JBG SMITH Properties - Annual Report: 2020 (Form 10-K)

Table of Contents

​

​

​

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

​

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

OR

​

For the transition period from ___________ to ___________

Commission file number 001-37994

JBG SMITH PROPERTIES

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

​

​

​

​

​

Registrant's telephone number, including area code:   (240) 333-3600

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

​

​

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes  ☒  No  ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐  No  ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒  No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulations S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒  No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company" and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act) Yes  ☐  No  ☒

As of February 19, 2021, JBG SMITH Properties had 131,600,858 common shares outstanding.

As of June 30, 2020, the aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant was approximately $3.8 billion based on the June 30, 2020 closing share price of $29.57 per share on the New York Stock Exchange.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Part III incorporates by reference information from certain portions of the registrant's definitive proxy statement for its 2021 annual meeting of shareholders to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this report relates.

​

.

​

Table of Contents

JBG SMITH PROPERTIES

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

​

​

​

​

​

2

Table of Contents

DEFINITIONS

Defined terms used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K:

"ADA" means the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"Amazon" refers to Amazon.com, Inc.

"Americana Portfolio" refers to a 1.4-acre future development parcel in National Landing, which was formerly occupied by the Americana Hotel, and three other parcels.

"Annualized rent" means: (i) for commercial assets, or the retail component of a mixed-use asset, the in-place monthly base rent before free rent, plus tenant reimbursements as of December 31, 2020, multiplied by 12 and (ii) for multifamily assets, or the multifamily component of a mixed-use asset, the in-place monthly base rent before free rent as of December 31, 2020, multiplied by 12. Annualized rent excludes rent from signed but not yet commenced leases. The in-place monthly base rent does not take into consideration temporary rent relief arrangements.

"At JBG SMITH Share" and "Our share" refer to our ownership percentage of consolidated and unconsolidated assets in real estate ventures.

"CBRS" means the Citizens Broadband Radio Service.

"Code" refers to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

"CODM" means our Chief Operating Decision Maker.

"Combination" refers to our acquisition of the management business and certain assets and liabilities of JBG.

"COVID-19" refers to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"D&I" means diversity and inclusion.

"Development pipeline" refers to the near-term development pipeline and future development pipeline.

"Disposed Properties" collectively refers to Commerce Executive/Commerce Executive Metro Land, 1600 K Street, Vienna Retail, a 50.0% interest in the entity that owns Central Place Tower, and Metropolitan Park.

"ESG" means environmental, social and governance.

"Estimated incremental investment" means management's estimate of the remaining cost to be incurred in connection with the development of an asset as of December 31, 2020, including all remaining acquisition costs, hard costs, soft costs, tenant improvements (excluding free rent converted to tenant improvement allowances), leasing costs and other similar costs to develop and stabilize the asset but excluding any financing costs and ground rent expenses. Actual incremental investment may differ substantially from our estimates due to numerous factors, including unanticipated expenses, delays in the estimated start and/or completion date, changes in design and other contingencies.

3

Table of Contents

"Estimated potential development density" reflects management's estimate of developable gross square feet based on our current business plans with respect to real estate owned or controlled as of December 31, 2020. Our current business plans may contemplate development of less than the maximum potential development density for individual assets. As market conditions change, our business plans, and therefore, the estimated potential development density, could change accordingly. Given timing, zoning requirements and other factors, we make no assurance that estimated potential development density amounts will become actual density to the extent we complete development of assets for which we have made such estimates.

"Exchange Act" refers to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

"FATCA" means the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.

"FATCA withholding" refers to a FATCA withholding tax.

"FIRPTA" means the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980, as amended.

"Formation Transaction" refers to the Separation and the Combination.

"Free rent" means the amount of base rent and tenant reimbursements that are abated according to the applicable lease agreement(s).

"FFO," means funds from operations, a non-GAAP financial measure computed in accordance with the definition established by NAREIT in the NAREIT FFO White Paper - 2018 Restatement. NAREIT defines FFO as net income (loss) (computed in accordance with GAAP), excluding depreciation and amortization related to real estate, gains and losses from the sale of certain real estate assets, gains and losses from change in control and impairment write-downs of certain real estate assets and investments in entities when the impairment is directly attributable to decreases in the value of depreciable real estate held by the entity, including our share of such adjustments for unconsolidated real estate ventures. We believe FFO is a meaningful non-GAAP financial measure useful in comparing our levered operating performance from period-to-period and as compared to similar real estate companies because FFO excludes real estate depreciation and amortization expense and other non-comparable income and expenses, which implicitly assumes that the value of real estate diminishes predictably over time rather than fluctuating based on market conditions. FFO does not represent cash generated from operating activities and is not necessarily indicative of cash available to fund cash requirements and should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss) (computed in accordance with GAAP) as a performance measure or cash flow as a liquidity measure. FFO may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

"Future development pipeline" refers to assets that are development opportunities on which we do not intend to commence construction within the next three years where we (i) own land or control the land through a ground lease or (ii) are under a long-term conditional contract to purchase, or enter into a leasehold interest with respect to land.

"GAAP" means United States generally accepted accounting principles.

"GSA" means the General Services Administration, the independent U.S. federal government agency that manages real estate procurement for the federal government and federal agencies.

"In-service" refers to commercial or multifamily operating assets that are at or above 90% leased or have been operating and collecting rent for more than 12 months as of December 31, 2020.

"IRS" means the Internal Revenue Service.

"JBG" refers to The JBG Companies.

"JBG SMITH share" refers to our ownership percentage of consolidated and unconsolidated assets in real estate ventures.

"JBG Legacy Funds" refers to the legacy funds formerly organized by The JBG Companies.

4

Table of Contents

"JBG SMITH" refers to JBG SMITH Properties together with its consolidated subsidiaries.

"JBG SMITH LP" refers to JBG SMITH Properties LP, our operating partnership together with its consolidated subsidiaries.

"JBG Excluded Assets" refers to the assets of the JBG Legacy Funds that were not contributed to JBG SMITH LP in the Combination.

"LIBOR" means the London Interbank Offered Rate.

"LTIP Units" refers to JBG SMITH Properties LP long-term incentive partnership units.

"Metro" is the public transportation network serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

"Metro-served" are locations, submarkets or assets that are within walking distance of a Metro station, defined as being within 0.5 miles of an existing or planned Metro station.

"MGCL" means the Maryland General Corporation Law.

"MTA" means the Master Transaction Agreement, dated as of October 31, 2016, by and among Vornado, certain affiliates of Vornado, JBG SMITH and certain affiliates of JBG SMITH, as amended.

"NAREIT" means the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.

"NAV" refers to net asset value.

"Near-term development pipeline" refers to select assets that have the potential to commence construction over the next three years, subject to receipt of full entitlements, completion of design and market conditions.

"NOI" means net operating income, a non-GAAP financial measure management uses to assess a segment's performance. The most directly comparable GAAP measure is net income (loss) attributable to common shareholders. We use NOI internally as a performance measure and believe NOI provides useful information to investors regarding our financial condition and results of operations because it reflects only property related revenue (which includes base rent, tenant reimbursements and other operating revenue, net of free rent and payments associated with assumed lease liabilities) less operating expenses and ground rent, if applicable. NOI also excludes deferred rent, related party management fees, interest expense, and certain other non-cash adjustments, including the accretion of acquired below-market leases and amortization of acquired above-market leases and below-market ground lease intangibles. Management uses NOI as a supplemental performance measure for our assets and believes it provides useful information to investors because it reflects only those revenue and expense items that are incurred at the asset level, excluding non-cash items. In addition, NOI is considered by many in the real estate industry to be a useful starting point for determining the value of a real estate asset or group of assets. However, because NOI excludes depreciation and amortization and captures neither the changes in the value of our assets that result from use or market conditions, nor the level of capital expenditures and capitalized leasing commissions necessary to maintain the operating performance of our assets, all of which have real economic effect and could materially impact the financial performance of our assets, the utility of NOI as a measure of the operating performance of our assets is limited. NOI presented by us may not be comparable to NOI reported by other REITs that define these measures differently. We believe that to facilitate a clear understanding of our operating results, NOI should be examined in conjunction with net income (loss) attributable to common shareholders as presented in our financial statements. NOI should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss) attributable to common shareholders as an indication of our performance or to cash flows as a measure of liquidity or our ability to make distributions. "Annualized NOI" means the NOI from the specified quarterly period multiplied by four.

"NYSE" means the New York Stock Exchange.

5

Table of Contents

"Non-same store" refers to all operating assets excluded from the same store pool.

"OP Units" refers to JBG SMITH LP common limited partnership units.

"Percent leased" is based on leases signed as of December 31, 2020, and is calculated as total rentable square feet less rentable square feet available for lease divided by total rentable square feet expressed as a percentage. Out-of-service square feet are excluded from this calculation.

"Percent occupied" is based on occupied rentable square feet/units as of December 31, 2020, and is calculated as: (i) for office and retail space, total rentable square feet less unoccupied square feet divided by total rentable square feet, and (ii) for multifamily space, total units less unoccupied units divided by total units, expressed as a percentage. Out-of-service square feet and units are excluded from this calculation.

"Percent pre-leased" is based on leases signed as of December 31, 2020, and is calculated as the estimated rentable square feet leased divided by estimated total rentable square feet expressed as a percentage.

"Performance-Based LTIP Units" refers to LTIP Units with performance-based vesting requirements.

"Recently delivered" refers to commercial and multifamily operating assets that are below 90% leased and have been delivered within the 12 months ended December 31, 2020.

"REIT" means real estate investment trust.

"REMIC" means a real estate mortgage investment conduit.

"Same store" refers to the pool of assets that were in-service for the entirety of both periods being compared, except for assets for which significant redevelopment, renovation, or repositioning occurred during either of the periods being compared.

"SEC" means the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Separation" refers to the spin-off transaction on July 17, 2017 through which we received substantially all the assets and liabilities of Vornado's Washington, D.C. segment.

"Separation Agreement" refers to the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

"Signed but not yet commenced leases" means leases for assets in our portfolio that, as of December 31, 2020, have been executed but for which no rental payments had yet been charged to the tenant.

"SOFR" means the Secured Overnight Financing Rate.

"Square feet" ("SF") refers to the area that can be rented to tenants, defined as: (i) for commercial assets, rentable square footage defined in the current lease and for vacant space the rentable square footage defined in the previous lease for that space, (ii) for multifamily assets, management's estimate of approximate rentable square feet, (iii) for under-construction assets, management's estimate of approximate rentable square feet based on current design plans as of December 31, 2020, and (iv) for near-term and future development pipeline assets, management's estimate of developable gross square feet based on its current business plans with respect to real estate owned or controlled as of December 31, 2020.

"STEM" means science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

"Tax Matters Agreement" refers to an agreement with Vornado regarding tax matters.

"Time-Based LTIP Units" refers to LTIP Units with time-based vesting requirements.

6

Table of Contents

"TIN" means taxpayer identification number.

"TMP" means taxable mortgage pool.

"Total annualized estimated rent" represents contractual monthly base rent before free rent, plus estimated tenant reimbursements for the month in which the lease is expected to commence, multiplied by 12.

"Tranche A-1 Term Loan" refers to the $200.0 million unsecured term loan maturing in January 2023.

"Tranche A-2 Term Loan" refers to the $200.0 million unsecured term loan maturing in July 2024.

"Transaction and other costs" include fees and expenses incurred for the relocation of our corporate headquarters, demolition costs, integration and severance costs, pursuit costs related to other completed, potential and pursued transactions, as well as other expenses.

"TRS" refers to taxable real estate investment trust subsidiaries.

"Under-construction" refers to assets that were under construction during the three months ended December 31, 2020.

"USD-LIBOR" refers to LIBOR as calculated for U.S. dollar.

"VIEs" means variable interest entities.

"Vornado" means Vornado Realty Trust, a Maryland real estate investment trust.

"WHI" means the Washington Housing Initiative which includes the third-party non-profit, Washington Housing Conservancy and the WHI Impact Pool, a debt financing vehicle which we manage on behalf of the third-party investors.

"Woodglen" refers to 11333 Woodglen Drive/NoBe II Land/Woodglen.

​

​

7

Table of Contents

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

The Company

JBG SMITH, a Maryland REIT, owns and operates a portfolio of high-growth commercial and multifamily assets amenitized with ancillary retail. JBG SMITH's portfolio reflects its longstanding strategy of owning and operating assets within Metro-served submarkets in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that have high barriers to entry and vibrant urban amenities. Over half of our portfolio is in National Landing, where we serve as the exclusive developer for Amazon's new headquarters, and where Virginia Tech's new $1 billion Innovation Campus will be located. In addition, our third-party asset management and real estate services business provides fee-based real estate services to the WHI, Amazon, the JBG Legacy Funds and other third parties. Substantially all our assets are held by, and our operations are conducted through, JBG SMITH LP. As of December 31, 2020, JBG SMITH, as its sole general partner, controlled JBG SMITH LP and owned 90.5% of its OP Units. JBG SMITH is referred to herein as "we," "us," "our" or other similar terms.

As of December 31, 2020, our Operating Portfolio consisted of 62 operating assets comprising 41 commercial assets totaling 13.0 million square feet (11.1 million square feet at our share) and 21 multifamily assets totaling 7,800 units (5,999 units at our share). Additionally, we have: (i) two under-construction assets comprising one wholly owned commercial asset totaling 274,000 square feet and one multifamily asset totaling 322 units (161 units at our share); (ii) 10 wholly owned near-term development pipeline assets totaling 5.6 million square feet of estimated potential development density; and (iii) 29 future development pipeline assets totaling 14.8 million square feet (12.0 million square feet at our share) of estimated potential development density. We present combined portfolio operating data that aggregates assets we consolidate in our financial statements and assets in which we own an interest, but do not consolidate in our financial results. For additional information regarding our assets, see Item 2 "Properties."

Certain terms used throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K are defined under "Definitions" starting on page 3.

Our Strategy

We own and operate assets in high-growth, Metro-served submarkets in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including National Landing, that have significant barriers to entry and key urban amenities and plan to grow through value-added development and acquisitions. We have significant expertise with multifamily, office and retail assets, our core asset classes. We believe that we are known for our creative deal-making and capital allocation skills and for our development and value creation expertise. In addition to our sale, recapitalization and ground lease of approximately $1.6 billion of primarily office assets since 2017, we intend to opportunistically sell at least another approximately $1.5 billion of non-core office assets and land. Recycling the proceeds from these sales will not only fund our planned extensive growth, but it will also further advance the strategic shift in the composition of our portfolio to majority multifamily.

One of our approaches to value creation uses a series of complementary disciplines through a process we call "Placemaking." Placemaking involves strategically mixing high-quality multifamily and commercial buildings with anchor, specialty and neighborhood retail in a high density, thoughtfully planned and designed public space. Through this process, we create synergies, and thus value, across those varied uses leading to unique, amenity-rich, walkable neighborhoods that are desirable and enhance tenant and investor demand. We believe our Placemaking approach will increase occupancy and rental rates in our portfolio, in particular with respect to our concentrated and extensive land and operating asset holdings in National Landing, the location of Amazon's new headquarters and the planned $1 billion Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. National Landing, situated in Northern Virginia directly across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is the interconnected and walkable neighborhood that encompasses Crystal City, the eastern portion of Pentagon City and the northern portion of Potomac Yard. We believe National Landing is one of the region's best-located urban mixed-use communities due to its central and easily accessible location, its adjacency to Reagan National Airport, and its large base of existing offices, apartments and hotels.

We are repositioning our holdings in National Landing by executing a broad array of Placemaking strategies, including the delivery of new multifamily and office developments, locally sourced amenity retail, and thoughtful improvements to

8

Table of Contents

the streetscape, sidewalks, parks and other outdoor gathering spaces. In keeping with our dedication to Placemaking, each new project is intended to contribute to authentic and distinct neighborhoods by creating a vibrant street environment with robust retail offerings and other amenities including improved public spaces. We have also invested in CBRS wireless spectrum in National Landing as part of our efforts to make National Landing among the first 5G-operable submarkets in the nation, as discussed below.

In November 2018, Amazon announced it had selected sites that we own in National Landing as the location of its new headquarters. We currently have leases with Amazon totaling approximately 857,000 square feet at five office buildings in National Landing. In March 2019, we executed purchase and sale agreements with Amazon for two of our National Landing development sites, Metropolitan Park and Pen Place, which will serve as the initial phase of construction associated with Amazon's new headquarters at National Landing. In January 2020, we sold Metropolitan Park to Amazon for $155.0 million and began constructing two new office buildings thereon, totaling 2.1 million square feet, inclusive of over 50,000 square feet of street-level retail with new shops and restaurants. The sale of Pen Place to Amazon for approximately $149.9 million is expected to close, subject to customary closing conditions, in 2021. We are the developer, property manager and retail leasing agent for Amazon's new headquarters at National Landing.

In connection with Amazon's new headquarters in National Landing, in February 2019 the Commonwealth of Virginia enacted an incentives bill, which provides tax incentives to Amazon to create a minimum of 25,000 new full-time jobs and potentially 37,850 full-time jobs with average annual wage targets for each calendar year, starting with $150,000 in 2019, and escalating 1.5% per year, in National Landing. Led by state and local governments, we expect more than $5.5 billion of infrastructure and education investments directly benefitting National Landing. These investments include: two new Metro entrances (Crystal Drive and Potomac Yard); a pedestrian bridge to Reagan National Airport; a new commuter rail station located between two of our Crystal Drive office assets; lowering of elevated sections of U.S. Route 1 that currently divide parts of National Landing to create better multimodal access and walkability; and funding for an innovation campus anchored by Virginia Tech. In addition to government infrastructure investments, we expect at least an additional $5.5 billion of investments, including investments by Amazon, JBG SMITH, and Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech virtually launched in the fall of 2020 the inaugural academic year of its planned $1 billion Innovation Campus in National Landing. This expected powerful demand driver sits adjacent to approximately 1.9 million square feet of development density we own in National Landing and a new, under-construction Potomac Yard Metro station, all approximately one mile south of Amazon's new headquarters. The campus is part of a 20-acre innovation district, of which the fully entitled first phase encompasses approximately 1.7 million square feet of space, including four office towers and two residential buildings, with ground-level retail. On this campus, Virginia Tech intends to create an innovation ecosystem by co-locating academic and private sector uses to accelerate research and development spending, as well as the commercialization of technology. When the Innovation Campus is fully operational, Virginia Tech plans to annually graduate approximately 750 master students and 150 PhD students in STEM fields. The Innovation Campus is contemplated to include 675,000 square feet occupied by Virginia Tech, and construction of the fully entitled initial phase is expected to commence in 2021.

The following are key components of our strategy:

Focus on High-Growth Mixed-Use Assets in Metro-Served Submarkets in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. We intend to continue our longstanding strategy of owning and operating assets within high-growth urban-infill, Metro-served submarkets in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with high barriers to entry and vibrant urban amenities. These submarkets include National Landing, the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor, and Reston in Northern Virginia; the Ballpark, U Street/Shaw, and Union Market, in the District of Columbia; and Bethesda in Maryland. These submarkets generally feature strong economic and demographic attributes, as well as superior transportation infrastructure that caters to the preferences of multifamily, office and retail tenants. We believe these positive attributes will enable our assets located in these high-growth submarkets to outperform the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area as a whole.

Grow NOI from Significant Demand Catalysts in National Landing. We believe the strong technology sector tailwinds created by Amazon, the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, and our National Landing Smart City initiative will contribute to substantial NOI growth from our Operating Portfolio and our 7.8 million square foot development pipeline in National Landing. Over half our holdings are located in National Landing, and over 80% are located within a 20-minute commute

9

Table of Contents

of the submarket, where Amazon's new headquarters will house a minimum of 25,000 new full-time jobs and potentially 37,850 planned employees, and Virginia Tech's new $1 billion Innovation Campus will be located. Amazon's growth in National Landing is expected to increase the daytime population in the submarket from approximately 50,000 people today to nearly 90,000 people in the future, representing dramatic growth of about 70%, according to estimates from Amazon and the National Landing Business Improvement District.

We believe our investment in next-generation connectivity infrastructure such as dense, redundant, and secure fiber networks, data center access, and world-class 5G connectivity, will be a key advantage in continuing to attract companies to National Landing. In September 2020, we took our first step in implementing that strategy by investing $25.3 million to secure access to multiple blocks for between 30 and 40 megahertz of licensed CBRS wireless spectrum to support 5G broadband communications for the geographic license areas stretching across National Landing. In addition to other investments that we are making in the submarket, we believe this investment in CBRS spectrum will allow us to control the process of attracting and partnering with best-in-class service providers, making National Landing among the first 5G-operable submarkets in the nation. It will also provide us with valuable tenant inducement tools, such as the ability to offer ubiquitous and redundant fiber connectivity and 5G private cellular networks. These features are increasingly important to technology companies, especially innovators in cybersecurity, internet of things, artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Drive Incremental Growth Through Lease-up and Stabilization of Our Operating Assets. While COVID-19 has negatively impacted our operating results, we expect many of the affected income streams will respond favorably to a recovery in demand as the pandemic abates. During the fourth quarter of 2020, we believe the impact of COVID-19 reduced our NOI by $15.1 million, comprising $3.7 million of reserves and rent deferrals for office and retail tenants, a $5.8 million decline in NOI in our same store multifamily assets, a $3.9 million decline in parking revenue, and a $1.7 million decline in NOI from the Crystal City Marriott.

In addition to the expected recovery from COVID-19, we believe that, given our leasing capabilities and the tenant demand for high-quality space in our submarkets, we are well-positioned to achieve significant internal growth from the lease-up of vacant space in our in-service Operating Portfolio. As of December 31, 2020, we had 39 in-service operating commercial assets totaling 12.4 million square feet (10.7 million square feet at our share), which were 88.2% leased at our share, resulting in 1.3 million square feet available for lease. As of December 31, 2020, we had 18 in-service multifamily assets totaling 7,111 units (5,327 units at our share), which were 91.3% leased at our share. Further, we expect increases in property rental revenue from: (i) the commencement of signed but not yet commenced leases ($33.0 million total annualized estimated rent as of December 31, 2020) and (ii) contractual rent escalators in our non-GSA office and retail leases, which are based on increases in the Consumer Price Index or a fixed percentage.

Deliver Our Under-Construction Assets and Stabilize Our Recently Delivered Assets. As of December 31, 2020, we expected to make an estimated incremental investment of $18.9 million at our share to two under-construction assets: (i) 1770 Crystal Drive, a commercial asset with 273,897 square feet located in National Landing and completed in the fourth quarter of 2020, the office portion of which is 100.0% leased to Amazon, and (ii) 7900 Wisconsin Avenue, a multifamily asset with 322 units (161 units at our share) in Bethesda owned by an unconsolidated real estate venture in which we own a 50.0% interest. Since the fourth quarter of 2019, we completed construction and placed into service three multifamily assets with 689 units (672 units at our share) and two commercial assets with 569,399 square feet (448,333 square feet at our share). As of December 31, 2020, the multifamily assets were 46.2% leased and the office assets were 85.4% leased.

Construct or Monetize Our Significant Development Pipeline. We expect to create value from our significant pipeline of ground-up development opportunities, which we expect will produce favorable risk-adjusted returns on invested capital. We divide our 18.3 million (15.6 million at our share) square foot land portfolio into our near-term development pipeline and our future development pipeline, the latter of which comprises potentially longer-term opportunities. The development pipeline excludes the 2.1 million square feet of land (Pen Place) held for sale to Amazon, which we expect to close in 2021, and exchange into an income-producing multifamily asset.

As of December 31, 2020, our near-term development pipeline consists of 10 wholly owned assets, and we estimate that it can support over 5.6 million square feet of estimated potential development density, 75% of which are multifamily projects located in high-growth submarkets of National Landing, the Ballpark, and Union Market/NoMa/H Street. We

10

Table of Contents

expect five of these multifamily projects to deliver approximately 3,100 units within a half mile of Amazon's new headquarters, including approximately 800 units at 1900 Crystal Drive. We intend to invest in multifamily development as market demand evolves, matching delivery dates with Amazon's expected job growth in National Landing, and new office development subject to preleasing. While these opportunities have the potential to commence construction over the next 36 months, subject to receipt of full entitlements, completion of design and market conditions, these potential investment opportunities will be subject to our rigorous return requirements and our ability to maintain prudent leverage and liquidity levels.

As of December 31, 2020, our future development pipeline consisted of 29 assets, and we estimate it can support over 14.8 million square feet (12.0 million square feet at our share), including the approximately 2.1 million square feet under contract for sale to Amazon, of estimated potential development density, with 94.9% of this potential development density being Metro-served. The estimated potential development densities and uses reflect our current business plans as of December 31, 2020 and are subject to change based on market conditions.

In addition to developing select assets in these pipelines, we will consider opportunities to unlock value through opportunistic asset sales, ground leases and recapitalizations.

Actively Allocate our Capital and Reposition Our Portfolio to Majority Multifamily. A fundamental component of our strategy to maximizing long-term NAV per share is active capital allocation. We evaluate development, acquisition, disposition, share repurchase and other investment decisions based on how they may impact long-term NAV per share. Since our inception, we have completed the sale, recapitalization and ground lease of $1.6 billion of primarily office assets, and we intend to opportunistically sell at least another $1.5 billion of non-core office assets and land. Redeploying the proceeds from these sales will not only help fund our planned growth, but it will also further advance the strategic shift of our portfolio to majority multifamily. When we see elevated asset pricing, potential excess supply, and/or limited prospects for future growth, we will likely sell those assets. We are currently targeting dispositions primarily of office assets in submarkets where we have less concentration and where we anticipate lower growth rates going forward relative to other opportunities within our portfolio. We are also focused on opportunities to turn land assets into income streams or retained capital.

We expect near-term acquisition activity to be focused on assets with redevelopment potential in emerging growth neighborhoods, as well as assets adjacent to our existing holdings where the combination of sites can add unique value to any new investment with a focus on multifamily given our long-term objective of growing our portfolio to majority multifamily. Where there are opportunities to trade out of higher risk assets with extensive capital needs or those outside of our geographic footprint, we will consider like-kind exchanges under Section 1031 of the Code. Subject to customary closing conditions, we expect to close the sale of Pen Place to Amazon in 2021 for approximately $149.9 million, and we intend to invest the proceeds from the sale into a like-kind exchange acquisition of a multifamily asset.

Third-Party Services Business

Our third-party asset management and real estate services business provides fee-based real estate services to the WHI, Amazon, the JBG Legacy Funds and other third parties. The WHI pursues a transformational approach to producing affordable workforce housing and creating sustainable, mixed-income communities in the Washington, D.C. region. Although a significant portion of the assets and interests in assets formerly owned by certain of the JBG Legacy Funds were contributed to us in the Combination, the JBG Legacy Funds retained certain assets that were not consistent with our long-term business strategy. With respect to the remaining investments of the JBG Legacy Funds, we provide substantially the same asset management, property management, development, construction management, leasing and other services that were provided prior to the Combination. Other than those related to the WHI, we do not intend to raise any future investment funds, and we expect to continue to earn fees for the management of the JBG Legacy Funds until their investments are liquidated. Certain individual members of our management team own direct equity co-investment and promote interests in the JBG Legacy Funds and certain of the funds' investments that were not contributed to us. These economic interests will be eliminated as the JBG Legacy Funds are wound down over time.

We believe that the fees we earn in connection with providing these services enhance our overall returns, provide additional scale and efficiency in our operating, development and acquisition businesses and absorb a portion of the overhead and

11

Table of Contents

other administrative costs of our platform. This scale provides competitive advantages, including market knowledge, buying power and operating efficiencies across all product types. We also believe that our existing relationships arising out of our third-party asset management and real estate services business will continue to provide potential access to capital and new investment opportunities.

Competition

The commercial real estate markets in which we operate are highly competitive. We compete with numerous acquirers, developers, owners and operators of commercial real estate including other REITs, private real estate funds, domestic and foreign financial institutions, life insurance companies, pension trusts, partnerships and individual investors, many of which own or may seek to acquire or develop assets similar to ours in the same markets in which our assets are located. These competitors may have greater financial resources or access to capital than we do or be willing to acquire assets in transactions which are more highly leveraged or are less attractive from a financial viewpoint than we are willing to pursue. Leasing is a major component of our business and is highly competitive. The principal means of competition in leasing are lease terms (including rent charged and tenant improvement allowances), location, services provided and the nature and condition of the asset to be leased. If our competitors offer space at rental rates below current market rates, below the rental rates we currently charge our tenants, in better locations within our markets, in higher quality assets or offer better services, we may lose existing and potential tenants and we may be pressured to reduce our rental rates below those we currently charge to retain tenants when our tenants' leases expire.

Segment Data

We operate in the following business segments: commercial, multifamily and third-party asset management and real estate services. Financial information related to these business segments for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020 is set forth in Note 19 to the financial statements.

Tax Status

We have elected to be taxed as a REIT under Sections 856-860 of the Code. Under those sections, a REIT which distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income as dividends to its shareholders each year and which meets certain other conditions will not be taxed on that portion of its taxable income which is distributed to its shareholders. We currently adhere and intend to continue to adhere to these requirements and to maintain our REIT status in future periods.

Future distributions will be declared and paid at the discretion of our Board of Trustees and will depend upon cash generated by operating activities, our financial condition, capital requirements, annual dividend requirements under the REIT provisions of the Code and such other factors as our Board of Trustees deems relevant.

We also participate in the activities conducted by our subsidiary entities that have elected to be treated as TRSs under the Code. As such, we are subject to federal, state, and local taxes on the income from these activities. For additional information regarding our REIT status, see Item 9B "Other Information."

Significant Tenants

Only the U.S. federal government accounted for 10% or more of our rental revenue, which consists of property rental and other property revenue, as follows:

​

​

12

Table of Contents

Sustainable Business Strategy

Our business values integrate environmental sustainability, social responsibility and strong governance practices throughout our organization, which include the design and construction of our new developments and the operation of our existing buildings. We believe that by understanding the social and environmental impacts of our business, we are better able to protect asset value, reduce risk and advance initiatives that result in positive social and environmental outcomes creating shared value. Our business model prioritizes maximizing long-term NAV per share. By investing in urban infill and transit-oriented development and strategically mixing high-quality multifamily and commercial buildings with public areas, retail spaces, and walkable streets, we are working to define neighborhoods that deliver benefits to the environment and our community, as well as long-term value to our shareholders.

We remain committed to transparent reporting of ESG financial and non-financial indicators. We intend to continue publishing an annual ESG report that is aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative reporting framework, Sustainable Development Goals, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board standards and recommendations set forth by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Additionally, we have developed a strategic plan that progresses toward a carbon neutral portfolio over a ten-year horizon. More detailed sustainability information, including our strategy, key performance targets and indicators, annual absolute and like-for-like comparisons, achievements and historical ESG reports are available on our website at https://www.JBGSMITH.com/About/Sustainability. Our Internet website and the information contained therein or connected thereto are not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We focus on operating efficiency, responding to evolving environmental and social trends, and delivering on the needs of our tenants and communities. We have demonstrated the results of this focus by:

Our ESG team works directly with our business units to integrate our ESG principles throughout our operations and investment process. The team is responsible for annual ESG reporting, maintaining building certifications, ESG improvement programs and implementation and coordinating with industry and community partners.

To ensure that our ESG principles are fully integrated into our business practices, Steering Committees, including members of our management team, provide top-down support for the implementation of ESG initiatives. The ESG team provides our Board of Trustees' Corporate Governance & Nominating Committee with periodic updates on ESG strategy.

Energy and Water Management

We believe that the efficient use of natural resources will result in sustainable long-term value. We have committed to: reduce energy consumption 25%, predicted energy consumption 25%, water consumption 20%, embodied carbon 20%, and greenhouse gas emissions (scope one and two) 25%; increase waste diversion to 60%, and verify all assets across our operating portfolio and development pipeline by 2030. In addition to our 2030 targets, we have a legacy commitment to improve the energy efficiency of our commercial Operating Portfolio by at least 20% over the 10-year period ending in 2024 through the Department of Energy Better Buildings Challenge. We have improved energy performance by an average of approximately 3.0% each year since 2014, which is a cumulative improvement of 15%, and are on track to meet or exceed the improvement goal by 2024. We achieve this improvement through real time energy use monitoring. We plan to report progress on these commitments annually in our ESG report.

13

Table of Contents

We use green building certifications as a verification tool across our portfolio. These certifications demonstrate our commitment to sustainable design and performance. At a minimum we strive to benchmark our assets to help inform capital improvement projects. As of December 31, 2020:

Our long-term strategy to reduce energy and water consumption includes operational and capital improvements that align with our business plan and contribute to our sustainability targets. Asset teams review historical performance, conduct energy audits and regularly assess opportunities to achieve efficiency targets. Capital investment planning considers the useful life of equipment, energy and water efficiency, occupant health impacts and maintenance requirements.

Our development strategy focuses on reducing predicted energy and water consumption and embodied carbon, contributing to our sustainability targets. Development teams use energy, water, and embodied carbon modeling to inform design decisions that best fit each individual building program, adapt to identified climate change conditions for our region, and promote healthy buildings.

Tenant Sustainability Impacts

Customer service is an integral component of real estate management. Our mission includes creating a unique experience at all our properties where our tenants' needs are our highest priority. We believe in sustainability as a service — by integrating efficiency and conservation into standard operating practices, we engage on topics that are most impactful to our tenants and residents. We are committed to providing a healthy living and working environment for building occupants. We accomplish this goal through monitoring and improving indoor air quality, eliminating toxic chemicals, providing access to nature and daylight, nutritious fresh foods in our common areas and fitness.

We are a Green Lease Leader established by the Institute for Market Transformation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings Alliance. Green Lease Leaders recognizes companies who use the leasing process to achieve better collaboration between landlords and tenants with the goal of reducing building energy consumption and operating costs. Our standard lease contains a cost recovery clause for resource efficiency-related capital improvements and requires tenants to provide data for measuring, managing, and reporting sustainability performance. This language is included in 100% of our new leases and renewals.

Climate Change Adaptation

We take seriously climate change and the risks associated with climate change, and we are committed to aligning our investment strategy with science. We stand with our communities, tenants, and shareholders in supporting meaningful solutions that address this global challenge. To develop a more informed view of future climate conditions and further our understanding of the direct physical risks to our properties, we have conducted a climate risk assessment, which includes our operating assets and land holdings in our development pipeline. Management intends to use the results of this assessment to inform our asset management planning and design of our new developments.

Social Responsibility

We believe the economic strength of our region is central to sustaining the long-term value of our portfolio. We are committed to the economic development of the Washington D.C. metropolitan region through continued investment in our

14

Table of Contents

projects and local communities. We recognize, however, that new development can foster challenging growth dynamics, with issues of social equity at the forefront. We strive to work alongside community members, leaders, and local and federal governments to appropriately respond to these challenges. The most recent example of our efforts is the WHI, which we launched in 2018 in partnership with the Federal City Council.

The WHI is a transformational market-driven approach to producing affordable workforce housing and creating sustainable, mixed-income communities. The WHI is a scalable, market-driven model funded by a unique relationship between philanthropy and private investment. As of December 31, 2020, we have committed to invest $11.2 million in the WHI Impact Pool, and our Executive Vice President of Social Impact Investing manages this effort. The WHI's Impact Pool has completed closings of capital commitments totaling $114.4 million, and closed $21.8 million in loans related to the non-profit Washington Housing Conservancy’s purchase of residential communities that contain 1,151 units. The initiatives' goals include:

We recognize that diversity in our workforce brings valuable perspectives, views and ideas to our organization. We pride ourselves on our strong, collaborative culture, and we strive to create an inclusive and healthy work environment for our employees, which helps us continue to attract innovators to our organization. Our workforce comprises 38% females and 56% minorities, and our senior leadership has 41% female representation. Our Board of Trustees currently comprises 27% females which will increase to 33.3% when Phyllis Caldwell joins our Board effective March 1, 2021. Our Board of Trustees has made a long-term commitment to evolve in a direction that reflects the strength and diversity of our national labor force and establish an equal balance between men and women and one that reflects the diversity of our country.

To learn more about our ESG initiatives and performance, please visit https://www.JBGSMITH.com/About/Sustainability and download our ESG Report. Our Internet website and the information contained therein or connected thereto are not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Regulatory Matters

Environmental Matters

Under various federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations, an owner of real estate is liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances on such real estate. These laws often impose such liability without regard to whether the owner knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. The costs of remediation or removal of such substances may be substantial and the presence of such substances, or the failure to promptly remediate such substances, may adversely affect the owner's ability to sell such real estate or to borrow using such real estate as collateral. In connection with the ownership and operation of our assets, we may be potentially liable for such costs. The operations of current and former tenants at our assets have involved, or may have involved, the use of hazardous materials or generated hazardous wastes. The release of such hazardous materials and wastes could result in us incurring liabilities to remediate any resulting contamination. The presence of contamination or the failure to remediate contamination at our properties may (i) expose us to third-party liability (e.g., for cleanup costs, natural resource damages, bodily injury or property damage), (ii) subject our properties to liens in favor of the government for damages and costs the government incurs in connection with the contamination, (iii) impose restrictions on the manner in which a property may be used or businesses may be operated, or (iv) materially adversely affect our ability to sell, lease or develop the real estate or to borrow using the real estate as collateral. In addition, our assets are exposed to the risk of contamination originating from other sources. While a property owner may not be responsible for remediating contamination that has migrated onsite from an identifiable and viable offsite source, the contaminant's presence can have adverse effects on operations and the redevelopment of our assets. To the extent we send contaminated materials to other locations for treatment or disposal, we may be liable for the cleanup of those sites if they become contaminated.

15

Table of Contents

Most of our assets have been subject, at some point, to environmental assessments that are intended to evaluate the environmental condition of the subject and surrounding assets. These environmental assessments generally have included a historical review, a public records review, a visual inspection of the site and surrounding assets, visual or historical evidence of underground storage tanks, and the preparation and issuance of a written report. Soil and/or groundwater subsurface testing is conducted at our assets, when necessary, to further investigate any issues raised by the initial assessment that could reasonably be expected to pose a material concern to the property or result in us incurring material environmental liabilities as a result of redevelopment. They may not, however, have included extensive sampling or subsurface investigations. In each case where the environmental assessments have identified conditions requiring remedial actions required by law, we have initiated appropriate actions. The environmental assessments did not reveal any material environmental contamination that we believe would have a material adverse effect on our overall business, financial condition or results of operations, or that have not been anticipated and remediated during site redevelopment as required by law. Nevertheless, there can be no assurance that the identification of new areas of contamination, changes in the extent or known scope of contamination, the discovery of additional sites or changes in cleanup requirements would not result in significant cost to us.

Affordable Housing and Tenant Protection Regulations

Certain states and municipalities have adopted laws and regulations imposing restrictions on the timing or amount of rent increases and other tenant protections. As of December 31, 2020, approximately 7% of the multifamily units in our Operating Portfolio were designated as affordable housing. In addition, Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland have laws that require, in certain circumstances, an owner of a multifamily rental property to allow tenant organizations the option to purchase the building at a market price if the owner attempts to sell the property. We expect to continue operating and acquiring assets in areas that either are subject to these types of laws or regulations or where such laws or regulations may be enacted in the future. Such laws and regulations limit our ability to charge market rents, increase rents, evict tenants or recover increases in our operating expenses and could make it more difficult for us to dispose of assets in certain circumstances.

The Americans with Disabilities Act and other Federal, State and Local Regulations

The ADA generally requires that public buildings, including our assets, meet certain federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. Noncompliance could result in the imposition of fines by the federal government or the award of damages to private litigants and/or legal fees to their counsel. If, under the ADA, we are required to make substantial alterations and capital expenditures in one or more of our assets, including the removal of access barriers, it could have a material adverse effect on us.

Additionally, our assets are subject to various federal, state and local regulatory requirements, such as state and local fire and life safety requirements. If we fail to comply with these requirements, we could incur fines or private damage awards. We do not know whether existing requirements will change or whether compliance with future requirements will require significant unanticipated expenditures that will affect our cash flow and results of operations.

Regulation Related to Government Tenants

As discussed above, the U.S. federal government is a significant tenant. Lease agreements with federal government agencies contain provisions required by federal law, which require, among other things, that the lessor of the property agree to comply with certain rules and regulations, including rules and regulations related to anti-kickback procedures, examination of records, audits and records, equal opportunity provisions, prohibition against segregated facilities, certain executive orders, subcontractor cost or pricing data, and certain provisions intending to assist small businesses. We directly manage assets with federal government agency tenants, which subjects us to additional risks associated with compliance with applicable federal rules and regulations. In addition, there are additional requirements relating to the potential application of equal opportunity provisions and related requirements to prepare written affirmative action plans applicable to government contractors and subcontractors. Some of the factors used to determine whether these requirements apply to a company that is affiliated with the actual government contractor (the legal entity that is the lessor under a lease with a federal government agency) include whether such company and the government contractor are under common ownership, have common management, and are under common control. We own the entity that is the government contractor and the

16

Table of Contents

property manager, increasing the risk that requirements of the Employment Standards Administration's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and requirements to prepare affirmative action plans pursuant to the applicable executive order may be determined to be applicable to us. Compliance with these regulations is costly and any increase in regulation could increase our costs, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

Human Capital

Our headquarters are located at 4747 Bethesda Avenue, Suite 200, Bethesda, MD 20814. As of December 31, 2020, we had 1,050 employees.

We believe that our talent is our competitive advantage. To that end, we focus on talent development and succession planning, pay-for-performance and diversity and inclusion.

We use talent management practices in the broadest sense to create a holistic, engaging work experience for our employees. The upshot of these practices includes accolades such as placing third on The Washington Post's list of Great Places to Work for large employers. The sentiments that led to this award were reiterated by our employees throughout the year in the frequent pulse surveys conducted to ensure we were supporting our population during the pandemic. Commensurate with our high levels of engagement, we also saw a decline in turnover for the second consecutive year. Given our continued desire to remain an employer of choice, we continue to monitor the effectiveness of our engagement and the engagement survey we launched in January 2021 reflected positive results and higher levels of engagement than previous such surveys.

A key to engagement for us is ensuring we are prioritizing our employees' needs and creating a workplace experience where employees thrive. We are proud of what we offer in the area of talent management and the investment we are making in our employee population – especially in a year where many companies were not able to do the same due to COVID-19. 

2020 also marked a transformative year in our corporate diversity and inclusion effort, as we continued to execute our comprehensive, multi-year strategy. With an ongoing focus on our five strategic pillars – (i) workforce and talent, (ii) workplace culture, (iii) business integration, (iv) industry and branding and (v) metrics and accountability – we have made notable progress in our journey to cultural and behavioral change.

​

From developing a multifaceted D&I communications strategy to launching our JBG SMITH Inclusion Community, our commitment to D&I was a priority throughout 2020. To help build D&I competency throughout the organization, our executive team and senior leaders took part in D&I training and  participated in related sessions focused on educating and raising awareness. In response to the external climate, specifically the well-publicized instances of racial injustice that took center stage in 2020, we created platforms for our employees to have a voice and engage in important dialogue. Through the launch of our JBG SMITH D&I Employee Roundtable Series, which included over 100 people, to various facilitated team discussions, we created opportunities to leverage the collective voices of our employees and impact real change.

​

We also focused on embedding D&I even further into our business, with a focus on implementing more inclusive and equitable systems, practices and processes. We assessed our talent and recruitment function to establish more inclusive, equitable processes and practices. From being intentional about how and where we recruit diverse talent, to ensuring diverse candidate slates for all open positions, the changes implemented resulted in our 2020 internship class being 54% diverse, with 30% of our interns coming from new partnerships with diverse colleges, universities and professional organizations.

Available Information

Copies of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports are available free of charge through our website (https://www.JBGSMITH.com) as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Also available on our website are copies of our Audit Committee Charter, Compensation Committee Charter, Corporate Governance and Nominating

17

Table of Contents

Committee Charter, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and Corporate Governance Guidelines. In the event of any changes to these charters or the code or guidelines, changed copies will also be made available on our website. Copies of these documents are also available directly from us free of charge. Our website also includes other financial information, including certain financial measures not in compliance with GAAP, none of which is a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Copies of our filings under the Exchange Act are also available free of charge from us, upon request.

​

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the following risks in evaluating our company and our common shares. If any of the following risks were to occur, our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, cash flow and the ability to make distributions to our shareholders could be materially and adversely affected, which we refer herein collectively as a "material adverse effect on us," the per share trading price of our common shares could decline significantly, and you could lose all or a part of your investment. Some statements in this Form 10-K, including statements in the following risk factors, constitute forward-looking statements. Refer to the section entitled "Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements" for additional information regarding these forward-looking statements.

Risks Related to COVID-19

COVID-19 has significantly impacted and disrupted our business, is expected to continue to significantly impact and cause disruption to, our business, financial performance and condition, operating results and cash flows, and such impacts and disruptions could have a material adverse effect on us. Future outbreaks of highly infectious or contagious diseases or other public health crises could have adverse effects on our business.

Since late February 2020, we have experienced additional cleaning and sanitation costs, reduced revenue from commercial parking, failures by some of our residential and commercial and many of our retail tenants to pay rent, combined with the inability to pursue our rights against many of those tenants due to governmental suspensions of evictions and late fees. Additional factors that could negatively impact our ability to successfully operate during or following COVID-19 or another pandemic, or that have otherwise significantly adversely impacted and disrupted our business, financial performance and condition, operating results and cash flows, or otherwise adversely impact our shareholders and may continue to do so include:

18

Table of Contents

19

Table of Contents

The significance, extent and duration of the impact of COVID-19 on our business remains largely uncertain and dependent on near-term and future developments that cannot be accurately predicted at this time, such as the continued severity, duration, transmission rate and geographic spread of COVID-19 in the United States, the speed of the vaccine roll-out, effectiveness and willingness of people to take COVID-19 vaccines, the duration of associated immunity and their efficacy against emerging variants of COVID-19, the extent and effectiveness of other containment measures taken, and the response of the overall economy, the financial markets and the population, particularly in areas in which we operate, once the current containment measures are lifted and whether the residential market in the Washington, D.C. region and any of our properties will be materially impacted by the moratoriums on residential evictions, among others.

The rapid development and fluidity of this situation precludes any prediction as to the ultimate adverse impact of COVID-19. As a result, we cannot provide an estimate of the overall impact of COVID-19 on our business or when, or if, we will be able to resume normal operations. Nevertheless, COVID-19 presents material uncertainty and risk with respect to our business, financial performance and condition, operating results and cash flows.

Risks Related to Our Business and Operations

Our portfolio of assets is geographically concentrated in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and submarkets therein, and particularly concentrated in National Landing, which makes us susceptible to adverse economic and other conditions such that an economic downturn affecting this area could have a material adverse effect on us.

We are particularly susceptible to adverse economic or other conditions in the Washington D.C. metropolitan market (such as periods of economic slowdown or recession, business layoffs or downsizing, industry slowdowns, actual or anticipated federal government shutdowns, uncertainties related to federal elections, relocations of businesses, increases in real estate and other taxes, and the cost of complying with governmental regulations or increased regulation), as well as to natural disasters (including earthquakes, floods, storms and hurricanes), potentially adverse effects of climate change and other disruptions that occur in this market (such as terrorist activity or threats of terrorist activity and other events), any of which may have a greater impact on the value of our assets or on our operating results than if we owned a more geographically diverse portfolio. Terrorist attacks in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area could directly or indirectly damage our assets, both physically and financially, or cause losses that materially exceed our insurance coverage. Properties that are occupied by federal government tenants may be more likely to be the target of a future attack. Moreover, the same risks that apply to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area as a whole also apply to the individual submarkets where our assets are located. National Landing makes up more than half of our portfolio based on square footage at our share. Portions of our markets, including National Landing, have underperformed other markets in the region with respect to rent growth and occupancy. Any adverse economic or other conditions in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, our submarkets, especially National Landing, or any decrease in demand for office, multifamily or retail assets could have a material adverse effect on us.

Our assets and the property development market in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area are dependent on a metropolitan economy that is heavily reliant on federal government spending, and any actual or anticipated curtailment of such spending could have a material adverse effect on us.

Any curtailment of federal government spending, whether due to a change of presidential administration or control of Congress, federal government sequestrations, furloughs or shutdowns, a slowdown of the U.S. and/or global economy or other factors, could have an adverse impact on real estate values and property development in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, on demand and willingness to enter into long-term contracts for office space by the federal government and companies dependent upon the federal government, as well as on occupancy rates and annualized rents of multifamily and retail assets by occupants or patrons whose employment is by or related to the federal government. These curtailments in federal spending or changes in federal leasing policy could occur in the future, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

20

Table of Contents

If Amazon invests less than the announced amounts in National Landing or makes such investment over a longer period, our ability to achieve the benefits associated with Amazon's headquarters in National Landing could be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on us and the market price of our common shares. Furthermore, National Landing could fail to achieve the anticipated collateral financial effect associated with Amazon's headquarters, which could have a material adverse effect on us and the market price of our common shares.

The benefits of Amazon's new headquarters locating in National Landing that might accrue to us may be less than we, financial or industry analysts or investors anticipate. For example, if Amazon invests less than the announced amounts in National Landing or makes such investment over a longer period than anticipated, or if its business prospects decline, our ability to achieve the benefits associated with Amazon's headquarters location in National Landing could be adversely affected. Furthermore, Amazon's headquarters location in National Landing may not have the anticipated collateral financial effect. If we do not achieve the perceived benefits of such location as rapidly or to the extent anticipated by us, financial or industry analysts or investors, we and potentially the market price of our common shares could be adversely affected. Amazon also currently leases a significant amount of office space from us, all or a substantial portion of which it may vacate following completion of the office buildings it is currently developing on land purchased from us in National Landing. If we are unable to re-lease that space at market rents, it could have a material adverse effect on us and the market price of our common shares. Additionally, if the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus reduces its contemplated size or does not have the anticipated collateral financial effect, it could have a material adverse effect on us.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue from U.S. federal government tenants and we may face additional risks and costs associated with directly managing assets occupied by government tenants.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, approximately 23.4% of the rental revenue from our commercial segment was generated by rentals to federal government tenants, and federal government tenants historically have been a significant source of new leasing for us. For the year ended December 31, 2020, GSA was our largest single tenant, with 61 leases comprising 20.4% of total annualized rent at our share. The occurrence of events that have a negative impact on the demand for federal government office space, such as a decrease in federal government payrolls or a change in policy that prevents governmental tenants from renting our office space, would have a much larger adverse effect on our revenue than a corresponding occurrence affecting other categories of tenants. If demand for federal government office space were to decline, it would be more difficult for us to lease our buildings and could reduce overall market demand and corresponding rental rates, all of which could have a material adverse effect on us. Lease agreements with these federal government agencies contain provisions required by federal law, which require, among other things, that the lessor of the property agree to comply with certain rules and regulations, including rules and regulations related to anti-kickback procedures, examination of records, audits and records, equal opportunity provisions, prohibition against segregated facilities, certain executive orders, subcontractor cost or pricing data, and certain provisions intending to assist small businesses. We directly manage assets with federal government agency tenants, which subjects us to additional risks associated with compliance with applicable federal rules and regulations. In addition, there are additional requirements relating to the potential application of equal opportunity provisions and related requirements to prepare written affirmative action plans applicable to government contractors and subcontractors. Some of the factors used to determine whether these requirements apply to a company that is affiliated with the actual government contractor (the legal entity that is the lessor under a lease with a federal government agency) include whether such company and the government contractor are under common ownership, have common management, and are under common control. We own the entity that is the government contractor and the property manager, increasing the risk that requirements of the Employment Standards Administration's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and requirements to prepare affirmative action plans pursuant to the applicable executive order may be determined to be applicable to us. Compliance with these regulations is costly and any increase in regulation could increase our costs, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

We are exposed to risks associated with real estate development and redevelopment, such as unanticipated expenses, delays and other contingencies, any of which could have a material adverse effect on us.

Real estate development and redevelopment activities are a critical element of our business strategy, and we expect to engage in such activities with respect to several of our properties and with properties that we may acquire in the future. To the extent that we do so, we will be subject to risks, including, without limitation:

21

Table of Contents

These risks could result in substantial unanticipated delays or expenses and, under certain circumstances, could prevent the initiation or the completion of development or redevelopment activities, any of which could have a material adverse effect on us.

Partnership or real estate venture investments could be adversely affected by our lack of sole decision-making authority, our reliance on partners' or co-venturers' financial condition and disputes between us and our partners or co-venturers, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

As of December 31, 2020, approximately 11.6% of our assets measured by total square feet at our share were held through real estate ventures, and we expect to co-invest in the future with other third parties through partnerships, real estate ventures or other entities, acquiring noncontrolling interests in or sharing responsibility for managing the affairs of a property, partnership, real estate venture or other entity. In particular, we may use real estate ventures as a significant source of equity capital to fund our development strategy. Consequently, with respect to any such third-party arrangement, we would not be in a position to exercise sole decision-making authority regarding the property, partnership, real estate venture or other entity, or structure of ownership and may, under certain circumstances, be exposed to risks not present were a third party not involved, including the possibility that partners or co-venturers might become bankrupt or fail to fund their share of required capital contributions, and we may be forced to make contributions to maintain the value of the property. Partners or co-venturers may have economic or other business interests or goals that are inconsistent with our business interests or goals and may be in a position to take action or withhold consent contrary to our policies or objectives. In some instances, partners or co-venturers may have competing interests in our markets that could create conflict of interest issues. These investments may also have the potential risk of impasses on decisions, such as a sale, because neither we nor the partner or co-venturer would have full control over the partnership or real estate venture. We and our respective partners or co-venturers may each have the right to trigger a buy-sell right or forced sale arrangement, which could cause us to sell our interest, or acquire our partners' or co-venturers' interest, or to sell the underlying asset, either on unfavorable terms or at a time when we otherwise would not have initiated such a transaction. In addition, a sale or transfer by us to a third party of our interests in the partnership or real estate venture may be subject to consent rights or rights of first refusal in favor of our partners or co-venturers, which would in each case restrict our ability to dispose of our interest in the partnership or real estate venture. Where we are a limited partner or non-managing member in any partnership or limited liability company, if the entity takes or expects to take actions that could jeopardize our status as a REIT or require us to pay tax, we may be forced to dispose of our interest in that entity, including by contributing our interest to a subsidiary of ours that is subject to corporate level income tax. Disputes between us and partners or co-venturers may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses and prevent our officers and/or trustees from focusing their time and effort on our business. Consequently, actions by or disputes with partners or co-venturers might result in subjecting assets owned by the partnership or real estate venture to additional risk. In addition, we may in certain circumstances be liable for the actions of our third-party partners or co-venturers. Our real estate ventures may be subject to debt, and the refinancing of such debt may require equity capital calls. Furthermore, any cash distributions from real estate ventures will be subject to the operating agreements of the real estate ventures, which may limit distributions, the timing of distributions or specify certain preferential distributions among the respective parties. The occurrence of any of the risks described above could have a material adverse effect on us.

22

Table of Contents

We depend on major tenants in our commercial portfolio, and the bankruptcy, insolvency or inability to pay rent of any of these tenants could have a material adverse effect on us.

As of December 31, 2020, the 20 largest office and retail tenants in our Operating Portfolio represented approximately 53.0% of our share of total annualized office and retail estimated rent. In many cases, through tenant improvement allowances and other concessions, we have made substantial upfront investments in leases with our major tenants that we may not recover if they fail to pay rent through the end of the lease term. The inability or failure of a major tenant to pay rent, or the bankruptcy or insolvency of a major tenant, may adversely affect the income produced by our Operating Portfolio. Additionally, we may experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord due to federal, state and local laws and regulations and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment. Any such event could have a material adverse effect on us.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue from five of our assets.

As of December 31, 2020, five of our assets in the aggregate generated approximately 22.6% of our share of annualized rent. The occurrence of events that have a negative impact on one or more of these assets, such as a natural disaster that damages one or more of these assets, would have a much larger adverse effect on our revenue than a corresponding occurrence affecting a less significant property. A substantial decline in the revenue generated by one or more of these assets could have a material adverse effect on us.

Our Placemaking business model depends in significant part on a retail component, which frequently involves retail assets embedded in or adjacent to our multifamily assets and/or commercial assets, making us subject to risks that affect the retail environment generally, such as competition from discount and online retailers, weakness in the economy, a decline in consumer spending and the financial condition of major retail tenants, any of which could adversely affect market rents for retail space and the willingness or ability of retailers to lease space in our retail assets.

If our retail assets lose tenants, whether to the proliferation of online businesses and discount retailers, a decline in general economic conditions and consumer spending or otherwise, it could have a material adverse effect on us. If we fail to reinvest in and redevelop our assets to maintain their attractiveness to retailers and shoppers, then retailers or shoppers may perceive that shopping at other venues or online is more convenient, cost-effective or otherwise more attractive, which could negatively affect our ability to rent retail space at our assets. In addition, some of our assets depend on anchor or major retail tenants to attract shoppers and could be adversely affected by the loss of, or a store closure by, one or more of these tenants. Any of the foregoing factors could adversely affect the financial condition of our retail tenants, the willingness of retailers to lease space from us, and the success of our Placemaking business model, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

The loss of one or more members of our senior management team could adversely affect our ability to manage our business and to implement our growth strategies or could create a negative perception in the capital markets.

Our success and our ability to implement and manage anticipated future growth depend, in large part, upon the efforts of our senior management team. Members of our senior management team have national or regional industry reputations that attract business and investment opportunities and assist us in negotiations with lenders, existing and potential tenants and other industry participants. The loss of services of one or more members of our senior management team, or our inability to attract and retain similarly qualified personnel, could adversely affect our business, diminish our investment opportunities and weaken our relationships with lenders, business partners, existing and prospective tenants and industry participants, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

The actual density of our development pipeline and/or any development parcel may not be consistent with our estimated potential development density.

As of December 31, 2020, we estimate that our 10 wholly owned near-term development pipeline assets will total 5.6 million square feet of estimated potential development density and our 29 future development pipeline assets will total 14.8 million square feet (12.0 million square feet at our share) of estimated potential development density. The potential development density estimates for our development pipeline and/or any particular development parcel are based solely on our estimates, using data available to us, and our business plans as of December 31, 2020. The actual density of our development pipeline and/or any development parcel may differ substantially from our estimates based on numerous

23

Table of Contents

factors, including our inability to obtain necessary zoning, land use and other required entitlements, legal challenges to our plans by activists and others, as well as building, occupancy and other required governmental permits and authorizations, and changes in the entitlement, permitting and authorization processes that restrict or delay our ability to develop, redevelop or use our development pipeline at anticipated density levels. Moreover, we may strategically choose not to develop, redevelop or use our development pipeline to its maximum potential development density or may be unable to do so as a result of factors beyond our control, including our ability to obtain financing on terms and conditions that we find acceptable, or at all, to fund our development activities. We can provide no assurance that the actual density of our development pipeline and/or any development parcel will be consistent with our estimated potential development density.

The occurrence of cyber incidents, or a deficiency in our cybersecurity, could negatively impact our business by causing a disruption to our operations, a compromise or corruption of our confidential information, regulatory enforcement and other legal proceedings and/or damage to our business relationships, all of which could negatively impact our financial results.

A cyber incident is any intentional or unintentional adverse event that threatens the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of our information resources and can include unauthorized persons gaining access to systems to disrupt operations, corrupting data or stealing confidential information. The risk of a cyber incident or disruption, including by computer hackers, foreign governments and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks have increased globally. As our reliance on technology increases, so do the risks posed to our systems – both internal and external. Our primary risks that could directly result from the occurrence of a cyber incident are theft of assets; operational interruption; regulatory enforcement, lawsuits and other legal proceedings; damage to our relationships with our tenants; and private data exposure. A significant and extended disruption could damage our business or reputation, cause a loss of revenue, have an adverse effect on tenant relations, cause an unintended or unauthorized public disclosure, or lead to the misappropriation of proprietary, personally identifying, and confidential information, any of which could result in us incurring significant expenses to resolve these kinds of issues. Although we have implemented processes, procedures and controls to help mitigate the risks associated with a cyber incident, there can be no assurance that these measures will be sufficient for all possible situations. Even security measures that are appropriate, reasonable and/or in accordance with applicable legal requirements may not be sufficient to protect the information we maintain. Unauthorized parties, whether within or outside our company, may disrupt or gain access to our systems, or those of third parties with whom we do business, through human error, misfeasance, fraud, trickery, or other forms of deceit, including break-ins, use of stolen credentials, social engineering, phishing, computer viruses or other malicious codes, and similar means of unauthorized and destructive tampering. Even the most well protected information, networks, systems and facilities remain potentially vulnerable because the techniques used in such attempted cyber incidents evolve and generally are not recognized until launched against a target. Accordingly, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate security barriers or other preventative measures, making it impossible for us to entirely mitigate this risk. If any of the foregoing risks materialize, it could have a material adverse effect on us.

We face risks related to the real estate industry.

As a REIT we are subject to significant risks related to the real estate industry, any of which could have a material adverse effect on us. These include, among other things:

24

Table of Contents

We may incur significant costs to comply with environmental laws, and environmental contamination may impair our ability to lease and/or sell real estate.

Our operations and assets are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations concerning the protection of the environment including air and water quality, hazardous or toxic substances and health and safety. Under some environmental laws, a current or previous owner or operator of real estate may be required to investigate and clean up hazardous or toxic substances released at a property. The owner or operator may also be held liable to a governmental entity or to third parties for property damage or personal injuries and for investigation and clean-up costs incurred by those parties because of the contamination. These laws often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of the release of the substances or caused such release. The presence of contamination or the failure to remediate

25

Table of Contents

contamination may (i) expose us to third-party liability (e.g., for cleanup costs, natural resource damages, bodily injury or property damage), (ii) subject our properties to liens in favor of the government for damages and costs the government incurs in connection with the contamination, (iii) result in restrictions on the manner in which a property may be used or businesses may be operated, or (iv) impair our ability to sell or lease real estate or to borrow using the real estate as collateral. To the extent we send contaminated materials to other locations for treatment or disposal, we may be liable for cleanup of those sites if they become contaminated. Other laws and regulations govern indoor and outdoor air quality including those that can require the abatement or removal of asbestos-containing materials in the event of damage, demolition, renovation or remodeling, and also govern emissions of and exposure to asbestos fibers in the air. The maintenance and removal of lead paint and certain electrical equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are also regulated by federal and state laws. We are also subject to risks associated with human exposure to chemical or biological contaminants such as molds, pollens, viruses and bacteria which, above certain levels, can be alleged to be connected to allergic or other health effects and symptoms in susceptible individuals. Our predecessor companies may be subject to similar liabilities for activities of those companies in the past. We could incur fines for environmental noncompliance and be held liable for the costs of remedial action with respect to the foregoing regulated substances or related claims arising out of environmental contamination or human exposure at or from our assets. Most of our assets have been subjected to varying degrees of environmental assessment at various times. To date, these environmental assessments have not revealed any environmental condition material to our business. However, identification of new compliance concerns or undiscovered areas of contamination, changes in the extent or known scope of contamination, human exposure to contamination or changes in cleanup or compliance requirements could result in significant costs to us. In addition, we may become subject to costs or taxes, or increases therein, associated with natural resource or energy usage (such as a "carbon tax"). These costs or taxes could increase our operating costs and decrease the cash available to pay our obligations or distribute to equity holders.

Risks Related to the Capital Markets and Related Activities

We face risks related to our common shares.

These risks include, among other things, the risk that an economic downturn or a deterioration in the capital markets may materially affect the value of our equity and debt securities; the absence of any guarantee or certainty regarding the timing, amount, or payment of future dividends on our common shares; the risk of dilution of ownership in our company due to certain actions taken by us; the risk that future offerings of debt or equity securities, which would be senior to our common shares upon liquidation, and/or preferred equity securities, which may be senior to our common shares for purposes of dividend distributions or upon liquidation, may adversely affect the per share trading price of our common shares; and the risk that the announcement of a material acquisition may result in a rapid and significant decline in the price of our common shares. If any of the foregoing risks materialize, it could have a material adverse effect on us.

We have a substantial amount of indebtedness, and our debt agreements include restrictive covenants and other requirements, which may limit our financial and operating activities, our future acquisition and development activities, or otherwise affect our financial condition.

As of December 31, 2020, we had $2.0 billion aggregate principal amount of consolidated debt outstanding, and our unconsolidated real estate ventures had $1.2 billion aggregate principal amount of debt outstanding ($399.0 million at our share), resulting in a total of $2.4 billion aggregate principal amount of debt outstanding at our share. A portion of our outstanding debt is guaranteed by our operating partnership. Our cash flow from operations may be insufficient to meet our required debt service and payments of principal and interest on borrowings may leave us with insufficient cash resources to operate our assets or to pay the dividends currently contemplated. Additionally, our debt agreements include customary restrictive covenants, that, among other things, restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness, to engage in material asset sales, mergers, consolidations and acquisitions, and to make capital expenditures, and some of our debt agreements also include requirements to maintain financial ratios. Our ability to borrow is subject to compliance with these and other covenants, and failure to comply with our covenants could cause a default under the applicable debt instrument, and we may then be required to repay such debt with capital from other sources or give possession of a property to the lender. Any of the foregoing could affect our ability to obtain additional funds as needed, or on favorable terms, which could, among other things, adversely affect our ability to meet operational needs or to finance our future acquisition and development activities.

26

Table of Contents

We may not be able to obtain capital to make investments.

We are primarily dependent on external capital to fund the expected growth of our business. Our access to debt or equity capital depends on the willingness of third parties to lend or make equity investments and on conditions in the capital markets generally. There can be no assurance that new capital will be available or available on acceptable terms.

Our future development plans are capital intensive. To complete these plans, we anticipate funding construction and development through asset sales, real estate ventures with third parties, recapitalizations of assets, and public or private securities offerings, or a combination thereof. Similarly, these plans require a significant amount of debt financing which subjects us to additional risks. For information about our available sources of funds, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Liquidity and Capital Resources" and the notes to the consolidated financial statements included herein.

We are subject to interest rate risk, which could increase our interest expense, increase the cost to refinance and increase the cost of issuing new debt.

As of December 31, 2020, approximately $678.3 million of our outstanding consolidated debt was subject to instruments that bear interest at variable rates without the benefit of arrangements that hedge against the risk of rising interest rates, and we may also borrow additional money at variable interest rates in the future without the benefit of associated hedges. With respect to these unhedged amounts, increases in interest rates would increase our interest expense under these instruments, increase the cost of refinancing these instruments or issuing new debt, and adversely affect our cash flow and our ability to service our indebtedness and make distributions to our shareholders, which could, in turn, adversely affect the market price of our common shares. Based on our aggregate variable rate debt outstanding as of December 31, 2020, an increase of 100 basis points in interest rates would result in a hypothetical increase of approximately $6.9 million in interest expense on an annual basis. The amount of this change includes the benefit of interest rate swaps and caps we currently have in place.

Subject to these restrictions, we may enter into hedging transactions to protect ourselves from the effects of interest rate fluctuations on floating rate debt. As of December 31, 2020, our hedging transactions included interest rate swap agreements, which covered $862.7 million of our outstanding consolidated debt. Interest rate hedging can be expensive, particularly during periods of rising and volatile interest rates, which could reduce the overall returns on our investments. Moreover, there can be no assurance that our hedging arrangements will qualify as highly effective cash flow hedges under applicable accounting standards. Furthermore, should we desire to terminate a hedging agreement, there could be significant costs and cash requirements. Finally, he REIT provisions of the Code impose certain restrictions on our ability to use hedges, swaps and other types of derivatives to hedge our liabilities. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on us.

The future of the reference rate used in our existing floating rate debt instruments and hedging arrangements is uncertain, which could have an uncertain economic effect on these instruments, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

Our existing floating rate debt instruments, including our credit facility, and our hedging arrangements currently use as a reference rate the USD-LIBOR, and we expect a transition from LIBOR to another reference rate due to plans to phase out the reference rate by the end of 2021, after which point its continuation cannot be assured. Though an alternative reference rate for USD-LIBOR, the SOFR, exists, significant uncertainties still remain. We can provide no assurance regarding the future of LIBOR and when our LIBOR-based instruments will transition from USD-LIBOR as a reference rate to SOFR or another reference rate. The discontinuation of a benchmark rate or other financial metric, changes in a benchmark rate or other financial metric, or changes in market perceptions of the acceptability of a benchmark rate or other financial metric, including LIBOR, could, among other things result in increased interest payments, changes to our risk exposures, or require renegotiation of previous transactions. In addition, any such discontinuation or changes, whether actual or anticipated, could result in market volatility, adverse tax or accounting effects, increased compliance, legal and operational costs, and risks associated with contract negotiations.

27

Table of Contents

Risks and Conflicts of Interest Related to Our Organization and Structure

Tax consequences to holders of JBG SMITH LP limited partnership units upon a sale of certain of our assets may cause the interests of our senior management to differ from your own.

Some holders of JBG SMITH LP limited partnership units, including some members of our senior management, may suffer different and more adverse tax consequences than holders of our common shares upon the sale of certain of the assets owned by our operating partnership, and therefore these holders may have different objectives regarding the material terms of any sale or refinancing of certain assets, or whether to sell such assets at all.

Certain of our trustees and executive officers may have actual or potential conflicts of interest because of their previous or continuing equity interest in, or positions at, JBG or Vornado, as applicable, including trustees and members of our senior management, who have an ownership interest in the JBG Legacy Funds and own carried interests in certain JBG Legacy Funds and in certain of our real estate ventures that entitles them to receive additional compensation if certain funds or real estate venture achieves certain return thresholds.

Some of our trustees and executive officers are persons who are or have been employees of JBG or were employees of Vornado. Because of their current or former positions with JBG or Vornado, certain of our trustees and executive officers own equity interests in certain JBG Legacy Funds and related entities or Vornado common shares or other Vornado equity awards. In addition, one of our trustees continues to serve as chief executive officer and chairman of the Board of Trustees of Vornado. Ownership of interests in the JBG Legacy Funds or Vornado common shares, or service as a trustee or managing partner, as applicable, at either company, could create, or appear to create, potential conflicts of interest. Certain of the JBG Legacy Funds own the JBG Excluded Assets, which JBG Legacy Funds are owned in part by members of our senior management. In addition, although the asset management and property management fees associated with the JBG Excluded Assets were assigned to us upon completion of the Formation Transaction, the general partner and managing member interests in the JBG Legacy Funds held by former JBG executives (who became members of our management team) were not transferred to us and remain under the control of these individuals. As a result, our management's time and efforts may be diverted from the management of our assets to management of the JBG Legacy Funds, which could adversely affect the execution of our business plan and our results of operations and cash flow. In addition, members of our senior management have an ownership interest in the JBG Legacy Funds and own carried interests in each fund and in certain of our real estate ventures that entitle them to receive additional compensation if the fund or real estate venture achieves certain return thresholds. As a result, members of our senior management could be incentivized to spend time and effort maximizing the cash flow from the assets being retained by the JBG Legacy Funds and certain real estate ventures, particularly through sales of assets, which may accelerate payments of the carried interest but would reduce the asset management and other fees that would otherwise be payable to us with respect to the JBG Excluded Assets. These actions could adversely impact our results of operations and cash flow.

Other potential conflicts of interest with the JBG Legacy Funds include transactions with these funds and competition for tenants. We have, and in the future we may, enter into transactions with the JBG Legacy Funds, such as purchasing assets from them. Any such transaction would create a conflict of interest as a result of our management team's interests on both sides of the transaction, because we manage the JBG Legacy Funds and because members of our management own interests in the general partner or other managing entities of the funds. We may compete for tenants with the JBG Legacy Funds and because we typically manage the assets of the JBG Legacy Funds, we may have a conflict of interest when competing for a tenant if the tenant is interested in assets owned by us and the JBG Legacy Funds. Any of the above described conflicts of interest could have a material adverse effect on us.

We may acquire properties or portfolios of properties through tax deferred contribution transactions, which could result in shareholder dilution and limit our ability to sell or refinance such assets.

In the future, we may acquire properties or portfolios of properties through tax deferred contribution transactions in exchange for partnership interests in our operating partnership, which may result in shareholder dilution through the issuance of OP Units that may be exchanged for common shares. This acquisition structure may have the effect of, among other things, reducing the amount of tax depreciation we could deduct (as compared to a transaction where we do not inherit the contributor's tax basis but acquire tax basis equal to the value of the consideration exchanged for the property) until the OP units issued in such transactions are redeemed for cash or converted into common shares. While no such protection arrangements existed as of December 31, 2020, in the future we may agree to protect the contributors' ability to

28

Table of Contents

defer recognition of taxable gain through restrictions on our ability to dispose of, or refinance the debt on, the acquired properties for specified periods of time. Similarly, we may be required to incur or maintain debt we would otherwise not incur or maintain so that we can allocate the debt to the contributors to maintain their tax bases. These restrictions could limit our ability to sell an asset at a time, or on terms, that would be favorable absent such restrictions.

Our declaration of trust and bylaws, the partnership agreement of our operating partnership and Maryland law contain provisions that may delay, defer or prevent a change of control transaction that might involve a premium price for our common shares or that our shareholders otherwise believe to be in their best interest.

Our declaration of trust contains ownership limits with respect to our shares. Generally, to maintain our qualification as a REIT, no more than 50% in value of our outstanding shares of beneficial interest may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer "individuals" (including some types of entities) at any time during the last half of our taxable year. To address this requirement and other considerations, our declaration of trust prohibits, among other things, the actual, beneficial or constructive ownership by any person of more than 7.5% in value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of any class or series. For these purposes, our declaration of trust includes a "group" as that term is used for purposes of Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act in the definition of "person." Our Board of Trustees may exempt a person, prospectively or retroactively, from these ownership limits if certain conditions are satisfied.

This ownership limit and the other restrictions on ownership and transfer of our shares contained in our declaration of trust may:

Additionally, our declaration of trust authorizes the Board of Trustees, without shareholder approval, to establish a class or series of common or preferred shares whose terms could delay, deter or prevent a change in control or other transaction that might involve a premium price or otherwise be in the best interest of our shareholders. Our declaration of trust and bylaws contain other provisions that may delay, deter or prevent a change of control or other transaction that might involve a premium price or otherwise be in the best interest of our shareholders.

Provisions of Maryland law could inhibit changes in control, which may discourage third parties from conducting a tender offer or seeking other change of control transactions that might involve a premium price for our common shares or that our shareholders might otherwise believe to be in their best interest. Provisions of the MGCL, may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making a proposal to acquire us or of impeding a change of control under circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of common shares with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of such shares, including:

As permitted by the MGCL, we have elected in our bylaws to opt out of the business combination and control share provisions of the MGCL. However, we cannot assure you that our Board of Trustees will not opt to be subject to such provisions of the MGCL in the future, including opting to be subject to such provisions retroactively.

The limited partnership agreement of our operating partnership requires the approval of the limited partners with respect to certain extraordinary transactions involving JBG SMITH, which may reduce the likelihood of such transactions being consummated, even if they are in the best interests of, and have been approved by, our shareholders.

29

Table of Contents

The limited partnership agreement of JBG SMITH LP provides that we may not engage in a merger, consolidation or other combination with or into another person, a sale of all or substantially all of our assets, or a reclassification, recapitalization or a change in outstanding shares (except for changes in par value, or from par value to no par value, or as a result of a subdivision or combination of our common shares), which we refer to collectively as an extraordinary transaction, unless specified criteria are met. In particular, with respect to any extraordinary transaction, if partners will receive consideration for their limited partnership units and if we seek the approval of our shareholders for the transaction (or if we would have been required to obtain shareholder approval of any such extraordinary transaction but for the fact that a tender offer shall have been accepted with respect to a sufficient number of our common shares to permit consummation of such extraordinary transaction without shareholder approval), then the limited partnership agreement prohibits us from engaging in the extraordinary transaction unless we also obtain "partnership approval." To obtain "partnership approval," we must obtain the consent of our limited partners (including us and any limited partners majority owned, directly or indirectly, by us) representing a percentage interest in JBG SMITH LP that is equal to or greater than the percentage of our outstanding common shares required (or that would have been required in the absence of a tender offer) to approve the extraordinary transaction, provided that we and any limited partners majority owned, directly or indirectly, by us will be deemed to have provided consent for our partnership units solely in proportion to the percentage of our common shares approving the extraordinary transaction (or, if there is no shareholder vote with respect to such extraordinary transaction because a tender offer shall have been accepted with respect to a sufficient number of our common shares to permit consummation of the extraordinary transaction without shareholder approval, the percentage of our common shares with respect to which such tender offer shall have been accepted). The limited partners of JBG SMITH LP may have interests in an extraordinary transaction that differ from those of common shareholders, and there can be no assurance that, if we are required to seek "partnership approval" for such a transaction, we will be able to obtain it. As a result, if a sufficient number of limited partners oppose such an extraordinary transaction, the limited partnership agreement may prohibit us from consummating it, even if it is in the best interests of, and has been approved by, our shareholders.

Substantially all our assets are owned by subsidiaries. We depend on dividends and distributions from these subsidiaries. The creditors of these subsidiaries are entitled to amounts payable to them by the subsidiaries before the subsidiaries may pay any dividends or other distributions to us.

Substantially all of our assets are held through JBG SMITH LP, which holds substantially all of its assets through wholly owned subsidiaries. JBG SMITH LP's cash flow is dependent on cash distributions to it by its subsidiaries, and in turn, substantially all of our cash flow is dependent on cash distributions to us by JBG SMITH LP. The creditors of each of our subsidiaries are entitled to payment of that subsidiary's obligations to them when due and payable before distributions may be made by that subsidiary to its equity holders. In addition, the operating agreements governing some of our subsidiaries which are parties to real estate joint ventures may have restrictions on distributions which could limit the ability of those subsidiaries to make distributions to JBG SMITH LP. Thus, JBG SMITH LP's ability to make distributions to holders of its units, including us, depends on its subsidiaries' ability first to satisfy their obligations to their creditors, and then to make distributions to JBG SMITH LP. Likewise, our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders depends on JBG SMITH LP's ability first to satisfy its obligations, if any, to its creditors and make distributions payable to holders of preferred units (if any), and then to make distributions to us. In addition, our participation in any distribution of the assets of any of our subsidiaries upon the liquidation, reorganization or insolvency of the subsidiary, occurs only after the claims of the creditors, including trade creditors, and preferred security holders, if any, of the applicable direct or indirect subsidiaries are satisfied.

Our rights and the rights of our shareholders to take action against our trustees and officers are limited.

As permitted by Maryland law, under our declaration of trust, trustees and officers shall not be liable to us and our shareholders for money damages, except for liability resulting from actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services; or a final judgment based upon a finding of active and deliberate dishonesty by the trustee or officer that was material to the cause of action adjudicated. In addition, our declaration of trust requires us to indemnify our trustees and officers for actions taken by them in those and certain other capacities to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. The Maryland REIT law permits a REIT to indemnify and advance expenses to its trustees, officers, employees and agents to the same extent as permitted by the MGCL for directors and officers of a Maryland corporation. Generally, Maryland law permits a Maryland corporation to indemnify its present and former directors and officers except in instances where the person seeking indemnification acted in bad faith or with active and deliberate dishonesty, actually received an improper personal benefit in money, property or services or, in the case of a criminal proceeding, had

30

Table of Contents

reasonable cause to believe that his or her actions were unlawful. Under Maryland law, a Maryland corporation also may not indemnify a director or officer in a suit by or in the right of the corporation in which the director or officer was adjudged liable to the corporation or for a judgment of liability on the basis that a personal benefit was improperly received. A court may order indemnification if it determines that the director or officer is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnification, even though the director or officer did not meet the prescribed standard of conduct; however, indemnification for an adverse judgment in a suit by us or in our right, or for a judgment of liability on the basis that personal benefit was improperly received, is limited to expenses. As a result, we and our shareholders may have more limited rights against our trustees and officers than might otherwise exist. Accordingly, if actions taken in good faith by any of our trustees or officers impede the performance of our company, your ability to recover damages from such trustee or officer will be limited.

Risks Related to Our Status as a REIT

We may fail to qualify or remain qualified as a REIT and may be required to pay income taxes at corporate rates.

Although we believe that we are organized and intend to operate to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we may fail to remain so qualified. Qualification and taxation as a REIT are governed by highly technical and complex provisions of the Code for which there are only limited judicial or administrative interpretations and depend on various facts and circumstances that are not entirely within our control. If, with respect to any taxable year, we fail to maintain our qualification as a REIT and do not qualify under the relevant statutory relief provisions, we would have to pay federal income tax on our taxable income at regular corporate rates and could not deduct our distributions in determining our taxable income subject to tax. If we had to pay federal income tax, the amount of money available to distribute to shareholders and pay our indebtedness would be reduced for the year or years involved, and we would not be required to make distributions to shareholders in that taxable year and in future years until we again were able to qualify as a REIT. In addition, we would also be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which qualification was lost, unless we were entitled to relief under the relevant statutory provisions.

REIT distribution requirements could adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to execute our business plan or require us to make distributions of our shares or other securities.

For us to qualify to be taxed as a REIT, we generally must distribute to our shareholders each year at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains. We intend to distribute 100% of our REIT taxable income to our shareholders out of assets legally available therefor. From time to time, we may generate taxable income greater than our cash flow If we do not have other funds available in these situations, we could be required to borrow funds on unfavorable terms, sell assets at disadvantageous prices, distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions, capital expenditures or repayment of debt, or make taxable distributions of our shares or debt securities to make distributions sufficient to enable us to pay out enough of our taxable income to satisfy the REIT distribution requirement and avoid corporate income tax and a 4% excise tax in a particular year. These alternatives could increase our costs or reduce our equity. Because amounts distributed will not be available to fund investment activities, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to grow, which could adversely affect the value of our shares. Any restrictions on our ability to incur additional indebtedness or make certain distributions could preclude us from meeting the 90% distribution requirement. Decreases in funds from operations due to unfinanced expenditures for acquisitions of assets or increases in the number of shares outstanding without commensurate increases in funds from operations would each adversely affect our ability to maintain our current level of distributions to our shareholders. Consequently, there can be no assurance that we will be able to make distributions at the anticipated distribution rate or any other rate.

The tax imposed on REITs engaging in "prohibited transactions" may limit our ability to engage in transactions that would be treated as sales for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

A REIT's net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% penalty tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of property, other than foreclosure property, held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. Although we and our subsidiary REITs believe that we have held, and intend to continue to hold, our properties for investment and do not intend to hold direct (rather than through taxable corporate subsidiaries) any properties that could be characterized as held for sale to customers in the ordinary course of our business, such characterization is a factual determination and no guarantee can be given that the IRS would agree with our characterization of our properties or that we will always be able to make use of the available statutory safe harbor. In the case of some of our properties held

31

Table of Contents

through partnerships with third parties, our ability to control the disposition of such properties in a manner that avoids the imposition of the prohibited transactions tax depends in part on the action of third parties over which we have no control or only limited influence.

To comply with the restrictions imposed on REITs, we may have to conduct certain activities and own certain assets through a TRS, which will be subject to normal corporate income tax, and we could be subject to a 100% penalty tax if our transactions with our TRSs are not conducted on arm's length terms.

A TRS is a corporation in which a REIT directly or indirectly holds stock and which has elected, with the REIT to be taxable as a regular corporation, at regular corporate income tax rates. As a REIT, we cannot own certain assets or conduct certain activities directly, without risking failing the income or asset tests that apply to REITs. We can, however, hold these assets or undertake these activities through a TRS. For example, we generally cannot provide certain non-customary services to our tenants, and we cannot derive income from a third party that provides such services. If we forego providing such services to our tenants, we may be at a disadvantage to competitors who are not subject to the same restrictions. Accordingly, we provide such non-customary services to our tenants and share in the revenue from such services our TRSs. As noted, the income earned through our TRSs will be subject to corporate income taxes. In addition, a 100% excise tax will be imposed on certain transactions between us and our TRSs that are not conducted on an arm's length basis.

Risks Related to the Formation Transaction

We could be required to indemnify Vornado for certain material tax obligations that could arise as addressed in the Tax Matters Agreement and certain obligations under the Separation and Distribution Agreement. Furthermore, Vornado agreed to indemnify us for certain pre-distribution liabilities and liabilities related to Vornado assets and there can be no assurance that these obligations will be sufficient to protect us. Additionally, there may be undisclosed liabilities of the Vornado and JBG assets contributed to us in the Formation Transaction that might expose us to potentially large, unanticipated costs.

Under the Tax Matters Agreement that we entered into with Vornado, we may be required to indemnify Vornado against any taxes and related amounts and costs if the distribution of JBG SMITH shares by Vornado, together with certain related transactions, is not tax-free and that treatment results from (i) actions or failures to act by us, or (ii) our breach of certain representations or undertakings. The Separation Agreement provides for indemnification obligations designed to make us financially responsible for substantially all liabilities that may exist relating to our business activities, whether incurred prior to or after the Formation Transaction, as well as those obligations of Vornado that we assumed pursuant to the Separation Agreement. If we are required to indemnify Vornado under the circumstances set forth in the Tax Matters Agreement or the Separation Agreement, we may be subject to substantial liabilities. Pursuant to the Separation Agreement, Vornado agreed to indemnify us for certain liabilities. However, third parties could seek to hold us responsible for any of the liabilities that Vornado agreed to retain, and there can be no assurance that Vornado will be able to fully satisfy its indemnification obligations. Moreover, even if we ultimately succeed in recovering from Vornado any amounts for which we are held liable, such indemnification may be insufficient to fully offset the financial impact of such liabilities and/or we may be temporarily required to bear these losses while seeking recovery from Vornado. Additionally, prior to entering into the MTA, the diligence reviews performed each of Vornado and JBG with respect to the business and assets of the other were necessarily limited in nature and scope and may not have adequately uncovered all of the contingent or undisclosed liabilities that we assumed in connection with the Formation Transaction, many of which may not be covered by insurance. The MTA does not provide for indemnification for these types of liabilities by either party post-closing, and, therefore, we may not have any recourse with respect to such unexpected liabilities. Any such liabilities could cause us to experience losses, which may be significant, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

Unless Vornado and JBG SMITH were both REITs following the Separation, JBG SMITH could be required to recognize certain corporate-level gains for tax purposes as a result of the Separation.

We believe that each of Vornado and JBG SMITH operated in a manner so that each qualified immediately after the Separation and at all times during the two years after the Separation. However, if either Vornado or JBG SMITH failed to qualify as a REIT following the Separation, then, for our taxable year that includes the Separation, the IRS may assert that JBG SMITH would have to recognize corporate-level gain on assets acquired in the Separation.

32

Table of Contents

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained herein constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. They represent our intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Our future results, financial condition and business may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. You can find many of these statements by looking for words such as "approximates," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "intends," "plans," "would," "may" or other similar expressions in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

One of the most significant factors that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from our forward-looking statements is the adverse effect of the current pandemic of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19 and the ensuing economic turmoil on the Company, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, performance, our tenants, the real estate market, and the global economy and financial markets. The extent to which COVID-19 continues to impact us and our tenants depends on future developments, many of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence. These developments include: the continued severity, duration, transmission rate and geographic spread of COVID-19 in the United States, the speed of the vaccine roll-out, effectiveness and willingness of people to take COVID-19 vaccines, the duration of associated immunity and vaccine efficacy against emerging variants of COVID-19, the extent and effectiveness of other containment measures taken, and the response of the overall economy, the financial markets and the population, particularly in areas in which we operate, once the current containment measures are lifted and whether the residential market in the Washington, D.C. region and any of our properties will be materially impacted by the moratoriums on residential evictions; the impact of disruptions to the credit and capital markets on our ability to access capital, including refinancing maturing debt; changes to the amount and manner in which tenants use space; whether we incur additional costs or make additional concessions or offer other incentives to existing or prospective tenants to reconfigure space; the impact on our net operating income, same store net operating income, NAV, stock price, revenue from our multifamily and commercial portfolio, operating costs, deferrals of rent, uncollectable operating lease receivables, occupancy rates, parking revenue, and burn-off of rent abatement; whether the Washington, D.C. region will be more resilient than other parts of the country in any recession resulting from COVID-19; our annual dividend per share and dividend yield; annualized net operating income; in the case of our construction and near-term development assets, estimated square feet, estimated number of units and in the case of our future development assets, estimated potential development density; expected key Amazon transaction terms and timeframes for closing any Amazon transactions not yet closed; planned infrastructure and education improvements related to Amazon’s additional headquarters (including whether the incentives bill will have the desired effect on jobs growth, whether state and local governments will make anticipated the infrastructure and education investments and whether the anticipated private investments in National Landing will occur) and the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus; the economic impact of Amazon’s additional headquarters on the D.C. region and National Landing; the impact of our role as the exclusive developer, property manager and retail leasing agent in connection with Amazon’s new headquarters; our development plans related to Amazon’s additional headquarters; whether any of our tenants succeed in obtaining government assistance under the CARES Act and other programs and use any resulting proceeds to make lease payments owed to us; whether we can access agency debt secured by our currently-unencumbered multifamily assets timely, on reasonable terms or at all; whether the delay in our planned 2020 discretionary operating asset capital expenditures had or will have any negative impact on our properties or our ability to generate revenue; and the allocation of capital to our share repurchase plan and any impact on our stock price, among others, investors are cautioned to interpret many of the risks identified under the section titled "Risk Factors" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as being heightened as a result of the ongoing and numerous adverse impacts of COVID-19. In particular, information included under "Business," "Risk Factors," and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" contains forward-looking statements. Many of the factors that will determine the outcome of these and our other forward-looking statements are beyond our ability to control or predict. Such factors include, but are not limited to:

33

Table of Contents

For a further discussion of factors that could materially affect the outcome of our forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or the date of any document incorporated by reference. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. We do not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

​

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

There are no unresolved comments from the staff of the SEC as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

​

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

Note on presentation of "at share" information. We present certain financial information and metrics "at JBG SMITH Share," which is calculated on an entity-by-entity basis. "At JBG SMITH Share" information, which we also refer to as being "at share," "our pro rata share" or "our share," is not, and is not intended to be, a presentation in accordance with GAAP. Because as of December 31, 2020, approximately 11.6% of our assets, as measured by total square feet, were held through real estate ventures in which we own less than 100% of the ownership interest, we believe this form of presentation, which includes our economic interests in the unconsolidated real estate ventures, provides investors important information regarding a significant component of our portfolio, its composition, performance and capitalization. We classify our portfolio as "operating," "under-construction," "near-term development" or "future development."

The following tables provide information about each of our commercial, multifamily, near-term development pipeline and future development pipeline portfolios as of December 31, 2020. Many of our near-term and future development pipeline assets are adjacent to or an integrated component of operating commercial or multifamily assets in our portfolio. A significant number of our assets included in the following tables are held through real estate ventures with third parties or are subject to ground leases. In addition to other information, the following tables indicate our percentage ownership, whether the asset is consolidated or unconsolidated, and whether the asset is subject to a ground lease.

34

Table of Contents

Commercial Assets

​

35

Table of Contents

Note:    At 100% share, unless otherwise noted. Excludes our 10% subordinated interest in one commercial building held through a real estate venture in which we have no economic interest.

Multifamily Assets

Note:   At 100% share, unless otherwise noted. 

36

Table of Contents

​

Near-Term Development Pipeline