Tucked among Crystal City’s bustling shopping and eating is the newest TechShop, a do-it-yourself design and fabrication space for the public. Above, Veterans Affairs Center for Innovation’s Patrick Littlefield cuts a steel ribbon with a handheld plasma cutter at Tuesday's official opening on Crystal Drive. The space offers $1M worth of high-end machines and software for people who have dreams of making anything, from furniture and clothing to wearable computers and mobile devices. The location has already sold over 500 individual memberships at $125 to $175 a month or $1,400 for the year. (Military gets a discount.)

Vornado’s Mike Weiss, Mitchell Schear, and Wright Sigmund helped TechShop COO Dan Woods (far right) find 22k SF for the operation. Isabella Musachio is serving as GM. Vornado is working on making Crystal City a tech and innovation hub. Dan says he looked at many spots in the region and had several requirements: it had to be on one floor, it needed roll up doors, good public access, and safety. Dan says TechShop spent $1.2M on tenant improvements, including putting in lots of windows so people could walk by and be intrigued. He particularly likes that the elevators for PBS HQs opens at a long row of windows looking in at TechShop.