Crystal City Looks To Recast Itself as Job Losses Loom

Exodus of Agencies Called 'Opportunity'

It's not every day that a county describes the loss of 17,000 jobs and 4 million square feet of office space as a good thing.

Yet that's how Arlington is approaching the coming exodus of federal agencies and government contractors who are relocating to more secure military bases. The move, ordered by a base closing commission, will hit Crystal City the hardest; 13,000 jobs and 3 million square feet of office space are expected to be vacated there by 2011.

For the county, the exodus is a chance to accelerate the transformation of the area just south of the 14th Street bridge from a collection of concrete-and-glass high-rises into a vibrant urban village.

To that end, officials are scrambling to finish a plan to redevelop Crystal City -- which could involve tearing down several dozen buildings and erecting as many as 70 new ones -- while bringing in more of the new restaurants and cultural events that have dotted the area in recent years. The county is also opening a transition center for what could be several thousand workers who choose not to follow their jobs to other states.

Then, officials hope, the new tenants will come.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for Arlington," said County Board Chairman Paul Ferguson (D), adding that he is "very confident" that the vacant spaces will be filled, partly because Crystal City landowners have committed to paying for millions of dollars in renovations to their buildings.

"I'm very excited about the private investment," Ferguson said. "This is valuable property, and it's being made even more valuable by the investment that's being spurred by the loss of government jobs. In the end, I think it's a plus for Arlington."

Terry Holzheimer, director of Arlington Economic Development, pointed out that Crystal City has a history of recovering from federal departures. In the late 1990s, the Naval Sea Systems Command left for the District, and last year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office finished vacating more than 1.5 million square feet of offices scattered across Crystal City.

About 80 percent of the PTO space has been filled by tenants such as PBS and nonprofit organizations. The majority of the new tenants are not Crystal City's traditional defense contractors or government entities, heralding a broadening of the business base that the county hopes will continue during the next exodus.

"We're pretty used to weathering these types of storms," Holzheimer said. "Not that we relish it, but we've been successful and have every reason that we will continue to be successful, especially as the area becomes more and more attractive."

Arlington stands to lose more jobs than any other jurisdiction affected by the shift of about 22,000 military, defense and civilian jobs, ordered in 2005 by the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The workers will be moved to posts all over the country that are considered less vulnerable to attack, such as Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County.

The 1 million square feet that will be lost outside of Crystal City is primarily in Rosslyn. County officials said a 31-story office tower in Rosslyn, to open in 2010, will make up half of that office space, although no tenants have been lined up.