captioned the national captioning g institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> business news from the capital region. this is "washington business report" with abc7 national correspondent rebecca cooper. us fork you for joining a look at business and finance in the washington region. wall street and main street were waiting to see if the vernment will keep working tuday morning or shut down. uncertainty took its toll on investors with the stock index facing five straight days of losses, the longesest long streak this year. things improved by thursday thanks to encouraging economic numbers but still no sign of congress keeping the lights on. >> the american people do not want the president's health care or the government to shut down. >> house speaker john boehner pushed the cruise control button

this week lettinsenator ted uz of texas take center stage while he tri to stay out of the fray. the senate spent the week in procedural votes and waiting out by cruz to staged stay true to his tea party base. a travesty young people are being denied a fair shot at the american dream becausese of what we have done, because of obamacare. >> president obama expressed outrage at a rally. suggest america not pay its bills just to try to blackmail the president into giving them some concessions on issues that have nothing to do with the budget. i will not negotiate on anything when it comes to the full faith and credit of thunited states of america. >> riskiking fines and possible jailime, the mayor says

services will continue in the face of a government shutdown declaring everything the district govovernment does to be essential. federal workers and those who might need a new passport will have little recourse if a repeat government shutdown sets in. >> iis a political game. >> with much more on thehe budt battle and what it means for our ar and hot topics in our rounable. a look at an important business sector in our washington region. it is an important bellwether for the strength of e overall ececonom commercial real estate. we have experts on thd.c. commercial rl estate scene. is managing director at hff and wen feldn block is managing director a at studley..

ladies, thanank you both for joinings. the awards ceremony, a lot of men getting top awards. we will postst a link on our facebook page. let's ta about this industry so many are concerned about. we are now being hit with the possibility of government shutwn. does thehe posbili already pretty bes -- freeze on businesses?? >> it is sort of groundhog day. we have been through this so ny tes since the recession ended. it creates so much volatility. we were expecting interest rates to gup in september because we excted t the taper to stop. it did not stop. the 10-year treasury fell back about 6.5%. the market is almost expecting the government not to function at this pointnt. >> sad butrue.

whwhat do o you think? >> i feel th same. expect certain things w will ll back. we have come to live in thi environment where people are cautious in decision-making. a great examplele of at has happened to the ofoffice market since the crcrash in 2008 when thingsround to a halt, companies have had to look at how theyse office space. we call that workplace strategies. people are trying to figure out how toto do more with less. it is not just less space. itit is anpportunity to thk about how orgazatis function . >> employment is picking up. wiwith new technology, you can t more people into a smaller amount of spe. let's go through the recession to where we are now. people in the washington area

managed to withstand some of the hits the residtial real estate rket took nationwide. many are employed by t government. there was an assumption the commercial reaeal estate mket would weather the storm. what is the reality and where are we now? >> in 2009, the worst yeaof the recession, we s sold 40 buildings in the metro office market total. this year, we have alrdy sold 40 office buildings. before the r recession, we were selling 200 a year. but we are back, benefiting from a gradually improvg economy and a lot of good fundamentals the property level. is chahangeor to different use of space is a positive thing because people are collaborating and d working tother differently. it all gs confused by the

unpredictable fiscal andnd monetary policy we suffered since we came out of the recession as theerfect storm. the stimulus money benefited our region with absorption of fice space. then the m monetarary policy std push interest rates down. we are still l livingng with sequesatio which caused some conceracross the real estate market. where have you seen sombright lightsts question mark where are you seeing some hope for the market? >> i thinknk it an excitingng time in the e metropopolitan are in the first quartrter of next openr, the metro line will connecng out. ere is a l of utious optimism about what tysons cornerill look like. th have 24 milln feet of ofoffice space which is bigger

than most central business districts across the country. alloware areas that could the dedevelopment of another 20 million square feet. will not happen in five years. success,ng at other it is a destination. peopleove the mixed-use environmenent. had very good urban planning. it was very haphazard with the growth. the parking lot of tysons one ill has some vacancies. deloitte is taking less space when they move over. >> explain why we should not be overly concerned abobout the fat it is taking the region longer to catch up.

d.c. is second oy to new york in terms of e price of rental squa foot. in virginia,he rent rates are catching uand growing past recession rates. in manassas and woodbridge, there is a lull. is that a cause for concern? >> we're changing the way we work and the kinds of office buildings the market is seeking. the markeket is going after the highest end, brand-new, 21st century is on propties in terms of the physical layout and the cracteristics the new buildings bring. there is a move towardrds urbanization and transit oriented development in d.c., there was metro ation built at noma. quickly i was struck by an article in the "washingtoton po"

is summer about foreigsales. this year, they accounted for 75% of all investment in the washington commercial real estate market. why such an enormous uptick in foreign burs? >> several reasons. at the core level, these are the mo prestigious, highest- leased hundred perce very little risk properties. our properties can sell in the $300 million range. it is that much more capital into one asset. our mamarket is still looked ats a very recession proof mararket. >> you said before the show stararted that the new black is nenew. people want new buildings. is that good news for construction? >> not yetet.

there are a few buildings that are almost done but have no tenants. successowntown, we have seen almost 50% of the buildings under construction least. -- leased. construction has not reboundede. the question is if and when it will aft the crash. >> thank y both. what iwe would agree found out your favovorite movie was "office space." thank you so much. there's much more ahead on "washington business report." our roundtable covers the impact of the federal shutdown. next, braggiging rights for virginia. there's this island -- and it's got super-cute kangaroos. barrow island has got rare kangaroos. ♪ chevron has been developing energy here for decades. we need to protect their environment. we have a strict quarantine system to protect the integrity of the environment.

forty years on, it's still a class-a nature reserve. it's our job to look after them. ...it's my job to look after it. ♪

>> welcome back. the number of the week is number one. that puts the commonwealth back at the top of the best statetes for business. untild the spot from 2006 2009. states in terms of regulatory environnt, cucurrent economic climate, growth prospects, and quali ofife. it was held back by high labor costs. the district was not included in the rankings. stick with us. "washington business report" roundtable is next.

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>> let's geget rey to rumble. w will have more than a few opinionons on what is happenening in washington. we start with peter morici ececonomics professor at the unersity ofaryland schohool off busiss. james hmann has been closy trackinghe vginia governor's race. and our own mike conneen of newschannel8. thank you for jning us. mike conneen, we will start with yo you ve been stuck in t the senate swamp coverering what may

or may n be a shutwn. you have beenn cloly tracking what t they may or may do. the mayor could face jail time if o decides he e is in defiance of the law. he cou be arrested. no e thinks that ll happen,, but at could be the impact? >> the chairman othe oversit reform committee has saither is so much on the government''s plate right now that going after any major or woer is unlikely. but the mayodid come outut aggressively inesponse to the tential shutdown saying it is a disservice to the district and sidents sayaying all workers and operations in d.c. are essential, meaning beyond the standard police and firefighte and schools tt all workers and agencies would remain open. the analysis of t this incding the attorney g gener says it is illegal. u cannot do o that.

there was an article and opinion out this week that also discouraged e government from going this r route. we're seeing g more of a step back. on tuesday will consider emergency legislation that would dip into t the contingency cash fund. there is about 160 four dollars million in the fund as ojune that wouldast the d.c. government about ninine days if there is a shutdown. hoping that will not happen but that is a more moderate response to this. >> another fun top to tackle before the end of the ye. james hohmann, what do you think? your colleague wrwrote a piece n friday. saying if you take the ,trategy of not attttacking this the funding for r the federal governmentbut instead attaching g it to the dedebt ceg it is even morore riculous. >> there is a lot of frustration.

there is a huge divide inin the republican party. ted cruz brght it into clelear point. the fiscal part of the party is concerned about the hard-line some cononservativesre taking, these new rising starsho are not concerned about this kind df brinksmansnship. in whole is very uncomfortae with what they are doining. >> therere is such a wide base r the republican pty now. you have business, the tea party. it probably did not lp ted cruz when heaid a couple of things, when he called the senate cheap seats with bad haircuts. he said anyone who does not go along with his strategy is like sided with hitler. did you approve of his strategy ? >> having a filibuster is what

they do on mount olympus. 100 pretenders to the white house. that is what goes on. are you worried about a vernment shutdown?n? >> i'm worried about barack -- what barack obama would do. it depends on how w you define essentiaial. no one is gointo take the prident' supupport if he defines it broadly and kps the air traffic controllerworking. >> would like to see them s stay on the job ii take flights this wee >> you will not have any flights if they do n. if you dedefine essential broad, and if i were president, i could find a way to cover 90% of what the vernment does -- then you do not have a problem. i suspect he will tryry to use this as a political pool -- jewel --political tool. you do not need to raise the debt ceieiling to ke the united

stateses out of thfaul you will collect taxes. m matteof prioritizing exexpendures so you pay interest on the debt. >> some people think that is not possible. >> it is very possible. ifou are president, you can do many things. as a consequence, i do not know that he wantshe day after. he does not want to default. th sequestration, jobs were going go away andnd the sto market was goingo shrivel. thday ter we piercrce the ceiling and he manages to pay the debt, he will l lose credibility. it is a tough spot. >> we will take a quick break. it is a tough spot. >> we will take a quick break. hi, i'm tom steyer.

we've been visiting places that tell the keystone xl pipeline story, why it matters whether it's built. like port arthur, where the oil would be shipped to countries like china. mayflower -- where a burst pipeline coated the streets in oil. out west, where clean energ is america's growth industry. and today...new york -- where less than a year ago, the atlantic rose 13 feet high, pushing the sea into the city behind me and shutting down the nerve center of our economy for days. as carbon pollution heats up the atmosphere, extreme weather events are happening more oen and with more ferocity. 3,500 weather records were broken last year, and it cost our economy over $100 billion. we can't afford to make the problem worse. that's why the president was right when he said the test for keystone is whether it would generate more climate-changing pollution. the truth --

scientists report keystone oil would produce as much carbon pollution as 62000 cars every year. mr. president, you've had real accomplishments when it comes to fighting climate disruption. we're getting more miles per gallon out of our cars and putting less carbon pollution into the air. let's do the right thing on keystone. ♪

>> we are back with our roundtable. withconneen joins alongng peter moci and james hohmann. peter morici was saying we have to not just look at the government s shutdown b but the threat of what will hahappen wih the debt ceiling. locally that is causing concern. >> it could be a bigger fight down the road. they are lking at this as an oppounity to raise about thewareness

lack of voting rights. local business commununity cononcerned about ts because ofhe impact onon contractorseyond that huge federal workfororce. contracts are already on shaky ground with sequtration in effect. of thee or two days government shutdown could have deimental impacts across the cotry. theontinuing uncertainty. you never know if the federal government igoing to grow or shrink, what they are going to do. yohave been closely following the virginia goverr's race that has beeeen heating up. chambers said there were not big moments. we had not heardnything we had not hed bere. exchange endorsedd ken. >> he s been running as a

pragmatic problem solver trying to make inroads with the business republicans. the political arm backed him. the mcauliffe people tried to get them to hold off. john mccain and othersade cacalls behind the scene. what someates made red as threats that they would not get heard inichmond. what was a no big deal enendorsement became a big deal. thfairfax chamber coming out for him offsets that a little bit. it takes awaway some of the bragging rights ken has had. >> transrtation reted sues were the diding factors. bipartisannsion and package at mcauliffe supported. they had hou of interviews wi the candidadates.

mcauliffe sured them he would not do a anythihing to try to rl back the right to work k which s something the other candidate telling business owners he can win support from unions. >> you said in an editorial this week obamacareill not work well. roblems.ig computer -- we have bigomputer problems. we will l talk about that nenext time. you can search h for us on atecebook and finind the show wjla.com. we hope to see you back here next sunday. i a am rebecca cooper.r. thank you for joing

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