From restaurants shutting their doors and others opening for the first time, to mergers and acquisitions that made the news, WTOP has a roundup of the biggest D.C.-area business stories of the year.
Restaurant woes
The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington released a survey of D.C.-area restaurants that painted a bleak picture for the future, with restaurants citing inflation, lower customer traffic, labor shortages and crime.
And many restaurants closed in 2023, including Adams Morgan mainstay Roofers Union, Navy Yard’s highly anticipated but short-lived Swingers, and Denizens Brewing, which closed its original Downtown Silver Spring taproom and now focuses on its larger Riverdale Park location.
Two longtime D.C. restaurateurs permanently closed their last two remaining restaurants, Brine Oyster and Seafood House, citing crime and unsustainable costs. Award-winning chef Kevin Tien closed his popular Moon Rabbit restaurant at The Wharf in a dispute with its InterContinental Hotel landlord, though a new location is opening in Penn Quarter.
And two longtime D.C. establishments with loyal customers closed for good this year, Amsterdam Falafelshop in Adams Morgan, and Silver Spring’s Tastee Diner.
Restaurant wins
Several restaurateurs forged ahead with openings of flashy, new restaurants, and several area restaurants received national recognition in publications like Bon Appétit, Food & Wine and Southern Living.
Both new and familiar names were honored with 2022 RAMMY Awards, several area craft brewers took home medals from the prestigious World Beer Cup competition, 18 D.C. restaurants were added to the Michelin Guide and two others earned Michelin Stars.
D.C. steakhouse Medium Rare began a nationwide expansion, District Taco began franchising nationwide and Raising Cane’s began an aggressive expansion in the D.C. region.
Mergers and acquisitions
Tysons-based events planning company CVENT was acquired by New York investment firm Blackstone for $4.6 billion. McLean-based candy giant Mars further cemented its position as a leader in pet care with its $1.3 billion acquisition of veterinary diagnostic company Heska. Mars also acquired healthy meals company Kevin’s Natural Foods for $800 million.
Jim Koons Automotive, the largest auto dealer in the D.C. region, was acquired by Ashbury Automotive Group for an undisclosed sum, though it is considered one of the most sizable combinations in the auto retail industry.
Frederick, Maryland’s Flying Dog Brewery was acquired by New York-based brewer FX Matt, whose beers include Saranac, for an undisclosed sum, a deal that moved most of Flying Dog’s production out of Maryland and to New York.
And Alexandria-based Burke & Herbert Bank, the D.C. region’s oldest bank by name, tracing its roots to 1852, more than doubled in size through a merger with West Virginia’s Summit Financial Group.
More local companies go public and D.C. gets more national recognition
Chantilly-based Amentum Services signed a deal this year to merge with the critical mission solutions and cyber intelligence division of Dallas-based Jacobs, creating one of the largest publicly-traded companies headquartered in the D.C. region with $13 billion in annual revenue.
D.C.-based fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant chain CAVA went public on the New York Stock Exchange, and was one of the largest IPOs of 2023, valuing the company at $4.7 billion.
Virginia rose to No. 2 on CNBC’s annual rankings of Best States For Business, a list Virginia has topped five times, more than any other state. And the D.C. region rose on the annual Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. companies by revenue with 19 companies on the list, after the relocation of Raytheon and Boeing headquarters, both to Arlington.
Philanthropy of note
Sizable donations in the D.C. region this year benefited both charities and education. George Mason University received a record $50 million gift from the late Virginia business leader Donald G. Costello’s foundation. GMU also set enrollment records this year.
American University’s Kogod School of Business received its largest single donation in history with a $15 million gift from the school’s namesake, Robert Kogod and his wife Arlene.
D.C.’s Children’s National Hospital received a $96 million donation from an anonymous donor family to advance brain tumor research. And Oprah Winfrey gifted $2.5 million to Silver Spring-based U.S. Dream Academy, more than tripling its 2023 fundraising goal and bringing Winfrey’s donations to the nonprofit, which runs after-school programs for children, to $10 million.
JBG Smith’s National Landing rises
One of the biggest news stories of 2023 — Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s announcement to relocate the Washington Wizards and Capitals to a new arena at Potomac Yard — would be years away from happening, but the redevelopment of National Landing, the marketing name given to a swath of Arlington County that includes Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard, accelerated significantly this year.
Redevelopment and new development in National Landing is controlled almost entirely by developer JBG Smith.
Phase One of Amazon’s HQ2 was completed this year, five years after Amazon selected Northern Virginia for its second headquarters. Metropolitan Park, in Pentagon City, includes two 22-story buildings and a 2.5-acre public park. Amazon also announced this year that Phase Two of HQ2, called PenPlace was put on hold.
JBG Smith’s redevelopment of National Landing chalked up more additions this year, including Water Park and Dining in the Park, ambitious restaurant-centric remakes of a park in Crystal City. JBG Smith also has more than 1,600 residential units in various stages of construction in National Landing, more than 800 of which will deliver next year.
And if the Caps and Wizards do move to Potomac Yard, JBG Smith, which owns much of the undeveloped land, will be the master developer of the 9-million-square-foot mixed-use project.
Area tourism recovers
Regional tourism in 2023 likely continued to recover from the pandemic setback, but 2022 numbers were touted this year. Destination DC reported 20.7 million domestic visitors, 91% of pre-pandemic levels. The Virginia Tourism Corporation reported $30.3 billion in visitor spending in 2022, 4.4% higher than pre-pandemic tourism spending.
The Maryland Department of Commerce’s Office of Tourism reported $19.4 billion in visitor spending, topping 2019 pre-pandemic levels by more than $1 billion. Loudoun County accounted for 13.2% of tourism spending in Virginia, the most of any Virginia county, largely because it includes the economic impact from Dulles Airport.
And Arlington County rolled out a new tourism marketing slogan this year. “All in Arlington” refers to the variety of things to do.
Silver Line’s Phase 2 marks one-year anniversary
November marked the one-year anniversary of the completion of Metro’s Silver Line Phase 2, adding six Metro stops in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties. Much of the proposed development around those new stations is still on the drawing board, but there were significant milestones in 2023 along the Silver Line’s new additions.
Notable additions include the new Volkswagen North America headquarters, the new CACI headquarters and a new Fannie Mae tower at Reston Town Center.
JLL reported a resident population of more than 10,000 within a half mile of the six new stations and 42,000 within one mile. The daytime worker population is now 22,000 within a half-mile of the new Silver Line stations, and 67,000 within one mile.
There are at least 20 million square feet of proposed development adjacent to the six new Silver Line stations.
Silver Line Metro ridership was up 78% this year, with more than one million Metro rides that originated at the Dulles Airport station since it opened, according to JLL.
DC Attorney General scores consumer victories
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb marked his first year in office, winning settlements with well-known companies accused of violating consumer rights.
Among them, a $500,000 settlement with SmileDirectClub for violating D.C. consumer protection laws over nondisclosure agreements and refunds, as well as a $2.5 million settlement with Instacart, which was accused of disguising service fees as delivery driver tips and not paying taxes.
D.C. also reached a similar settlement with food delivery company Grubhub, which agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle allegations of charging customers hidden fees and using deceptive marketing techniques.
And Chipotle Mexican Grill agreed to a $322,400 settlement over allegations of violating D.C.’s child labor protection laws for late-night work, and minors working longer-than-permitted hours.
D.C. was also part of a $700 million settlement with Google over allegations of price-fixing regarding consumer purchases made through its Android App Store.
Also of note
Demolition of the former Mazza Gallerie was completed this year, with work on the site’s redevelopment at 5300 Wisconsin Avenue underway. Developer Tishman Speyer is redeveloping it as a seven-story structure with apartments, town houses and restaurant and retail space. The project is expected to be completed sometime in 2025.
Dominion Energy began work on what will be the largest energy project ever developed by an airport at Dulles Airport on unused land owned by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
When complete, it will include tens of thousands of solar panels on 835 acres, feeding both the airport’s energy needs and Dominion’s Northern Virginia power grid. Dominion has a 37-year lease on the land.
Maryland ended this year with the lowest state unemployment in the nation, at 1.8% in November — a sharp decline from 3.2% a year earlier — and below longtime state unemployment rate leader North Dakota’s 1.9% unemployment rate. Maryland’s unemployment rate hit an all-time record low of 1.6% in October. Virginia ends the year with November unemployment rate of 2.9%.
