Property values in the historic district reflected the deteriorating physical and economic conditions: Class A office space in early 2014 leased for $80 per square foot less than the average for nearby city streets, and the vacancy rate for office space was anticipated to reach 21.8 percent by 2015. The "Washington Business Journal" editorialized on October 1, 2014, that, despite good planning, little of value had actually been implemented on Pennsylvania Avenue. The newspaper cited "the crumbling infrastructure, the weak public spaces, and the imposing, secure federal presence" which makes Pennsylvania Avenue "a dead zone outside of lunch rush and the occasional march." It described Freedom Plaza as ill-planned, the Hoover Building "a Brutalist landmark that sucks the life out of an entire block", the Reagan Building a structure that "never met expectations as a public gathering place", and Federal Triangle a monolithic barrier which severs the connection with the National Mall to the south.