Washington, DC — Mayor Muriel Bowser’s declaration of a public health emergency on March 11, 2020 serves as a useful starting point for evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on the Washington, DC apartment market. The stay-at-home order quickly impacted multi-family operations in a variety of ways. Property managers have responded to these challenges by adopting 100% virtual leasing and taking additional measures to ensure resident safety such as closing amenity spaces, restricting visitor access, and increasing cleaning disinfecting of touchable surfaces and common areas. Many of these initiatives increased operating costs at the very time that revenues were pressured, leading to uncertainty about how best to position to weather these events.Given its economic base, the Washington region typically fares better than the country as a whole during downturns.