:no_upscale():quality(75))
A lot has changed in DC over the past 20 years. Back in the mid-'90s, Downtown DC was just an office industry. Today that industry has given way to one of the nation's top mixed-use economies, with arts and entertainment, shopping, hotels, diverse housing and transportation. Nearly two decades into that transformation, the number of Downtown development sites has dwindled significantly, leaving little room for future development, Washington City Paper reports. That torch is for Ward 5 to pick up, as it boasts a 29% development capacity, far more than any other area. Meanwhile, DC's offices are on the back burner. A struggling office market has led to a trend of converting office buildings to other uses, with 850k SF of office building conversions under construction, and an additional 893k SF in the pipeline. [WCP]
