WASHINGTON, DC—A rapt audience of 175 industry professionals listened intently to a series of panels on local market during the 10th annual RealShare Washington, DC conference, held on Friday at the Ritz-Carlton. The half-day program focused on current trends and prospects for development, leasing and investment in this dynamic market.

The first session, “The Next Chapter of Development” took a look at the reasons behind the latest projects in multifamily, office and retail. In multifamily today, the developers concurred that it’s all about the amenities. That, said Stonebridge Carras principal Doug Firstenberg, is how you justify your rents. But it’s important to “keep it simple. Too many uses can make projects too complicated.” Financing sources understand this, he added, and so do tenants.

Apartments have become so amenitized that their development is “becoming almost like the hotel industry these days,” said Dick Knapp, a Foulger-Pratt SVP who moderated the panel.