From February 1-6 Crystal City will celebrate its second annual Fashion Week.  Events will include trunk shows, music, food and drink, and dancing.  Audience members can even participate in an on-the-spot design competition.

Take some time to explore the Crystal City complex, which includes high rise residential buildings, office blocks, hotels, shops and restaurants.

Crystal City's 6,000 residents could go for months, or even years, without leaving the complex, which offers health clubs, banks, drug stores, supermarkets, doctors' and dentists' offices, a post office, nine parks, public concerts, a Water Park, night school and over l50 shops and restaurants.  In case the weather is bad, all these features are connected by underground passageways. 

If they do need to go somewhere, not to worry--because Crystal City is a commuter's dream.  It is five minutes from downtown or Reagan National Airport, lies on two Metro lines, has its own VRE commuter train station and is a hub of the local bicycle commuter system.

To see homes for sale in Crystal City, click here.

 

 

 

Crystal City is an urban village in Arlington County Virginia. Crystal City is home for numerous defense contractors, the United States Department of Labor, Public Broadcasting, the EPA and many satellite offices for The Pentagon. While Crystal City only has more than 6,000 residents, more than 60,000 people work a normal business schedule in Crystal City.

Crystal is not a "planned community", in the sense that developers did not design and follow a master plan. Nonetheless, Crystal City is a community with a plan. In the middle of the last century, the area now called Crystal City had few residents. The area east of Aurora Highlands had several motels which served National Airport (which later came to be known as Reagan National Airport). Many train-tracks served the busy Potomac Yard station (now a shopping center) and warehouses were located in the vicinity.

But in 1963 things began to change with the construction of several office buildings and condominiums. One of the first of these condos was Crystal House, so named for an ornate crystal chandelier in the lobby. Subsequent buildings followed with similar names such as Crystal Gateway and Crystal Park. It only made sense to call the new urban village Crystal City.

The builders at Crystal City largely followed a pattern of building that was considered avant-garde at the time. These structures feature the grand sweeping curves of textured concrete with plenty of glass. The proportions of the lobbies and common areas are large and airy and the buildings themselves seem to flow along the city streets and complement the abundant landscaping details.

Crystal City is bounded by some of the busiest commuter arteries of Northern Virginia. While the buildings here are both residential and office, the broad circulating avenues of Crystal City allow traffic to flow through Crystal City and at the same time encourage underground pedestrians to shop by foot. In Northern Virginia's 100 degree summers, the rains of spring and the icy cold of winter, this is a big benefit to residents of Crystal City.

While the underground shops and passages of Crystal City remain, today Crystal City is slowly being redeveloped into a more traditional urban feel. Restaurants and shops are starting to open at street level. Arlington County is encouraging the redevelopment by change some traffic patterns to make streets like Crystal Drive function as city streets, rather than as circulating roads.

Even with these changes, today it is still easy for residents each of Rt. 1 along the Crystal Drive corridor to walk from the north side of Crystal City almost all the way to the Eclipse at Center Park entirely underground. Crystal City together with nearby Aurora Highlands and Pentagon City is an ultra convenient place to live for folks who work in Arlington, the Pentagon or Washington DC. Contact us today to learn more about this neighborhood and its many unique advantages.

 

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About the Author --- Will Nesbitt is the principal broker of Condo 1 Alexandria and Will Nesbitt Realty. Will specializes in condos, townhouses and single family residences in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Crystal City, and Kingstowne. Will resides in Belle Haven Estates just outside Alexandria VA in Fairfax County.

 

Crystal Gateway condominium community is located at the north end of Crystal City in a remarkably convenient location. Crystal Gateway has easy access to Washington DC, the Pentagon, Reagan National Airport, Arlington VA and Alexandria VA via connecting thoroughfares such as I-395, Rt. 1 and Rt. 110. Crystal Gateway is networked into the passages that connect Crystal City to Crystal City Metro.

Units at Crystal Gateway are spacious with impressive balconies. The community features an indoor and outdoor pool, fitness facilities, meeting rooms, media rooms, card rooms and more. What follows is a quick and random pictorial study of Crystal Gateway. For a closer look at Crystal Gateway or for more information about pricing and availability click Crystal Gateway.

There is a balcony off nearly every room at Crystal Gateway.

Here is a look down Crystal Drive from Crystal Gateway.

The curved design of the building offers pleasant architectural vistas.

The pillars out front are designed to imply strength and give a modern spacious feel to the building.

The indoor pool is available year-round.

The original cabinetry is high-quality but many residents have replaced the countertops and appliances.

The landscaping is well-maintained with a friendly splash of color.

The lobbies offer many points to sit and have an impromptu meeting with friends and guests.

The ceilings on the first floor are very high.

This media room is one of several nicely appointed meeting rooms reserved for residents of Crystal Gateway.

This was just before Memorial Day as they made preparations for the coming pool season.

Hardwoods and a view to Crystal City. What's not to like?

About the Author --- Will Nesbitt is the principal broker of Will Nesbitt Realty and maintains Condo 1 Alexandria. Will specializes in condos, townhouses and single family residences in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Crystal City, and Kingstowne. Will resides in Belle Haven Estates just outside Alexandria VA in Fairfax County.

Crystal City is located in Arlington County Virginia between the Potomac River and the neighborhood of Aurora Highlands.

In many ways, Crystal City is a transportation hub. Crystal City well served by mass transit with easy access to the metro at the Crystal City Metro stop and many bus stops in the area. In addition to land transportation, Crystal City is served by Reagan National Airport. Jefferson Davis Highway / Rt. 1 is a main artery here, as is I-395.

In addition to Jefferson Davis Highway, one of the main thoroughfares in Crystal City is Crystal Drive. Crystal Drive runs parallel to Rt. from north to south through Crystal City. Many of Crystal City's most desirable homes are found on Crystal Drive including Crystal Gateway and Waterford House. The Shops of Crystal City are accessible from Crystal Drive and from many other locations in Crystal City.

Crystal Drive is generally uncongested and offers a wide choice of restaurants and shops.

One of the nicest things about Crystal City is the abundance of greenery in this urban setting. Crystal City manages to be convenient, metro accessible, full of high-rises, shops and restaurants, but home to many trees and parks.

Crystal City is connected by a network of tunnels and shops both below grade and indoors that make Crystal City a walker's paradise.

These passages network the shops of Crystal City to Crystal Drive and the Crystal City Metro Stop and more.

Pleasant sidewalks follow alongside the broad avenues of Crystal City.

From the skyline of Crystal City to the shops in the heart of Crystal City, this is a pleasant and convenient place to work and live.

Even the shops below-grade are well-lit and feel open and friendly. Crystal City is a well-planned community.

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About the Author --- Will Nesbitt is the principal broker of Will Nesbitt Realty and maintains Condo 1 Alexandria. Will specializes in condos, townhouses and single family residences in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Crystal City, and Kingstowne. Will resides in Belle Haven Estates just outside Alexandria VA in Fairfax County.

Across Eads St. relatively close to the Crystal City Metro is the neighborhood of Aurora Highlands.

Aurora Highlands is in Arlington County and dates back to the days when Arlington County was a sleepy rural suburb of Washington DC. One of the most interesting assets of Aurora Highlands is the row of shops and restaurants along 23rd St. in Crystal City.

On a lazy summer afternoon a sidewalk cafe in Aurora Highlands is a nice place to take a bite to eat and enjoy a cool drink.

 

Crystal City is the paragon of convenience. Crystal City has an abundance of shops and eateries. Crystal City has more than 200 shops. Everything from apparel and electronics to jewelry and gifts to newsstands and convenience items are found here. 

Many of these shops are located underground between Crystal Drive 15th and 23rd Streets. The shops of Crystal City are just five minutes from downtown Washington, Old Alexandria, and right off the Metro Yellow/Blue line at the Crystal City station.

Some of the reasons that people choose to live in Crystal City is for these shops, but people also love the easy access to metro and proximity to Washington DC. To search listings in Crystal City you might find the following links helpful.

• Crystal City --- condos, houses and townhouses for sale in Crystal City
• Bella Vista --- spacious condos with balconies and views of the city
• The Representative --- on the Ridge overlooking Crystal City
• Waterford House --- on Crystal Drive with easy access to Arlington and DC
• Crystal Gateway --- gateway condominiums in Crystal City

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About the Author --- Will Nesbitt is the principal broker of Condo 1 Alexandria and Will Nesbitt Realty. Will specializes in condos, townhouses and single family residences in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Crystal City, and Kingstowne. Will resides in Belle Haven Estates just outside Alexandria VA in Fairfax County.

Crystal Gateway at 1300 Crystal Drive is one of the original anchors of Crystal City, a so-called urban village in the southeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, just south of Washington, DC.

Constructed of cast concrete in the mid-Sixties, the condominium community comprises 17 floors and a two-story penthouse. The curvilinear Crystal Gateway adjoins Waterford House, which houses both condos and office space and fronts 12th Street. Together, the two buildings form a horseshoe embracing a landscaped courtyard and pool.

Crystal Gateway houses no more than four condominiums on each floor, with some floors having only three. They range from a two-bedroom, two-bath unit of 1,516 square feet to a three- bedroom, two-bath, one half-bath unit of 2,296 square feet to the penthouse's four bedrooms and three baths totaling 2,780 square feet.

Typical units boast open floor plans; wall-to-wall carpet, ceramic-tile and hardwood floors; living-room wet bars; generous closets; spacious kitchens with updated appliances, Corian countertops and breakfast nooks; washer-dryers, and marble bathrooms with two basins and a soaking tub.

Expansive balconies, opening off living rooms and master bedrooms, afford panoramic views of the nearby Potomac River, the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Kennedy Center and the distant National Cathedral.

Accessing those attractions couldn't be easier. Crystal City is served not only by Metro's blue and yellow lines but also by Metrobus, the Arlington Transit ART buses, and the Omnilink commuter buses; the Metro station is also a stop for Virginia Railway Express commuter trains.

It's just a 10-minute walk to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Pentagon Row and 15 minutes to the Pentagon and Pentagon City Mall.

Amenities at Crystal Gateway include a card room and a larger party room off the mirrored, mauve-and-green lobby. There's an exercise facility with a weight room and an aerobics area, as well as an indoor pool.

Monthly condo association fees, ranging from $650 to $850, provide for concierge and security service 24/7, water and hot water, building maintenance and grounds keeping. One underground parking space and a cage storage area are provided for each unit; additional paid storage is available.

In 2007, Crystal Gateway's foyer and halls were redecorated and the electric heating and air- conditioning system was upgraded. The last five years have seen major building replacements, among them the cooling tower, the heat exchanger and two hot-water heaters. In addition, all the balconies have been resurfaced.

The building is the midst of "going green," implementing energy-conservation measures and trash recycling, and improvements scheduled for 2008 include new audio for the fire-alarm system and interior decoration of both elevators.

Crystal Gateway is managed by Delbe Real Estate Company. Pets are not allowed.

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