Steve Burns
WMAL.com
CRYSTAL CITY – (WMAL) It’s not easy to turn around a long-standing reputation like the one that has dogged Crystal City for decades – it’s a fine place to work, but come 5 p.m., it becomes a ghost town.
That perception is slowly changing, according to the Crystal City Business Improvement District’s CEO Angela Fox, thanks to some innovative, out-of-the-box ideas.
One was tried to some success in a similar all work, no play area: New York City’s Financial District: converting vacant, outdated office buildings into combination offices (with updated amenities) and apartment buildings. Crystal City has already opened one of those buildings.
“A building that is two floors of “We Work” and the other nine floors are “We Live,” Fox told WMAL. “That was originally an office building and now it’s combined. That’s also been a very interesting, successful new concept (developers) are only testing here and also on Wall Street in New York.”
More of those types of conversions are on the way for Crystal City, and Fox now sees something of a sundown renaissance on Crystal City’s streets, with people there not just for the workday, but around the clock.
“Adding more residential really helps balance out the neighborhood for retail,” she said. “The streets are packed. Restaurants are packed. There are people in the parks.”
Those same developers that are bringing in more apartments also have plans to make the area even more enticing with amenities like a movie theater.
“When you have neighborhoods that have a good mix, then there’s always some sort of energy going on,” Fox said. “We’re already seeing a tremendous amount of the perception of Crystal City changing.”
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: crystalcity.org)
