City Grid announces today the start of its blog on commercial real estate development in Washington DC. Ken Johnson, founder of City Grid and of the DCMud real estate journal that ceased publication in 2013, will launch the new site, published on both DCMud and the City Grid real estate blog, as a photographic journal, recording the changing architecture and real estate developments in Washington DC, Arlington, Silver Spring and Bethesda.
City Grid is Washington DC's urban real estate brokerage and marketing service for commercial properties. Using a technology-forward approach with the city's most advanced social media platform, City Grid serves the commercial real estate industry with technology-driven marketing, retail advisory services, and landlord and tenant representation. With expertise in commercial leasing, retail planning, retail tenant mix consultation, commercial property sales, and commercial lease negotiations, Ken has been in the commercial property industry since 2007, beginning in residential real estate development and leasing of retail space in mixed-use buildings, and shifting in 2011 to full service representation of landlords and tenants in commercial leasing and sales.
City Grid offers a strong background in retail real estate, having represented parties to retail transactions in hundreds of lease negotiations, having represented theaters, restaurants, gyms, medical facilities, daycare facilities, clothing companies, salons, marijuana distribution facilities, and many other types of retailers on both the landlord and tenant side. Renting commercial real estate pulls together many disciplines, from an understanding urban traffic patterns and demographics to lease drafting, real estate valuation to retail market rates, and retail corridor sales rates to competitive analysis of neighborhoods and similar retail uses.
Retail for lease in the Washington DC region is one of the most complex in the United States, with many national retailers seeking trophy retail sites in the city's main retail arteries like Georgetown, Dupont Circle, 14th Street, and Capitol Hill, with retail rates having risen significantly in the last few years, despite the "retail apocalypse" that has forced the closure of many big box retailers and the industry moves online. Despite this trend, Washington DC remains a destination for retail brands seeking sites, whether native online retailers or traditional retailers searching for bricks and mortar locations in both new and marquee markets. While finding a retail site for lease has become more transparent with commercial property finding technology, retail property has become more competitive as more and more brands establish a "high street" site that acts as a brand ambassador in a well-touristed neighborhood.
City Grid principal Ken Johnson has represented more than 100 restaurants seeking sites in the DC area, from fast-casual restaurants and diners to sit-down eateries, representing both landlords and tenants in finding, evaluating and negotiating retail sites. With a background as an attorney at a corporate law firm, Ken assists clients with understanding commercial leases and obligations, avoiding many mistakes of first-time retail tenants.
Having helped commercial real estate investors purchase and sell dozens of retail buildings, warehouses and apartment buildings over the past decade, the marketing power of City Grid Real Estate is based on commercial property technology, advanced social media marketing techniques, commercial property owner networking, real estate industry communication, and decades of experience in commercial property, law, and marketing.