EastBanc Elevates Philippe Lanier As CEO

One of Washington, D.C.’s legacy real estate firms is readying for its next chapter, eyeing a “renaissance” for the nation’s capital.

EastBanc, the investment, development and management firm founded in 1987, is elevating Philippe Lanier to chief executive officer as it looks to capitalize on the troubled market at what he described as the lowest basis entry point in four decades.

Lanier, a D.C. native who is taking over from his father, EastBanc founder Anthony Lanier, told The Real Deal the firm is betting on its services across development, construction, leasing, property and asset management positions to reposition properties that have failed to draw investor interest so far.

The firm is known for assembling and repositioning properties in some of the city’s core neighborhoods. Its focus on urban revitalization has included compiling holdings in elite corridors like Georgetown, where it ushered in a mixed-use transformation that added busy high-end retail to the historic neighborhood.

The company lists 38 properties in D.C. under its ownership, concentrated in Georgetown’s M Street corridor, with some holdings in the West End/Foggy Bottom area and Capitol Hill. Though D.C. dominates the firm’s portfolio, it holds s a handful of stakes in properties in Lisbon, Toronto and Manhattan.

Lanier said the company is looking to “get bigger,” expanding its property and asset management services with plans to add employees.

“Tying ourselves to new capital, finding a way to excite that capital and deploy it, to take some of these buildings and fix them,” said Lanier. “That’s where the real value creation will be, in the heart of our business model.”

The elder Lanier will take on the role of president and shift his focus to the company’s office in Lisbon, one of its three outposts along with New York and D.C.

“We’re not buying distress to flip — we’re building a portfolio we intend to own for the next generation,” said Lanier.

A critical moment

Much like the rest of the country, D.C.’s aging office stock has struggled to stay afloat since the pandemic. Elevated interest rates have deterred investors, and the city’s next form likely depends on a wave of redevelopment by those looking to make the most of the bottom-dollar deals available.

But the market is also subject to the unique scrutiny of its largest tenant, the U.S. government. Lanier pointed to the “headline risk” centered on D.C., which has been subject to reports the federal agencies shrinking their footprints.

D.C. also presents a unique revitalization challenge because of its horizontal spread: exclusively low-slung properties with office-heavy corridors make for unreliable density, with commuters scattering at the end of a workday to the surrounding suburbs.

“When things aren’t working, you really feel it a lot more,” said Lanier of the market.

In terms of leasing, D.C.’s office market has been stuck in a multiyear lurch. Tenants leased 1.9 million square feet in the fourth quarter, according to Savills. That total was in line with the previous period, but activity fell in the first quarter of 2026 to 1.3 million square feet, for the lowest quarterly total in several years.

Lanier described the collision of factors as “peak stupidity” — investors and brokers are contending with macroeconomic factors and would-be sellers are running out of patience. Lanier pitches this as an opportunity.

“All these deals are hitting the market when you’ve got this confusion,” said Lanier. “I think you’ll see some very interesting deals fall off the tree.”

Those interesting deals have already started to crop up, highlighting D.C.’s current quirks.

The government sold a 940,000-square-foot building to data center investor Hossein Fateh earlier this year, leaving the former GSA Regional Office Building near the city’s busy L’Enfant Plaza up for residential conversion.

Still, the rough couple of years can make for a harder sell to traditional investors, meaning EastBanc is looking to cast a wider net with moves like courting more private family offices.

“Can I focus on a billion-dollar tower in Manhattan or a $20 million check in downtown D.C.?” said Lanier. “It’s the same team working on both. How do I attract people to work on D.C.?”

Lanier said he thinks now is the inflection point. “It’s not going to be a rocket ship, but it’s going in an exciting direction.”