As a result of this decline, existing underlying community stresses and racial inequities have been amplified. Communities of color have shouldered a disproportionately high burden from these public health, economic, and environmental shocks to the system. And yet, Washington, D.C. remains an economic, cultural, and intellectual center of global significance.

The District of Columbia Office of Planning, DMPED, and the Washington, D.C. Economic Partnership asked the Advisory Services panel to evaluate the District’s CBD in order to provide actionable strategies for recovery and resilience for the District’s primary commercial district and employment hubs.

The panel was asked to consider specific issues and impacts of COVID-19 and make recommendations to optimize the mix and use of space in key employment centers aimed at minimizing vacancy, catalyzing vibrancy, bolstering tax base, and creating new opportunities for underserved entrepreneurs.

• Impacts & Issues. Consider the cumulative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on office, hotel, retail, hospitality, and entertainment on the CBD. Can and should the role and function of the CBD pivot towards one that embraces residential through conversions and other opportunities?
• CBD Model Rethink. Reimagine the traditional CBD model through an equity-forward lens to include residential and small-scale commercial spaces for underserved entrepreneurs.
  • Which uses and economic activities should the District prioritize in the CDB?
  • How can the District rethink the current approach and business makeup of the CBD to be more inclusive, and reduce barriers to entrepreneurship and small business?
• Supporting infrastructure. Examine the role of public space, placemaking, design and civic infrastructure in supporting vibrancy and equity.
  • How can the interaction of public space and infrastructure, including access and mobility, support more equitable spaces and outcomes?
  • How can public space, placemaking, design and civic infrastructure play a role in supporting vibrancy in the CBD? What are the specific opportunities?
• Solutions. Seek to increase the economic resiliency, equity and vibrancy of the CBD through innovative approaches and recommendations that rethink/catalyze commercial, residential retail, hospitality, cultural and entertainment uses and civic infrastructure.
  

  Key Recommendations

  The panel identified that the District’s CBD is not one place, rather a series of places or “nodes” that can be reimagined and intentionally activated to spur economic resilience and support inclusive entrepreneurship. More broadly, the panel recommended that the District rethink the CBD and consider ways to attract a larger pool of business types, as well as consider the CBD as a place with a more distinct character.

  The panel also recommended:

  • Utilizing existing buildings and infrastructure to diversify the economy and begin to attract new users to the CBD. Encourage building owners to support and explore multi-tenant colocation opportunities.
  • Identify officing opportunities for innovation businesses to form a district cluster and an innovation eco-system in the CBD.
  • Use the nodular revitalization strategy to accentuate nodes that connect the CBD to its adjacent districts, especially at transit hubs to create place-based transit gateways.
  • Re-imagine how community serving anchors, small and POC-owned businesses can thrive in the downtown market.
  • Develop and institutionalize a cornerstone strategy for workforce training and capacity-building. Build on existing work, engaging anchor employers and organizations through a central training hub for the CBD.
  • Create workplace hubs that help support the growth of social entrepreneurship in the market and help provide an alternative to support businesses that have inclusion and social impact at the forefront.
  • Explore ownership models that focus on aligning equity capital alongside POC investors.
  • Conduct significant analysis of the existing business and residential community within the CBD to determine the unmet demands and representation of minority business owners.
  • Evaluate mobility within and to the CBD; consider if access or planned access supports equity goals.

  The panel was led by chair Marilyn Jordan Taylor of the University of Pennsylvania, and included panelists William Gilchrist, director of planning and building, City of Oakland, Oakland, CA; David Greensfelder, founder and managing principal, Greensfelder Real Estate Strategy, Albany, CA; Diane Gormely-Barnes, principal planner, HNTB Corporation, Chicago, IL; James Lima, president, James Lima Planning + Development, New York, NY; Julie O’Brochta, associate, SOM, Chicago, IL; Maggie Parker, managing partner, Innovan Neighborhoods, Dallas, TX. ULI staff Kelsey Steffen and Georgia Gempler supported the panel.