3 Key Real Estate Marketing Takeaways from Bisnow’s “DC State of the Market”

Keynote Sheila Johnson speaking on D.C. real estate market analysis.

Nearly one thousand of DC real estate’s finest packed into the Marriot Marquis last Tuesday, July 28, for Bisnow’s Sixth Annual DC State of the Market. A star-studded lineup of speakers gave an in-depth market analysis, including Sheila Johnson, one of America’s richest people and owner of the Washington Mystics, DTZ Chief Economist Kevin Thorpe, Bozzuto Group CEO and Chairman Tom Bozzuto, JBG Companies Managing Partner Mike Glosserman, and Rand Construction CEO Linda Rabbit— just to name a few.

Bisnow has published its own takeaways from the early morning festivities, but what about us real estate marketing professionals? What should we be taking away from these insights and keeping in mind as we develop our integrated marketing campaigns? I attended as a representative for Delucchi, and below are my three greatest takeaways.

 1.     Office market doldrums are over… sorta. 

Chief economist Kevin Thorpe dismissed fears of global economic turmoil dulling the U.S. market, claiming that he “doesn’t see a bubble coming at all.” In fact, he sees close to $600 billion waiting to enter the U.S. commercial real estate market and the 2015 job growth in D.C. as a sign that this demand will translate into our market.

However, as JBG’s Mike Glosserman eloquently pointed out, the party won’t get hot again until the band is back on stage. And that band, for those of you late to the party, is the federal government.

Until the band is back, the DMV needs to stop acting “like a dysfunctional family” and work together to attract innovative, young companies instead of fighting over old scraps that have been here for years and don’t add new value to the larger market.

How do you attract these innovate, young companies? Katie Keenan of Blackstone discussed with Mitchell that it’s about building “third places” where people like to gather outside of the home and office. And they may be on to something. These “third places” are all about the branding of place and neighborhood, creating commercial and residential real estate value by sculpting the image of the community as a whole.

Need an example of neighborhood branding?  Check out how the North End of Shaw is attracting some of DC’s hottest startups and tech powerhouses through its strong neighborhood character, unique retailers, and by scoring start-up friendly spaces such as WeWork’s Wonder Bread Factory.

 2.     Millennials want apartments for the foreseeable future. 

As Tom Bozzuto stated during the conference, the apartment industry is “in the seventh inning of a doubleheader.” Even with the flush of new, luxury apartments into the D.C. market over the past decade, absorption is continuing to rise to over 14,000 units per year. And while a slowdown is expected over the next few years, Bozzuto expects the market to be even stronger by 2020.

Why? Millennials, of course. As the largest population group in the country, twentysomethings are part of the millennial group that continue to postpone life progressions such as marriage and having children – progressions that directly impact housing decisions and ultimately keep more young people renting, and for longer periods of time.

How long will these postponements last? And what happens when the millenials do start to grow up and have children? Well, even these real estate moguls admitted that we’re still really guessing on those answers.

Successfully positioning luxury apartment buildings to these urban millennials in unique and standout ways will make or break individual brands’ success in this slowing and crowded D.C market.

 3.     The recession was an opportunity in disguise, and you’d do well to remember it.

Rand Construction CEO Linda Rabbitt and Federal Realty Investment Trust SEO Don Wood definitely agree on one thing: The recession taught the D.C. real estate market some valuable lessons.   

Three characteristics were common among companies and projects that were successful during the recession: nimble, efficient, and innovative.

If you weren’t nimble, you were left behind. If you weren’t efficient, your reserves went dry. If you weren’t innovative, no one cared.

Now that the D.C. market is (knock on wood) out of the weeds of recession, it is important to not get comfortable and forget these important principles in project management or in developing any real estate marketing strategy. Your campaign should have the same themes as your most successful projects: nimble and quick to adjust, efficient with your marketing dollars, and innovative in its approach.