INDUSTRIAL LAND IN A POST-INDUSTRIAL CITY District of ...

District of Columbia Industrial Areas Study DC Office of Planning
Prepared by Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc.
percentages do not total to 100 percent due to the failure by some respondents to fully answer the
question, or to enter percentages that total to 100 percent. The results are shown in Table 5-3, and
indicate that the average PDR user would prefer to utilize 23 percent of their building’s floor area for
industrial use, 37 percent for warehousing, and 19 percent for offices.
Type of Space
Table 6.3: Uses of Space
Proportion of
space in
respondent’s
buildings
- 170 -
Estimated
proportion of
space
adjusted by
building size
Industrial 22.5% 24.0%
Flex/R&D 2.0% 2.2%
Warehouse 37.4% 43.7%
Showroom 4.1% 1.0%
Office 19.1% 14.7%
Manufacturing 8.2% 14.4%
Totals 93.4% 100.0%
The above analysis does not account for the fact that some respondents have large buildings, while
others have small buildings. All but three respondents to this question also answered a question asking
about their building size. Using the midpoints of these categories, an estimate of the percentage of
space across the respondent pool used for various uses was developed. The results are shown in the
third column of Table 5-3. These results show that warehousing is the predominant use of space,
followed by industrial use, with office and manufacturing tied at about 14 percent apiece.
Respondents generally have modest parking needs. Forty percent need fewer than 10 parking spaces,
while another 33 percent need 50 or fewer spaces. A small percentage, however, have significant
parking needs, as shown in Chart 5-3.
One-story buildings are the preferred building typology for 50 percent of respondents. Another 37
percent desire a two-story buildings. Only a few would prefer a building or 3 or more stories.
6.5.4 IMPORTANCE AND ADVANTAGE OF A DC LOCATION
DC’s PDR businesses are often hemmed in at their current location. A majority—55 percent—are
unable to assemble land for expansion, and only 10 percent were able to affirm that they could
assemble additional land. However, the responding businesses appear to believe that their current
location provides significant advantages. For example, nearly three-quarters (74 percent) agreed that
their access and proximity to DC customers is advantageous, while only 4 percent disagreed with this