Exclusive: Online retailer signs 14th Street lease — a bright spot in D.C.’s challenged retail market
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 between R and S streets NW that also includes residential and office space. Saatva was picked over a larger pool of retail and restaurateur prospects for a number of reasons, including its willingness to lease all of the building’s nearly 6,000 square feet, split across two levels, said Dave Dochter, a principal with Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors, who was part of the team marketing the space to prospective tenants.
Q&A: Retail Adviser David Dochter Talks COVID Impact on Downtown DC
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 14th Street. When compared to its pre-COVID winter of 2020 numbers, these numbers have just about doubled in all three markets.
Rent Payments Loom For Restaurants As Capacity Restrictions Lift
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 of hiring back staff and the uncertainty of whether people are comfortable enough to crowd into restaurants could make it difficult for restaurants to pay the rents their landlords will soon demand.
D.C’s Retail Market Heating Up With Over 120 New Tenants Searching For Space
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 in activity from last year, Dochter & Alexander Retail Advisors‘ spring D.C. retail market report found….
Brooklyn-based ice cream shop opens first Houston location this weekend with 2 tastes Texans love
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 pandemic is freeing up more D.C. – area retail space. What, if anything, is looking to fill these notable vacancies?
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 & Alexander Retail Advisors. That figure has jumped to 15.8%…
Dochter & Alexander hires former sweetgreen head of real estate, launches new advisory group
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.
WBJ Power 100 Class of 2019: Dochter & Alexander
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.
H Street Losing Retail Momentum To Union Market, But New Projects Could Bring It Back
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…
Wine Bar Concept Expanding to DC With First Location Outside of New York
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 in Anacostia
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…
With 1M SF Of Retail Under Construction, D.C. Landlords Forced To Get Competitive
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…
German Beer Hall-Themed Bar Replacing A-Town Bar & Grill in Arlington, Va.
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…
Concessions For D.C. Restaurants On The Rise As Developers Compete For Top Chefs
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…
DC Retail Is All About Hanging Out
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.
Washington, D.C., is seeing a resurgence of retail
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…
Old Navy, JPMorgan Chase Sign On At DC USA In Columbia Heights
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…
Boqueria opening a second location in D.C.
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….
Prime Brookland Retail Corner Aims To Bring In Beer Garden, Restaurants, Small Grocer
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…
Mocha And Minions: Inside Comcast’s Attempt To Revive Its Image Through Retail
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.
Northeast D.C.’s Next Hot Neighborhood Could Be Cooled Down By Appeals
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….
Prolific Sports Bar Developer’s Westernmost Eatery Arrives Next Month
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…
No Longer The Only Game In Town: Georgetown Dining Scene Struggles As City Spreads Out
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…
Another boutique fitness concept is punching its way into D.C.
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…
Dochter and Alexander buy into the 14th Street corridor
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: