Commercial Real Estate Champions DC Mayoral Candidate

Washington, D.C. is getting its first new mayor in 12 years. Downtown office distress and a stalled housing pipeline are turning the race into a high-stakes referendum on the city’s investment climate, and the real estate industry is placing its bets on one candidate.

Commercial real estate donors are overwhelmingly lining up behind former D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie, according to a Bisnow analysis of campaign finance records. McDuffie’s campaign has pulled in 305 contributions from CRE professionals totaling $51,114, compared with 105 contributions totaling $6,017 for fellow frontrunner and Council member Janeese Lewis George.

Because both candidates are participating in the District’s Fair Elections Program, where qualifying donations can be matched five-to-one and individual contributions are capped at $200, that gap translates into much larger effective firepower. Bisnow estimated the CRE money gives McDuffie more than $250,000 in spending power versus roughly $30,000 for Lewis George.

CRE dollars also represent a much larger slice of McDuffie’s haul: 10.7 percent of the roughly $480,000 he has raised since launching his campaign in January, compared with 1.2 percent of the approximately $494,000 raised by Lewis George since December. McDuffie’s CRE donations averaged $168, versus $57 for Lewis George, reflecting more maxed-out checks on the McDuffie side.

“I’m afraid that if [McDuffie] is not elected, we’re going to start going backwards,” Willco president Gary Cohen, a McDuffie donor, told the publication.

PRP Real Assets president Paul Dougherty, another McDuffie donor, said the city is facing “serious financial strain” and needs “proven judgment and discipline.”

The donor lists also show a split in the types of real estate supporters each candidate is attracting.

Lewis George’s CRE donors skew toward architects, planners and housing nonprofits, while McDuffie’s include executives at major developers, brokerages and contractors, including multiple donations from employees at firms such as Cushman & Wakefield, Edens, EYA, Quadrangle, Akridge and MRP, as well as more than 20 contributors affiliated with MCN Build.

Outside spending is further widening the lane for McDuffie. Opportunity D.C., a pro-business group that endorsed him, said it plans to spend $1 million on advertising, while Safe & Affordable DC — a group supporting Lewis George — has raised $200,000 largely from labor unions, public records show.

Industry groups are also signaling where they see the market’s interests. Associated Builders and Contractors of Metro Washington and the Small Multifamily Owners Association endorsed McDuffie. The Apartment and Office Building Owners Association of Metropolitan Washington has not endorsed but said members it has spoken with “have a clear favorite” in McDuffie, citing his approach to regulation and investment conditions.

Policy differences on landlord-tenant rules are likely part of the equation. McDuffie voted for the Rental Act, which aimed to change eviction policies and reform the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, while Lewis George voted against it.

— Holden Walter-Warner