Exodus of Agencies Called 'Opportunity'
By Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 11, 2007
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.
No tenants have been lined up to fill the coming vacancies in Crystal City either, but Holzheimer said the space won't be marketed probably until 2009 because "it's awfully early to pre-lease space that won't be occupied for another four years."
Built in the 1960s and 1970s, Crystal City features an extensive system of tunnels burrowed to create an all-weather shopping environment. Its concrete-and-glass design above ground has been much maligned, leading to the area being called a concrete city and a lunar base. The 150-acre commercial, retail and residential complex wedged between Reagan National Airport and U.S. Route 1 has traditionally emptied out at night as the government workers go home.
A $40 million redevelopment begun in 2004, paid for by Vornado/Charles E. Smith -- which built most of Crystal City and still owns most of the commercial space -- tried to position the area as a destination spot. Crystal City's maze of streets were made easier to navigate, and hip restaurants opened on a strip along Crystal Drive between 20th and 23rd streets.
In the past two years, about 25 non-federal businesses or associations have moved to Crystal City, some in areas beyond the space vacated by the PTO. With its redevelopment plan, the county is hoping to build on that momentum.
A draft of the plan, developed by the Crystal City Planning Task Force after a series of public meetings, was released this year. It called for constructing about 70 buildings over the next 45 years, tearing down fewer than 50 and renovating the rest of Crystal City. There are more than 200 buildings in the area.
"We are basically laying out a plan for the next generation of a city here, the evolution of a city," Holzheimer said. "That won't happen in five or 10 years."
Michael Dineen, a retired lobbyist who lives in the Crystal Gateway condominiums, said many residents have expressed concern about increased traffic and the future of the underground shops. "We don't want to lose what we have in Crystal City," said Dineen, adding that he thinks the county is going about the redevelopment "in a fairly organized fashion."
County officials said the plan, which will be refined and probably submitted to the County Board for approval by the spring, will retain the underground system. They said they are looking closely at the transportation and traffic issue, and a transportation study was scheduled to be presented to the task force tonight.
"We are aware of these concerns, and that's why we are going through this process and involving the community," said Karen Vasquez, public relations manager for Arlington Economic Development. "If you just threw up 70 buildings without looking at transportation and how the pieces fit together, you would have major problems. Doing it right is a major concern of ours."
Amid the renovation efforts, the Crystal City Business Improvement District, created by the county last year, has sponsored a series of cultural events. They include the Artomatic art festival in April, which attracted 32,000 visitors over six weekends, and a wine tasting and jazz festival two weekends ago that drew more than 5,000 people.
"A lot of people think about concrete when they hear Crystal City, but we showed them this gorgeous courtyard with great food and great wine, and people had a wonderful time," said Angela Fox, the business district's executive director. She said the area's evolving image will be key in attracting a mixture of tenants over the next few years.
In the meantime, the county's BRAC transition center is scheduled to open next month at 1750 Crystal Dr. It will help workers with interview skills and networking. Andrea Morris, the center's director, estimated that fewer than half of the Arlington workers affected will choose to follow their jobs outside of the D.C. commuting area.
"Since this is several years off, it's out of sight and out of mind for some," Morris said. "People think they have time. But we want to let them know that time is going to slip by very quickly, so let's begin the conversation now; let's get you set up; let's get you prepared."
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