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.
interviews with individual brokers and leasing agents active in DC and knowledgeable
about local market conditions.
Economic analysis. In order to understand the role that PDR business play in the
District economy, an economic analysis was undertaken. Tasks included a sector
employment analysis for PDR industries; interviews with businesses, economic
development professionals, and others; and an investigation of backward linkages from
DC’s core sectors to PDR sectors. A key question has been the importance of certain
PDR support services being located within the District, near to their customer base. The
industrial users survey, the interviews, and secondary data sources such as the national
input-output accounts, were used to inform these issues.
Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). Municipal/government/utility facility and space
needs merited a veritable “study within a study”. At the heart of this process was a
Technical Advisory Committee comprised of representatives of District agencies, the
Federal Government, and public authorities such as the Washington Metropolitan Area
Transit Authority (WMATA) and Washington Area Sewer Authority (WASA). The purpose
of the TAC has been to identify pressing needs; brainstorm solutions; and test
recommendations for addressing the identified needs.
Case studies and best practices. A number of relevant case studies from other cities,
many identified by the Office of Planning, were reviewed as a part of this report.
Summaries of these case studies appear in the relevant sections. The case studies
included sample industrial land studies, industrial retention strategies, zoning strategies,
and municipal facilities best practices.
Potential zone change criteria. In response to a request from the Office of Planning, a
preliminary set of criteria were developed to provide interim advice to the Zoning
Commission regarding petitions for a change of zone affecting an industrial area.
Originally conceived of as criteria for determining the appropriateness of a zone change,
they later evolved into criteria for determining the appropriateness of considering a zone
change. These preliminary criteria have been further refined and appear in the Chapter 4
of this report.
The report’s land use recommendations followed a clear logical path—they were not made
arbitrarily or without great deliberation. The field work and mapping, TAC, users survey, and
economic analysis helped determine the District’s future “heavy” land use needs. Then, the
sub-area analyses helped us determine which areas were suitable for PDR use. Based on
the specific site characteristics and market factors, we then determined whether suitable
sites were better for public or private uses. Figure 1.1 shows how the technical and
analytical analyses contributed to the recommendations.
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