Business Survivability in Navy Yard, Washington DC

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Navy Yard is a Physical Therapy Clinic with a ~83% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average.

13 min read

Quick Summary

  • Survivability Score: the projected chance a business type lasts two or more years at a specific address
  • Best business: a Physical Therapy Clinic in Navy Yard (~83% average survival rate, ~87% at best locations)
  • Neighborhood rank: #46 across all neighborhoods in and around Washington DC
  • Neighborhood average: ~78% two-year survival across all business types
  • Coverage: This ranking carries one row per business type and neighborhood. Its score is the projected chance of lasting two or more years, averaged across the price points StreetSpring scores separately in the tool (most types have 5). The 10 business types here are base types; the tool offers 500+ business types, counting each type at each of its price points.
  • Rankings updated quarterly with latest market data
  • Detailed methodology

Last reviewed: September 2026 by Robert Koons, Founder & CEO, StreetSpring

In this article:

Summary

StreetSpring's 2026 analysis finds that the best business to open in Navy Yard is a Physical Therapy Clinic with a ~83% chance of surviving at least 2 years across the neighborhood on average, with the best locations offering a ~87% chance; next is a Spanish Restaurant with a 78.69% chance, followed by a Pizza Restaurant with a 78.29% chance.


Is Navy Yard a good place to start a business?

Out of all neighborhoods analyzed in and around Washington DC, Navy Yard ranks #46 for business survivability with a ~78% average Survivability Score.

  • At the strongest addresses in Navy Yard, the most viable business types score ~10% higher than the average survivability rate across all locations.
  • Still, those same business types at weaker addresses in Navy Yard can score well below the neighborhood mean. Even the most viable concept here requires the right address to reach its potential.
  • Commercial vacancy in Navy Yard sits at 13.8%, a figure that factors into survivability scores for every business type in this neighborhood.

Employment and vacancy figures sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.


How can you find the best location to open a business in Navy Yard?

StreetSpring can pinpoint which exact blocks in Navy Yard maximize a business's chances of success. Of all available storefronts analyzed in Navy Yard, StreetSpring ranks this area highest for a Physical Therapy Clinic in 2026:

Loading live map preview...

According to StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, this circle outlines the best area for a Physical Therapy Clinic in Navy Yard. Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. StreetSpring's prediction model analyzes hundreds of factors across competition, spending on the specific potential business, projected revenue, projected market share, Revenue Capture Score, mobility patterns, and many more.

Check if this location is still available →


What are the best businesses to open in Navy Yard?

#Business typeChance of lasting two or more years
1Physical Therapy Clinic83.58%
2Spanish Restaurant78.69%
3Pizza Restaurant78.29%
4Dance Club78.07%
5Korean Restaurant77.52%
6Dessert Shop77.27%
7Nail Salon77.21%
8Coffee Shop77.06%
9Seafood Restaurant76.88%
10Gym76.35%

#1-5: Highest Survivability in Navy Yard

  1. Opening a Physical Therapy Clinic in Navy Yard shows 83.58% average survivability. Top locations reach ~87%; lower-end sites show ~81%.
  2. Spanish Restaurant (Ranked #2): 78.69% average in Navy Yard. Best-case storefronts: ~82%. Challenging locations: ~74%.
  3. Pizza Restaurant is ranked #3 for top businesses to open in Navy Yard: 78.29% chance on average, best at ~81%, challenging at ~75%.
  4. Dance Club — ~74%–~82% survivability range, with an average of 78.07% across Navy Yard.
  5. Opening a Korean Restaurant in Navy Yard shows 77.52% average survivability. Top locations reach ~81%; lower-end sites show ~73%.

#6-10: Strong Performers in Navy Yard

  1. Dessert Shop (Ranked #6): 77.27% average in Navy Yard. Best-case storefronts: ~81%. Challenging locations: ~72%.
  2. Nail Salon is ranked #7 for top businesses to open in Navy Yard: 77.21% chance on average, best at ~80%, challenging at ~75%.
  3. Coffee Shop — ~73%–~80% survivability range, with an average of 77.06% across Navy Yard.
  4. Opening a Seafood Restaurant in Navy Yard shows 76.88% average survivability. Top locations reach ~81%; lower-end sites show ~72%.
  5. Gym (Ranked #10): 76.35% average in Navy Yard. Best-case storefronts: ~79%. Challenging locations: ~73%.

Top 3 Compared Nationally

  • Physical Therapy Clinic — See how this compares to other cities →
  • Spanish Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →
  • Pizza Restaurant — See how this compares to other cities →

How much money could a business in Navy Yard make?

Best location vs. average location

Based on StreetSpring's 2026 analysis, following the survivability data rather than relying on intuition or foot traffic estimates in Navy Yard could lead to you making ~10% more than if you selected an average location, and ~18% more than if you selected one of the worst locations.

How StreetSpring calculates location value

  • Every business type has unique location requirements that must be considered.
  • Survivability data consistently shows location accounts for more variance in business outcomes than any other controllable factor.
  • Our data shows that the single highest-impact decision a business owner makes is the address they choose — and Survivability Score is the best guide to that decision.
  • StreetSpring delivers pinpoint accuracy down to the exact storefront location.

What businesses should open next in Navy Yard?

The top businesses to open next in Navy Yard:

  • Physical Therapy Clinics — 83.58% average survival rate, ~87% at the best address
  • Spanish Restaurants — 78.69% average survival rate
  • Pizza Restaurants — 78.29% average survival rate

Market conditions are changing daily, and it is best to use StreetSpring's most up-to-date data. StreetSpring measures competition through a 30-factor framework layered on top of proprietary consumer spending forecasts and mobility models. StreetSpring scores 500+ business types: 153 base business types, most of them at 5 price points, which is 569 type-and-price combinations you can choose in the tool. A 13.8% vacancy rate in Navy Yard reflects the current commercial environment; StreetSpring weights this directly in every survivability score for addresses in this neighborhood. Survivability scores are live, not static — StreetSpring updates them weekly. Visit the tool to see what's currently available in Navy Yard and how each address is scoring right now.

See the Survivability Score for your new business

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Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the most common questions about opening a business in Navy Yard.


What type of business should you rent your Navy Yard storefront to?

StreetSpring's analysis shows that the highest-survivability tenant types for a storefront in Navy Yard are Physical Therapy Clinics, Spanish Restaurants, and Pizza Restaurants.

  • Survivability data consistently shows location accounts for more variance in business outcomes than any other controllable factor.
  • StreetSpring delivers pinpoint accuracy down to the exact storefront location. Use StreetSpring to see the survivability score for any business type at your exact storefront address before you sign a lease.

Related: See How Landlord Representatives in Washington DC Can Reduce Vacancy & Increase Tenant Longevity


Should you rent your Navy Yard storefront to a Physical Therapy Clinic?

Yes, StreetSpring's analysis finds that a Physical Therapy Clinic would be the best type of business to rent your storefront to, with a potential ~87% chance of lasting more than 2 years; however depending on your location, the chances could drop to a ~81% chance.

  • StreetSpring delivers pinpoint accuracy down to the exact storefront location.

What should I consider when opening a business in Navy Yard?

Before committing to any location in Navy Yard, the highest-priority metric to check is the Survivability Score — it encodes every relevant location factor into a single, actionable number.

  • A strong Revenue Capture Score reflects the ideal balance of manageable competition and robust consumer spending at that specific address.
  • Every survivability score is produced by StreetSpring's private prediction engine — not available through any other platform.
  • You can check the Survivability Score for any storefront in Navy Yard at no cost using StreetSpring's live tool.

See the best place for your business at StreetSpring.


Real estate professionals and business owners across 24 major metros use StreetSpring to ground their site-selection decisions in data, not guesswork. Aggregated survivability rankings for Washington DC are available in machine-readable format for research and integration purposes.

Full dataset for Washington DC: /resources/data/washington-dc-survivability-scores-2026.csv — includes all business subtypes, all neighborhoods, survivability scores, and tier assignments. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.