A Tale of Two Cities

The idea was "to put things underground, to get them off of the streets, out of the environment," she said, adding that the concept coincided with fears about the neighborhood's safety and pollution.

But when the Army and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office left their Crystal City buildings a few years ago, developers saw the chance to mimic the success of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor's mixed-use developments. Real estate companies began putting office space and shops on the ground level of buildings and dwellings above -- à la Pentagon Row and its upstairs neighbors, the Post Pentagon Row apartments.

Now, the fad is green design, aimed at creating places that minimize environmental impact and reconnect people with the outdoor neighborhood.

Vasquez said, "It is part of that whole 'new urbanism' trend to have walkable communities, instead of driving from shopping mall to shopping mall to strip mall. The idea is to park your car and take Metro."

Going forward, the Crystal City Planning Task Force will look at how to fit in more residential units -- and fun -- through physical redevelopment. "You want to get people not only working there, but [also] living there," Vasquez said.

Seekford's colleagues at Arlington Realty say there is already a market out there for more Crystal City/Pentagon City condos.

"Rents are so high at local apartments that we have people every weekend coming out to look for condos," said Realtor Will Wheeler, who was born and bred in Pentagon City.

The community's graying condos are not attractive to these buyers, he said. "If you go, you can just smell it's an older building," Wheeler said.

He thinks the community needs a new boom of young residents within walking distance of the budding metropolis, if companies like Charles E. Smith Commercial Realty want to replicate the triumphs of other successful "urban villages" like Clarendon or Silver Spring.

The only land left for development in Pentagon City is a stretch of ground near Pentagon Row, across the street from the Costco on 15th Street. Residential developer KSI intends to build up to 3,200 apartments on the parcel.

"That's the last available area [in Pentagon City]. There is no more land in Crystal City. The future, in Crystal City, is buildings that are outdated are going to be dropped, literally, to the ground," Wheeler said.

While no one knows what will happen, locals expect good things. "Crystal City was an early prominent commercial development in Arlington. By the time everything else had exploded, it had become outdated and is now in the process of updating," Wheeler said.

"The success is inevitable, given its one-of-a-kind access to air, rail, the Bush twins and other great Washington attractions."

This article first ran in Express on July 26, 2006.