The battle to bring federal workers back to Downtown DC
WASHINGTON - It’s not often you hear Democrats and Republicans agreeing these days, but District residents witnessed that this week when James Comer, the Republican representative of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability chair, asked D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser whether she supports the idea of federal workers returning to work.
"I absolutely support that," Mayor Bowser said during Tuesday's hearing.
What’s at stake?
"It came pretty close to putting us out of business," said Ginger Park, the co-owner of a well-known Connecticut Ave. chocolate shop called, "Chocolate Chocolate."
Park told FOX 5 she’s one of the lucky ones who survived, but she almost lost the business when foot traffic nearly stopped during the pandemic.
Thankful to see some old customers return for a book event she held this week, Park says she still has some concerns if federal workers don’t come back.
"I don’t think that any small – or I’m sorry – anyone in the private sector has any leverage to force their workers to come back until the federal workers come back," she said.
An office building in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. The capital citys main business district remains strangely desolate and depopulated long after pandemic lockdowns ended with federal employees, who account for one-in-three downto
"You know, I think whatever best serves the taxpayer. If they’re more productive at home because of traffic and the crime situation in D.C., then that could be justified, but if they’re getting more work done in the office, then that’s where they should be," said a woman FOX 5 spoke to this week.
Adam Keatts, who is not a federal worker but does sometimes work remotely, told FOX 5, "There’s a lot of benefits for people to be able to work flexibly … Flexible schedule, both for their productivity and work-life balance."
"I think they’re probably just trying to generate revenue for the city, which I understand. But, I think there needs to be more innovative solutions for how you use urban spaces," he added.
"The office workers play such a significant daily impact in our spaces. So what we’re seeing in our restaurants, Downtown, during the day is that they’re not as busy and so we need to have the office workers to have more of those restaurant spaces open," said Ella Faulkner, the Downtown Business Improvement District’s vice president of planning and economic development. "Public safety is also a big thing. Once we see the office workers coming back Downtown, we’re going to see some of that vibrancy and some of those nuisance activity left alone."
Faulkner told FOX 5, that the issue also impacts how Metro performs and whether tourists can continue to enjoy D.C.
She says right now, their BID’s vacancy rate is at around 19% — the highest they’ve seen yet.
Interim Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Keith Anderson says the CFO’s prediction of nearly a $460-million revenue shortfall is largely connected to that private property loss.
"Downtown, which is the economic engine for the District of Columbia … 37% of our property tax base comes from Downtown, although Downtown is a very small area for D.C.," Anderson said. "Those revenues help build our schools, help build our infrastructure, help build city services and programs."
"This is a great example of the amazing new spaces where new residents can come into Downtown," Faulkner said.
Construction is underway at 1313 L St. Northwest. The address houses a building constructed for office space that’s now being converted to a 220-unit residential building that's expected to be completed in 2024. It's part of the mayor’s "D.C. Build Back Better Plan" to get at least 15,000 more people living Downtown.
FOX 5 has learned that just two buildings are under construction (within the Golden Triangle and Downtown BIDs) so far, with a total of 11 building conversion projects in the pipeline.
Faulkner told FOX 5 the projects are currently waiting on the mayor’s $41 million tax abatement.
Making more residential space is the long-term plan. However, DMPED’s leader argues it still doesn’t replace the estimated 95,000 federal workers not coming to their D.C. offices every day.