“From the very beginning, we focused on properties that were located in
the Washington area. Not out of town, but right here in Washington. We
believed that was the best way to own and manage real estate successfully.”

ARTHUR A. BIRNEY, CO-FOUNDER, ATTORNEY AND FORMER TRUSTEE

DIVERSIFY AND ACQUIRE

Invest in apartment buildings or shopping centers? Acquire business centers or office buildings? The answer for WRIT was: all of the above. By 1970, the Trust had $29 million in assets and owned 13 properties. By the end of the decade, WRIT’s numbers reached $43 million in assets and 21 properties—a strong ten years despite a painful oil embargo and a two-year recession. In Washington, Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter had their ups and downs. Major league baseball left town but Metro arrived and the Kennedy Center opened to rave reviews.

1970: 13 properties

$29 million in assets; Richard Nixon,
U.S. President

1969–1974; Arthur Birney; RECESSION OF 1960–61
1971: Listed on AMEX

DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Program) becomes available

WRIT moves to Bethesda, MD; The John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts
opens in Washington, D.C.
1972: OPEC imposes oil embargo in U.S.; RECESSION OF 1973-75; Gerald Ford,
U.S. President

1974–1977; Left to right, Nordinger, Cafritz,

Colton, Thomas, Sacks.; Annual dividend rate of $0.98
1973: Middle East oil embargo– gas prices double; 17 properties
1976: Stock price
hits high of
$24.25; Metrorail system,
begun in the
late 1960s, opens; Jimmy Carter,
U.S. President

1977–1981
1978: 17% ten-year compound annual growth rate of NOI per share; 51 Monroe, Rockville’s tallest building
1979: Purchased 51 Monroe in Rockville, MD

21 properties –
$43 million in assets
Achieved 42.6% in total return for the year; RECESSION OF 1980

timeline color key

WRIT HISTORY
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN WASHINGTON DC & METRO AREA
NATIONAL ECONOMIC/POLITICAL MILESTONES/EVENTS