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.
To better understand these factors, a survey of industrial users was undertaken for this study. A
full summary of the survey results is included as an appendix. Respondents were directly asked
about their relationship with DC customers and the factors that favor a DC location. The
highlights were as follows:
When asked, three-quarters of respondents agreed that their access and proximity to
DC customers is a significant advantage, while only 4 percent disagreed.
A majority of 86 percent still want to be operating in the District five years from now.
A majority of 65 percent achieve half or more of their sales from DC customers. For only
14 percent does this share fall below 25 percent.
Nearly 60 percent agreed that their location in DC is an advantage from the standpoint of
their customers.
Of businesses planning to stay in DC, 38 percent plan to do so due to proximity to their
customers.
Of businesses planning to depart, only 4 percent are doing so because the move will
bring them closer to their customers. Much more important factors for businesses
contemplating a move are the cost of land (19 percent) and taxes (20 percent).
Proximity to their customer base in all cases outweighed accessibility to their workforce
for survey respondents.
Clearly, these results further underline the linkage between DC’s PDR businesses and the
purchasing sectors of the DC economy. Likely, these relationships are a two-way street: PDR
suppliers benefit from the competitive advantage of a DC location, while buyers benefit from
reduced turnaround, lower costs, and/or other advantages that decrease the cost and hassle of
conducting a business in the District.
2.1.4 INTERVIEWS
The data presented above provide an overview of trends within PDR industries. For a more
detailed view of what particular industries most desire space within the District, industrial real
estate brokers and economic development officials were interviewed. These interviews revealed
that the strongest demand for industrial space today comes from the following types of PDR
users:
Food and beverage services: In addition to traditional alcoholic beverage distributors
(required by law to be in the District), newer specialty spirit distributors are seeking
space in the District. Another source of demand are distributors to smaller grocery
stores, hotels, and restaurants, and distributors of specialty (e.g., ethnic) foods. This
latter market is particular strong, but also particularly hard to capture, as it is difficult to
meet their requirements. Some are looking for larger sites, 40,000 to 50,000 square
feet; many are looking for space with cold storage, all at a competitive cost. Interviews
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