Vienna Hires Firm To Craft Economic Development Strategy

VIENNA, VA — On Monday, Vienna Town Council approved a contact with Bethesda-based real estate strategy firm Streetsense to conduct a market study and create an economic development strategy for Vienna.

The market study will provide a detailed analysis of Vienna’s current commercial community, market conditions, and potential for future development by industry type. Based on the market study, the economic development strategy will provide a roadmap guiding business recovery, better support for existing businesses, and bringing in complementary new businesses.

"A market study is a technical evaluation of our commercial real estate market," Vienna’s Economic Development Manager Natalie Monkou told Town Council. "So we're evaluating also comparative markets, the industry trends, demand for retail, multifamily, office, industry, property types in our commercial zones. Essentially we're also going to figure out an economic development strategy that would follow the market study and its evaluation. That provides a context for which the town can then achieve goals and be competitive and position itself to grow the local economy."

The market study and economic development strategy are expected to be completed this summer. Streetsense and its partner, RCLCO Real Estate Advisors, will hold a kick-off meeting with all stakeholders, conduct a site visit, consumer and business survey, have discovery conversations with stakeholders and complete assessments of Vienna’s retail, office, and industrial markets.

Street Sense will provide recommendations of tools and strategies for success of businesses in Vienna's commercial clusters through key areas of analysis: physical environment, business environment, market data and demographics, and administrative capacity.

The study and economic development strategy process will also inform the town government's continuing efforts to update its zoning code through its Code Create Vienna initiative. According to the Code Create Vienna website, the last significant zoning code changes happened in 1969. The project kickoff happened in September 2020, and the zoning code updates are expected to take 16 to 18 months to complete.

The new economic development initiative comes after the town announced Monkou as the first-ever Vienna economic development manager in 2019. The town government had issued a request for proposals from firms in October. Thirteen firms responded, and five finalists were interviewed by a selection panel.

"Streetsense has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to retail and other businesses," said Monkou in a statement. "We’re confident that not only does the Streetsense team have the skill set to complete the market study and strategy development, but that they also understand the need for inclusivity and have the capability to assist the Town in reaching out to Vienna’s diverse businesses and business stakeholders."

Streetsense's proposal provided insight into its goal for the contract with the town:

Our goal is to provide direction to the Town on how it should be utilizing its resources in the near term to help revitalize its commercial nodes/clusters and generate and diversify tax revenue following the pandemic – including attracting and retaining businesses, filling commercial vacancies, and creating vibrant places that people can safely return to.

The contract awarded to Streetsense is for $100,000. Half of the funds come from a grant received by the town from Fairfax County’s Economic Initiatives Office.