast-changing dynamic when it comes to retail space. Before the pandemic, there was a 6.9% vacancy rate among 22 million square feet of high street retail in the region, according to research from Dochter & […]

The man at least partially responsible for sweetgreen’s growth into a nationally recognized brand is now looking to do the same for other companies and he’s teaming up with a local retail heavyweight to do it.

Principals of Dochter & Alexander recognized in Washington Business Journal Power 100 List. David Dochter & Matthew Alexander sited for their work progressing retail real estate in the Washington DC region.

The H Street corridor emerged this decade as one of D.C.’s hottest restaurant corridors, but its neighbor to the north appears to be pulling away some of that momentum. Union Market’s restaurant scene has exploded…

A New York City wine bar company has chosen to expand to D.C. with a 14th Street location, and it has a nose for future growth.  Vin Sur Vingt signed a 2,200 SF lease at 1529 14th St. NW, where it will replace…

JPMorgan Chase & Co. rolled out a massive retail banking expansion in the Washington area last year with a blitz of marketing, including roving Chase-branded food trucks with free snacks. The financial juggernaut’s plans for the D.C. region are just as ambitious…

The affluent D.C. region has weathered the storm of retail closings better than many parts of the country, but the continued construction of new retail space as part of mixed-use developments has made the market more challenging for landlords…

MacNac Hospitality is shuttering A-Town Bar & Grill and replacing the popular Arlington, Va. watering hole with a new German beer hall-themed bar called Bronson, according to a press release from MacNac…

Developers in D.C. increasingly see restaurants as a vital amenity for mixed-use projects, and with so many developments under construction across the city, the competition to lure the…

Sometimes, the key to a successful retail venture is a bright, shiny screen. At least, that’s what AT&T is hoping. Earlier this year, AT&T undertook a renovation of its flagship in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown to include the installation of two new 90-inch televisions visible in the storefront.    

Population and employment growth are fueling retail investment across Washington, D.C., in new and rejuvenated mixed-use neighborhoods along waterfronts, near Washington metro transit stations and close to downtown. “Aside from New York’s renaissance starting in the early ’90s, there is no renaissance…

The major retail development at the heart of D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood has landed two new tenants. Old Navy signed on for 11,800 SF in the former Children’s Place storefront at DC USA and JPMorgan Chase signed a 3K SF lease…

Tapas spot and wine bar Boqueria is expanding its D.C. holdings with a second location planned for the former Oya space at 799 Ninth St. NW, according to the landlord, Brookfield Properties. The Spanish restaurant is filling space that has been vacant for nearly two years.  It was home for several years to….

Brookland could soon be getting a new beer garden, café, small-format grocer and multiple restaurants. Development firm Miller is looking to renovate and bring in a new tenant mix to the eight adjacent retail storefronts it owns at 12th and Monroe streets NE, one of Brookland’s…

Comcast has jumped into the experiential retail trend with two openings of its Studio Xfinity concept, a move Comcast representatives and retail experts say is aimed at repairing the often-criticized company’s image rather than bringing in sales.

D.C.’s wave of development and new restaurant openings is spreading northeast along Rhode Island Avenue and through Brookland, but the Northeast D.C. neighborhood some see as the next hot area is facing some strong headwinds….

Rockwood, the casual restaurant Northern Virginia chef and serial sports bar creator Mike Cordero plans to stock with chicken fritters and red velvet milkshakes, is now scheduled to open by mid-April at the Virginia Gateway shopping complex in Gainesville, Virginia…

Rising retail rents on Georgetown’s M Street corridor have made it more challenging for restaurants to stay open, causing the neighborhood’s dining scene to shrink as more restaurateurs look to the city’s emerging neighborhoods. Three full-service restaurants…

Rumble Fitness, a boutique fitness concept that offers group boxing classes, is making its way into the D.C. area. The group has signed for a 6,000-square-foot studio at 2001 M St. NW, a newly renovated office building at the corner of 20th and M streets NW owned by Brookfield Property Partners. Dochter & Alexander…

Usually, when David Dochter and Matthew Alexander appear in the pages of the Washington Business Journal, it’s to note their role in the brokering of a notable retail lease. They are, after all, Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors. On this day, they appear for a different reason:

Shoppers strolling the narrow sidewalks of Georgetown this holiday season may notice a bunch of new stores opened up seemingly overnight, thanks to a handful of pop-ups in prominent retail spaces along M Street NW. The pop-ups are the latest effort by EastBanc Inc., Jamestown LP and Acadia Realty Trust…

Whether you’re looking for something to distract your kids or yourself as the temperature turns chilly, you have a lot more options these days than a boring old movie or bowling…

New concepts combining food and beverage with entertainment are popping up all over the D.C. area, and at least three such brands are looking for space to enter the market for the first time. AceBounce, a brand founded…

The sidewalks of Chinatown‘s Seventh Street corridor, anchored by the newly renamed Capital One Arena, are filled with people day and night. Despite the foot traffic, several older struggling brands have been…

Joe & The Juice, a hip juice bar and cafe out of Denmark, will open its first D.C. store at 1500 K St. NW, and is in talks for at least two other locations in the District. A spokesman for Joe & the Juice confirmed that the location, in a former CVS at 15th and […]

The chains are coming for D.C.’s busiest restaurant corridor: Smoothie King will open on 14th Street NW. The juice and smoothie-focused chain is finalizing a lease for 1522 14th St. NW, according to Chad Tramuta, franchise development manager for Smoothie King…

Capital One Financial Corp. will open two Capital One Cafe locations in D.C., bringing the combination bank, eatery and co-working concept to the company’s home market for the…

Washington is quickly becoming a waterfront city, with new buzzy developments drawing consumers and office tenants to Capitol Riverfront and soon to The Wharf. But despite the rise of…

Sagamore Development has sold its building at the corner of Wisconsin and M streets NW to Capital One NA (NYSE: COF) for a whopping $50.2 million. The Baltimore-based development arm of Under Armour founder Kevin Plank’s empire bought the building back in 2014 for a reported $12.2 million, though deed records are…

If you don’t know their names yet, don’t worry. You will. The members of the Washington Business Journal’s 2017 40 Under 40 class are already making a mark on Greater Washington.Don’t let the ages fool you; these are no rookies. Each honoree is a standout in their sector, climbing the ranks while still finding time […]

The way people work out is changing drastically. Whether people are hopping into their office fitness centers before work, taking a late-night trip down to the gym in their apartment building or going to an afternoon SoulCycle class, the health-conscious have fitness options all around them.

The three-story building at Wisconsin and M streets NW, the longtime home of Nathan’s restaurant, and an adjacent building just hit the market. David Dochter and Matt Alexander of Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors were tapped as leasing agents two weeks ago. A company affiliated with Kevin Plank’s brother, Scott Plank, bought the building at […]

The top commercial real estate brokers in the DC region were honored at CREBA’s 35th annual awards ceremony last night at The Ritz-Carlton in Foggy Bottom. Washington REIT executive vice president and chief operating officer Tom Bakke took home the Brendan McCarthy Memorial Award. Bakke joined WashREIT in 2014 after spending a year as senior managing director […]

City Tap House, a popular East End restaurant and craft beer bar, is opening its second DC location. The restaurant will move into 1250 Connecticut Ave NW. The restaurant will move into 1250 Connecticut Ave NW, a site currently occupied by STK, which will close on Saturday. City Tap House’s first DC location, at 901 9th St NW, […]

In recent years, DC’s core office market has shifted east as the East End and other emerging submarkets have blossomed. As this shift takes place, DC’s exploding restaurant scene has also tracked east, often leading the way for new development. One of the clearest ways to see this shift is by looking at the Michelin Guide.

The warehouse, once home Congressional Record printer National Capital Press Co., is envisioned as the retail hub for a larger mixed-use project Foulger-Pratt plans at the site, which will include two residential buildings and hotel…

Bethesda fans of Georgetown’s unique retail options soon won’t have to leave home for a taste of the grocery market’s uppermost crust.  Dean & Deluca will open its second DC-area gourmet food market in a three-floor, 14k SF space at JBG’s 4749 Bethesda Ave in 2017. Dochter & Alexander Retail represents…

Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors has been tracking the pedestrian flow of DC’s major shopping and restaurant streets.  Retail can’t survive without customers, so  the team has been diligently monitoring and analyzing pedestrian patterns 24/7 over the past 12 months.

Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors released its newest market report highlighting key retail market stats and trends across 16 submarkets. Here are some things to know before ICSC: The East End, M Street in Georgetown, and Downtown Silver Spring were big retail winners this past quarter, with strong leasing activity.

Earth Trek’s 45,000 square foot indoor rock climbing facility adds another layer to Crystal City. Since 2014, Vornado Realty Trust has worked to transform Arlington’s Crystal City into lively hub of new eateries, startup businesses and fitness activities aimed at attracting millennials. The latest addition…

REI flasgship in D.C. is a top real estate deal of 2015. Outdoors outfitter REI wasn’t even planning to open one of its rare flagship stores in the District when it set out on a D.C. real estate search more than three years ago. It was thinking of doing something perhaps a little larger than […]

The experience of going to a crummy old movie theater and choosing between giant sodas and giant candies hasn’t exactly helped to stem the tide of movie watchers preferring to stay home to catch a flick. But developers are banking that a far better moviegoing experience will help reverse the trend…

Last night, CREBA held its 34th annual awards ceremony at the Capital Hilton in downtown DC. Especially when the night’s big winner, Cushman & Wakefield vice chairman Spencer Stouffer, took home the Brendan McCarthy Memorial Award. Spencer is a four-time CREBA top broker winner for NoVa—including this…

It’s official: Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th is coming to 555 12th St. NW, joining a fellow discount luxury offering, Nordstrom Rack. Dave Dochter of Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors confirmed Saks will take a little less than 34,000 square feet in the building, most of which was formerly home to ESPNZone…

Since branching off from Cushman & Wakefield to launch their own retail brokerage firm—Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors—Dave Dochter (right) and Matt Alexander (left) have signed several new deals—including REI to Pike & Rose in Rockville and Uline Arena…

While no one has a crystal ball, it doesn’t stop us from trying to predict the future. Just for fun, let’s go over a handful of real estate forecasts made last year by leading commercial real estate firms and experts and see how things actually panned out. Prediction: There will be no…

You don’t have to look far to find a developer that’s decided it’s time to give up on the mall business.Owners of a string of local malls decided it’s time to go in another direction in recent years as big box stores and online shopping ate away at their base of shoppers…

While the multifamily and office markets are both making plenty of noise, no market in DC has been as consistently excellent over the past handful of years than retail and food. That’s why we’re excited to present our DC Restaurant and Retail event on Oct. 27 at the historic Howard Theatre…

Big box bookseller Barnes & Noble will close its last bookstore not on a college campus in D.C. come winter, when it shutters its store at 11th and E streets NW.The 32,000-square-foot store follows the closures of several other large bookstores in the District in recent years: Barnes & Noble’s Georgetown store…

Popular outdoors outfitter REI will open a 35,000-square-foot store at Pike & Rose, the new mixed-use development from Federal Realty on Rockville Pike at Montrose Parkway. The store will be a relocation: REI will move its existing Rockville store at 1701 Rockville Pike to Pike & Rose…

We spent the last week at the Citi Open tennis tournament. Here, the best photos from a super fun week. At the semi-finals: EagleBank EVP Larry Bensignor with his wife, Fern, and Linowes and Blocher partner Rich Zeidman with his wife, Nancy. Who knew DC could have such perfect weather…

We’ve already had a lot of Shaw restaurant and retail news lately, and we’ll keep on adding fuel to that red-hot restaurant neighborhood fire with some more: three new restaurant concepts have signed on to The Colonel, a residential development at 1250 Ninth St. NW…

Retail brokers Dave Dochter and Matt Alexander are no longer with Cushman & Wakefield and plan to launch their own brokerage, Dochter confirmed Friday. The pair — who worked together at Cushman the past five years…

When one of America’s five biggest REI stores (out of 140) announced recently it would take 51k SF in NoMa’s Uline Arena, it didn’t happen by magic. Behind the scenes was a machine. Or more precisely, the Cushman & Wakefield retail group led by Matt Alexander, left, and Dave Dochter…

Cierra Dorsey has “good memories” of the mall where she dragged teenager but now prefers, like other Americans, shopping elsewhere: the “shopping mall” traditional symbol of consumption in the 1960s, has more booming in the United States…

Cierra Dorsey has happy memories of hanging out at the mall as a teenage girl, an adolescent rite of passage under threat in parts of the US as old-fashioned malls close their doors. While high-end malls thrive…

Dorsey has “good memories” of the mall where walking in his teens, but now prefers like other Americans, do their shopping elsewhere: the traditional shopping mall…

Cierra Dorsey has happy memories of hanging out at the mall as a teenage girl, an adolescent rite of passage under threat in parts of the US as old-fashioned malls close their doors. While high-end malls thrive…

Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Stephen Strasburg and Wilson Ramos. Developers and restaurants. One of those partnerships might seem not like the others, but as we heard yesterday at our 4th annual DC Restaurant Development Summit…

The days of limited watering holes in Arlington’s Rosslyn neighborhood are coming to a close, it seems. The latest in a string of new spots, from Heavy Seas Alehouse to the forthcoming Bistro 360, will be Sip Wine Tasting and Tapas Restaurant…

A lawyer leaves a deposition and pops into Tumi for new carry-on luggage ($680). A tourist ducks out of the rain and treats herself to a classic trench coat from Burberry ($1,695). Two conventioneers skip the plenary session…

Elaine Chon-Baker is sitting at the mafia table, and everyone is treating her like the boss. “You get one of my favorite cocktails of all time—not on the menu,” says bartender Steve Oshana as he approaches the secluded corner of Arlington restaurant Water & Wall, where we’re…

Cushman & Wakefield’s David Dochter, 34, manages a $500 million portfolio and is helping make Washington a bustling retail center with projects like the massive mixed-use CityCenter…

Last night at the Fairmont Hotel, CREBA celebrated the best in the brokerage biz at its 32nd annual real estate awards. Retail Agents of the Year: David Dochter and Matt Alexander…

Petworth and Georgia Ave are ascendant, and unconventional uses for retail spaces are becoming more common, according to the panelists at a Thursday morning event…

The last space previously occupied by a Filene’s Basement in the District has been filled: Fashion retailer H&M will take over the 28,000-square-foot store at 1133 Connecticut Ave. NW. I’d been hearing H&M….

Cushman & Wakefield announced today that Ellin & Tucker, a leading CPA firm specializing in accounting, auditing and tax services, will relocate its Baltimore headquarters office from 25,418 square feet in 100 South Charles Street to 400 East Pratt Street…

The tycoon Herbert S. Miller developed his real estate the old-fashioned way: He built it. (Think Gallery Place, Georgetown Park and Washington Harbour.) His sons, Ben and Dan Miller, have taken a decidedly modern approach to the family business…

A conversation on a long ski lift in Park City, Utah, is what got Dochter, 32, interested in commercial real estate. But the door-to-door salesman learned quickly how hard it is to break into the business. He was initially rejected by Cushman & Wakefield in New York

When it comes to attracting high-end retail to D.C., Connecticut Avenue doesn’t want to be left behind. The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District is implementing a new strategy to draw independent retailers