Crystal City has benefited from its location across the Potomac River from downtown Washington, D.C. Proximity to waterways, railroads, bridges, highways, and airports has provided easy access to and from this location, shaping its evolution and making Crystal City a prime location for commercial and residential growth.
Before 1960, the area was mostly industrial, with brickyards, warehouses, and other construction-related activities. Auto-oriented and rail-associated uses such as motels, storage yards, iron fabricating factories, junk yards, and a drive-in theater prevailed. However, the corridor’s proximity to Reagan National Airport, the Pentagon, and Washington, D.C. soon stimulated major redevelopment initiatives for the area.
In the 1970s the growing demand for office space outside the Washington, D.C., central business district made Arlington locations more attractive and led to Crystal City’s development into an urban center. Crystal City’s first generation of planned development comprised mixed-use development of office, apartment, and hotel buildings, with an internal retail spine located east of Jefferson Davis Highway. The name “Crystal City” was taken from one of the early apartment buildings, the Crystal House (1900 S. Eads Street), and the large crystal chandelier that graced its lobby.
As development continued, new apartment and hotel buildings were constructed west of Jefferson Davis Highway. Meanwhile, the federal government’s decision to locate the U.S. Patent Office and the Institute of Defense Analysis in Crystal City stimulated more construction of office and residential buildings supporting federal government uses. With the July 1977 opening of the Crystal City Metro Station and the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) station a few years later, Crystal City’s market reach was greatly expanded, positioning it as a significant regional employment center. Millions of square feet of mixed-use development have been built, leading to Crystal City’s status as one of the region’s primary activity centers.
Before the Charles E. Smith Co.’s development, the area mainly comprised industrial sites, junkyards, and low-rent motels. A drive-in theater existed at the intersection of Jefferson Davis Highway and 20th Street South between 1947 and 1963 and is visible on aerial photos of the period. The RF&P railroad tracks were moved closer to the National Airport to accommodate more development space.
Crystal City’s Crystal Underground shopping mall opened in September 1976. Billed as a “turn-of-the-century shopping village,” it featured antique leaded glass shop windows and cobblestone “streets.” Emphasis was on locally owned and operated businesses and personalized service. The most prominent retail outlets were a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) Jelleff’s women’s store, Larimer gourmet grocery and delicatessen, and a Drug Fair. The mall also featured an “Antique Alley” with small antique and craft stores. There were 40 stores at the opening, with an anticipated expansion of 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2) with 70 more shops, including the Crystal Palace food court.
Crystal City is home to the headquarters of the U.S. Marshals Service and several Department of Defense offices. It also has offices of the General Services Administration and satellite Pentagon offices, many of which were built or occupied during the Pentagon Renovation Program.
Several companies, associations, and organizations are headquartered in Crystal City, including Boeing, Bloomberg Industry Group, the American Diabetes Association, PBS, the American Public Power Association, and the Consumer Technology Association, among others.
On November 13, 2018, Amazon.com announced that Crystal City would be the location of one of two campuses for its Amazon HQ2; the other campus will be located in Long Island City in Queens, New York City. Both campuses are expected to employ approximately 25,000 workers.
Amazon announced with Northern Virginia bidders that its HQ2 neighborhood location would be jointly marketed as “National Landing,” which encompasses Crystal City and part of Pentagon City and Potomac Yard. In February 2019, Amazon decided to cancel its plans for the Queens location for HQ2 and instead focus exclusively on the Crystal City location, which is currently under construction.
