The Six Standout Crystal City Transformations Of 2016

Photo: Courtesy of WeWork

WeWork was a natural addition to the region’s young, collaborative innovation district, opening its 25k SF space on the top two floors of 2221 South Clark St in January 2016.

The open and light-filled space has proven popular with creators and entrepreneurs, who utilize the space, community and services key to WeWork’s core mission of enabling people to “make a life, not just a living.”

Photo: Courtesy of WeWork

Opening a few months after WeWork, WeLive adheres to the same tenets of community, flexibility and collaboration that have so heavily influenced the commercial marketplace in recent years.

WeLive’s 216 units are organized into three distinct neighborhoods, each offering a unique, shared community space with a living room, a kitchen and a yoga studio. This common area is open to all residents. Its open layout is designed to create social interaction.

Photo: Sam Kittner / Vornado Residential

WeLive was not the only new residential delivery in the area last year. In the fall, Kettler delivered 198 units at the m.flats Crystal City one block from the metro.

Also arriving early in the summer was the highly anticipated Vornado/Charles E. Smith 699-unit The Bartlett.

Though projects of this magnitude may not finish this year, there are more than 3,000 additional units in the pipeline, with LCOR’s 453-unit Altaire coming in 2018.

Apartment occupancy and lease-up remain strong due to robust demand.

Photo: Courtesy: Sam Kittner / Vornado Residential

Last year, the Whole Foods at 12th Street South and South Eads Street opened its doors. Its emphasis on local, organic fare, combined with its convenient grab-and-go options for professionals, made it perfectly suited for the Crystal City landscape.

The 36,800 SF store is on the ground floor of The Bartlett between the Crystal City and Pentagon City metro stations, generating a great deal of foot traffic and activity.

Photo: Courtesy: Arlington County

As a requisite component of the approvals for The Bartlett and the PenPlace Phased Development Site Plan, Arlington County enlisted Vornado/Charles E. Smith to close a critical gap in the neighborhood’s transportation network. 

The missing piece of 12th Street South between Eads and Fern streets opened to two-way traffic in the fall. Together with The Acadia and The Bartlett, the new stretch of sidewalk and roadway effectively knit together the neighborhoods of Crystal City and Pentagon City, creating a new activity node and retail hot spot amidst Arlington’s largest downtown.

Photo: Courtesy: The Crystal City BID

This year also brought the launch of the commonwealth’s first dedicated bus lanes serving the Metroway connecting Pentagon City, Crystal City, Potomac Yard and Braddock Road Metro Station.

The service provides a surface-level alternative to the Blue and Yellow lines, which have issues with reliability, and WMATA’s SafeTrack program. Ridership continues to grow steadily, and will inevitably get a boost once the alignment shifts to 12th Street South and a new premium bus service connecting to Columbia Pike begins operating along the same route.

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