DC-Area Brokers and Owners Adopt New Leasing Strategies Amid COVID

Excerpted from Commercial Observer by Keith Loria

Office leasing in Washington, Baltimore and pretty much nationwide has been on the decline since the start of the pandemic, and owners have had to adjust their leasing strategies in both marketing their properties and showing them to potential lessees.

Because of the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and no true way to know when companies will be back to work full-time in office space, rents are softening, and extensions are few and far between.

Andy Eichberg, Stream Realty Partners’ executive vice president, noted that other than the obvious economic challenges and limited tenant demand, leasing brokerages must continually work to find new and better ways to effectively communicate right now.

“With people in varied stages of getting back to work, and most people suffering from ‘Zoom fatigue,’ maintaining relationships with clients, other brokers, tenants, co-workers continues to be a challenge for everyone,” he told Commercial Observer.

Stream Realty Partners is providing leasing services for two trophy office buildings in downtown Washington, D.C.: 1601 K Street, an 11-story, 217,000-square-foot building, and Lafayette Tower, a 245,000-square-foot building.

“From a marketing and tenant outreach perspective, we are leveraging technology more than ever to create better virtual tours and presentation capabilities, which I expect will continue to be effective tools post-COVID,” Eichberg said. “In addition, given the lack of depth in the active tenant market, we have been using more profound analytics to effectively track and assess the market to provide guidance during this unusual time. That said, nothing replaces hard work and creativity, so we continue to push hard to create opportunities for our clients.”
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