Feature

Crystal City Sets the Table for Community

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“You are Crystal City. You’re officially our ambassadors. All the work, planning, events. It’s meaningless without you. The community.”

These were the closing remarks made by Tracy Gabriel – President & Executive Director of the Crystal City Business Improvement District – at the recent Harvest Social in Crystal City. Days before Amazon’s selection of National Landing, 40 people gathered in front of the Lovers mural to share a meal and their visions for the future of their community.

“The first rule of Harvest Social is that you don’t talk about HQ2,” joked Tracy at the start of the meal. Held just days before the long-awaited announcement, many in attendance were hoping to get a hint about Amazon’s new headquarters. However, the conversation was centered mainly around what Crystal City is and what it can become.

Hosted by the Crystal City BID, the Harvest Social brought together residents, office workers and stakeholders to break bread and talk about all the exciting things happening in Crystal City.

The guests were selected by lottery and nearly 80 people responded for less than 40 seats. In attendance were longtime residents and new renters; young families and puppy parents; and property owners and employees working for a range of businesses and organizations. There was one thing that everyone had in common: a passion for Crystal City.

“Crystal City is a unique community and there is great desire all around for more connectivity among the residents and employees of the area.” says Irina Karmanova, a longtime resident of Crystal City who approached the BID about hosting a gathering of residents and workers. “Thanks so much to the BID for putting on such an amazing event!”

Most in attendance had never met each other, but you would never have known by the end of the evening. Laura Silliman, a young professional who has worked in Crystal City for two and a half years said “Crystal City is truly a community! It was neat seeing the diversity of residents and workers present, all of whom want Crystal City to thrive and grow.”

The dinner table was set along the insta-famous Lovers mural by No Kings Collective along Crystal Drive. The building at 1851 S. Bell Street, owned by JBG SMITH, is slated for demolition in the coming months to make way for future redevelopment.

About Crystal City and the BID

Located right on the Potomac River five minutes from the center of Washington DC, the greater Crystal City area, which includes Pentagon City and Potomac Yard – Arlington, has emerged as Virginia’s largest walkable downtown.

With a total asset value of over $11 billion, the area includes over 18 million square feet of office, nearly 18,000 residential units, 5,900 hotel rooms and approximately 475 retail storefronts and restaurants. This scale of development makes the greater Crystal City area an economic engine for Arlington County and comparable to other major central business districts around the country including in Austin, Indianapolis, and even Miami.

The Crystal City BID is a non-profit organization established as a public-private partnership with Arlington County in 2006 to promote the Crystal City business, retail, restaurant and residential community. The BID is committed to supporting the exciting transformation of Crystal City into a vibrant urban center and a great, mixed-use urban community.

Boring Title: Time to Give Thanks

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Title insurance is boring, but Allied Title & Escrow is here to decode the jargon and make it (somewhat) more interesting. This biweekly feature will explore the mundane (but very necessary!) world of title insurance while sharing interesting stories of two friends’ entrepreneurial careers.

This Thanksgiving, Allied Title & Escrow is very thankful to be the fastest growing title company in all of the DMV!

We also are excited to launch our new commercial on our Boring Title blog. We think our commercial does a good job of summing up what we are about and how we are different.

Check it out and let us know of any feedback you have or what else we can do to improve as a company!

Flying Colors: Winter Irruptions

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Flying Colors column banner

Flying Colors is a sponsored column on the hobby of backyard bird feeding written by Michael Zuiker, owner of the Wild Birds Unlimited store at the Lee Harrison Shopping Center. Visit the store at 2437 N. Harrison Street or call 703-241-3988.

When little Johnny or little Susie “irrupt” at the restaurant table, that is not a good thing.

When sports coaches “irrupt” on the sidelines, that is not a good thing.

When politicians irrupt… well you know!

But winter bird irruptions are a really unique experience. They happen, in varying degrees, every year. That is what makes them so exciting.

When natural winter food supplies are scarce in northern Canada, numerous bird species “irrupt”, migrating in large numbers to other areas in search of food.

Winter is a great time to attract these visiting species. Keep your feeders full and look for birds associated with irruptions. Juncos, white throated sparrows and finches may be making a repeat appearance to your yards this winter. Purple finches, pine siskins and common redpolls are “irruptive winter finches” attracted to finch feeders filled with nyjer or our WBU finch blend.

Sometimes nyjer seed takes a while to be eaten in the feeder. Make sure you keep the seed fresh and do not let it get wet. Once the seed starts to spoil, the birds will leave the feeder and find other sources of food elsewhere.

Many of these birds come back to the same exact location each year. Juncos and wintering sparrows can now be found hopping backwards on the ground scratching for seeds. They love blends with millet and sunflower chips.

We always recommend putting the food in a tray on the ground to keep the seed from getting spoiled with dirt, moisture, bird wastes, etc.

Birds are also developing into “foraging “guilds. They are forming small winter-feeding flocks. They can learn each other’s warning calls to stay safe. Chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, kinglets and titmice may join together.

Attracting these hungry and irruptive winter guests can be a lot of fun. So, be prepared. Before you know it, these out-of-towners will be just that, headed out of town.

Arts Focus: Local Artists Make Holiday Gift Shopping A Snap

By ARLnow.com Sponsor
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This column is written and sponsored by Arlington Arts / Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

Small Business Saturday is this weekend, but there are plenty of upcoming opportunities in Arlington to shop local for creative, distinctive artist-made gifts for the holiday season!

Made In Arlington Pop Up Shops
Every Thursday (excluding Thanksgiving Day) thru December 20 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Sponsored by Arlington Economic Development’s Creative Economy program, Made in Arlington returns just in time for the holiday season!

Visit the Plaza Branch Library (in Courthouse Plaza lobby) for this pop-up retail market dedicated to unique things beautiful, wearable and edible from innovators and artisans in Arlington.

Upcoming pop-up’s include;

  • Melanie Lee handcrafts and District Line Clothing — November 29
  • bakt by Ingrid and Luna Blu Mar — December 6
  • Village Sweet and Diane Felice jewelry — December 13
  • Pinup Preserves and Sik Imagery — December 20

Click here for more information.

GRUMP Rosslyn
Saturday, December 1

With 45 unique vendors, free arts workshops and the opportunity for your kids to meet a Yeti or two, GRUMP is a fantastic way to shop handmade and local this holiday season.

Vendors range from Potomac Chocolate, and the popular regional bakery Whisked DC, to inspired textiles by vendors like Scarvelous, Seeing in Fabric and quirky creatures for the kids by TigerFlight! Meet your creative neighbors, all while hanging out in the beautiful SPACES building in Rosslyn, sponsored by the Rosslyn Business Improvement District and Arlington Arts. Click here for more information.

Just Reduced Properties in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Each week, “Just Reduced” spotlights properties in Arlington County whose price have been cut over the previous week. The market summary is crafted by licensed broker Aaron Seekford of Arlington Realty, Inc. GET MORE out of your real estate investment with Aaron and his team by visiting www.arlingtonrealtyinc.com or calling 703-836-6116 today!

Please note: While Aaron Seekford provides this information for the community, he may not be the listing agent of these homes.

We hope your appetites are ready for tomorrow. But, before you dive into your massive Turkey Day feast, our team wanted to take a moment to wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving!

We’re thankful for your readership, your engagement and your business here in Arlington County and beyond.

Beyond our gratitude to you, we collectively have so much to be thankful for here in our area. Our local economy is thriving, our schools are among the best in the nation, our outdoor amenities are world-class and there are so many promising things on the horizon, spanning new real estate projects to Amazon’s HQ2 arrival.

When you’re ready to chat real estate, our team is ready (and thankful!) for you — we’re always happy to help you GET MORE out of your transaction. But, for now, enjoy your holiday and the leftovers that may come with it. Cheers!

As of November 17, there are 181 detached homes, 44 townhouses and 197 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 17 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week.

Here is this week’s selection of Just Reduced properties:

Please note that this is solely a selection of Just Reduced properties available in Arlington County. For a complete list of properties within your target budget and specifications, contact Aaron Seekford.

Ask Eli: The Amazon Impact — Part 1 of Many

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Rosslyn resident. Please submit your questions to him via email for response in future columns. Enjoy!

Question: What impact has Amazon’s announcement had on Arlington’s real estate market?

Answer: Wouldn’t it be funny if I wrote about something other than Amazon this week? I’ll come back to this topic every 4-8 weeks to provide an analysis on how Amazon’s decision (and probably Apple too) is changing our local real estate market by combining my normal data analysis with experiences of my clients and my colleagues around the D.C. metro area.

Key Data Following the Announcement

On Saturday, November 3 the Washington Post broke news that Amazon HQ2 was in final discussions with Crystal City and by Monday, November 5, the impact on property values was all over the national news.

Late on Monday, November 12, the Walls Street Journal reported the decision was final, and the next day, it was confirmed by Amazon. Let’s take a look at market activity in Arlington over the last two weeks since the news broke:

  • The November 3 WaPo announcement created the biggest surge with investors pouncing and owner-occupants accelerating their timelines. From November 4-12, 100 properties went under contract. Historically, about 200 properties have gone under contract the entire month of November.
  • Since the news became official the night of November 12, 46 more properties went under contract, for a total of nearly 150 properties under contract in a two-week period, surpassing the activity during the same period in previous years by over 50%.
  • I figured a lot of the increased activity would be in the condo market, but the percentage of contracts on condos is in-line with historical trends (about half of all contract activity)
  • While we won’t know how much the market is appreciating until these properties close (when purchase price is released) investors and owner-occupants seem willing to spend more.
    Historically, properties that have gone under contract in November averaged an asking price in the low $600’s and median asking price in low/mid $500’s. Properties under contract in the last two weeks averaged an asking price of $698,000 and median asking price of $625,000.
  • The surge in purchase activity has not been off-set with a surge in new inventory. We’ve had 89 properties listed for sale since the November 3 WaPo announcement, which is barely higher than the same period in prior years.
  • After removing age-restricted housing and the River Place Cooperative, there are less than 350 properties currently for sale and the average asking price of those properties skews abnormally high. The current average asking price is over $995,000 and median asking price is $812,500, compared with an average asking price in the mid $800’s and median price in the mid/upper $600’s historically during this time of year.

My Experience So Far

I knew we were in for a wild ride when buyers I was working with started running into multiple offers and escalations on properties that had been sitting for weeks/months.

Generally, the odds of running into multiple offers after a property has been on the market for a full week are slim, yet every one of the buyers I worked with on an offer in Northern VA over the last two weeks found themselves competing against at least one other very strong offer.

Another investor I’ve been working with ran into 11 competing offers on an old condo in northern Alexandria that normally would have sat on the market for a couple of months.

On the listing side, we’ve had people reaching out about properties that were already under contract and off the market (rarely happened previously). Remember the new 12-unit condo building near Rosslyn I wrote about on October 30? All six of the two-bedroom units are under contract at full price and with the six three-bedroom units almost finished, we expect those to move just as quickly.

From what I’ve gleaned from offers I’ve been part of and activity my colleagues have seen, there’s been an almost overnight increase of 2-5% on most properties in Arlington and northern Alexandria. It doesn’t seem like D.C. or outside the beltway in Northern Virginia is experiencing as notable of a bump, at least not yet.

What I’m Watching For

I am really interested in how the Amazon news fits in with the winter market we usually experience, highlighted by fewer homes listed for sale and slower buying activity.

December historically produces the fewest new properties for sale, by a wide margin, and also tends to offer buyers the best opportunity to negotiate bigger discounts, but I highly doubt this December will offer buyers much in the way of negotiating.

The big question is whether the Amazon news will push a higher number of home owners to sell and buck the low-inventory trend. If new inventory remains low as sellers prepare their homes for the spring market, I wouldn’t be surprised if home owners who make it to market in December/January walk away with significant returns. The pace of new inventory will be key.

I also doubt the purchase momentum will continue at this pace, but will be watching closely with interest. A lot of the activity over the last two weeks was driven by investors, but I suspect many who didn’t get under contract in the first two weeks will hesitate for fear of not getting in early enough (I’ve heard this from a few of my investor clients already).

While many investors will take a step back, I think owner-occupants will continue to be active in the market and willing to pay the new premium, knowing that there is still a much higher ceiling for appreciation over the length of their ownership.

If you are interested in testing the market as a buyer, seller, or investor and want to talk in more detail about your options, feel free to give me a call at 703-539-2529 or email me at [email protected]

If you’d like a question answered in my weekly column, please send an email to [email protected]. To read any of my older posts, visit the blog section of my website at www.EliResidential.com. Call me directly at (703) 539-2529.

Eli Tucker is a licensed Realtor in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland with Real Living At Home, 2420 Wilson Blvd #101 Arlington, VA 22201, (202) 518-8781.

Arlington Startup Aims to Save Sharks with Artificial Intelligence

By Vernon Miles

Startup Monday header

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations. 

(Updated at 4 p.m.) JJ Linser and Jack Linkous have a dream. They want to save sharks, and they want to do it with artificial intelligence.

They are the co-founders of L2Platforms, a startup in Arlington founded earlier this year, that aims to use an AI program to track boat movements and identify suspicious behavior.

“Visualize different places where this fishing is taking place as a huge map,” said Linser. “We want to figure out, based on previous illegal fishing activity, where that is currently happening. It’s all about tracking those patterns.”

Right now, Linkous says the only way to really catch illegal shark fishing is through random searches. Linkous says the aim of L2Platforms is to help direct those searches and make them a little less random.

“With limited resources, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack,” said Linser. “Right now, we’re trying to refine that.”

Using publically available data sources, L2Platforms should be able to model where illegal fishing takes places.

Linser said all of this data is fed into an AI that continually learns from these events and builds a map of suspicious activity. It’s a lot of data, there might be 100,000 suspicious events registered drawn from billions of points of data, but the AI will refine those events down to ones where it is 90 percent sure something illegal is occurring.

Because of the scale of the data being collected and processed, Linser and Linkous say they want to start small.

“We’re going to start with a place like the Galapagos islands,” said Linkous. “There’s a lot of sharks around there and a lot of nefarious fishing. We’ll start small with [tracking that] and grow from there.”

The development of the AI technology behind L2Platforms is largely drawn from Linser and Linkous’s experience working in the defense industry.

“We both have experience writing these kinds of models,” said Linkous. “I come from a defense background and you see these same types of stuff being funded at the Department of Defense. We want to use our knowledge in fields that get less love.”

The pair is currently working with Neil Hammerschlag, director of the Shark Research & Conservation Program (SRC) at The University of Miami.

“[Linser and Linkous] have been supporting my shark research with their impressive skill-set,” said Hammerschlag in an email. “It is an exciting collaboration. In addition, we have conceived an exciting collaborative research project that uses artificial intelligence to inform shark conservation efforts. We are currently seeking funding for this research project.”

Linser said L2Platforms is currently looking at working with conservation foundations for funding, then possibly looking at government grants starting in 2019. If they can secure funding, Linser says they hope to hire a small team of engineers over the next year.

Linser and Linkous, who met while walking their dogs, are both Arlington residents. They are working from home for now, but say they are currently looking for an office somewhere along a Metro corridor in Arlington, specifically because of the technical talent in the area.

“Arlington is where we have a core group of engineers that we know,” said Linser. “There are lots of talented software engineers in this area.”

Photo courtesy Neil Hammerschlag

Legal Insider: Rights for Federal Employees in Disciplinary Cases

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Northern Virginia that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement and private sector employee matters.

By John V. Berry, Esq.

More common types of federal agency “adverse actions” (more serious discipline) include removal, demotion, reduction in grade or suspensions of greater than 14 days. Some types of “disciplinary actions” (lessor discipline) include letters of warning, letters of reprimand, oral or written counseling or suspensions of less than 15 days.

Federal Employee Rights in Disciplinary Cases

If a federal employee is issued a proposed disciplinary action, the proposal will normally include a description of the alleged misconduct and the type of charge against the employee (e.g., insubordination, theft, conduct unbecoming, lack of performance, etc.).

Federal employees in adverse action matters (suspensions of 15 days and above, and demotion matters) and in some disciplinary actions (suspensions of any length (usually 14 days and below)) have the following rights: (1) right to an attorney; (2) right to respond to the proposal in writing or orally, and (3) the right to review all of the materials relied upon in the issuance of the Proposal.

We recommend that employees involved in proposed disciplinary or adverse action always request from the agency all of the materials that it is relying upon to propose discipline. Sometimes disciplinary actions will not be drafted properly and reviewing the materials relied upon can help in responding to the discipline.

Present Both a Written and Oral Response

We also usually recommend, in most cases, that a federal employee present both a written response and an oral response to the deciding official (the decision maker on the disciplinary action) in a proposed disciplinary or adverse action.

The oral response portion of a federal employee’s response can be extremely important and usually follows the submission of the written response.

Typically, when we assist federal employees in this regard, we obtain a full statement of facts from the federal employee involved and prepare a full written rebuttal to the allegations. We also contact the deciding official in the personnel action and request an appointment for the oral response.

In these types of cases, we respond to both the merits of the alleged conduct and argue for mitigation under the Douglas Factors. Douglas Factors typically are mitigating reasons as to why a particular disciplinary penalty should be reduced (i.e., based on years of successful performance, no prior disciplinary actions, lack of clarity about the rules at issue and other reasons why a disciplinary penalty should not be so harsh).

Conclusion

If you are in need of assistance in the federal employee discipline process please contact our office at (703) 668-0070 or through our contact page to schedule a consultation. Please also visit and like us on Facebook or Twitter.

Rethink Energy: Button Up Before the Cold Arrives

By ARLnow.com Sponsor
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This regularly-scheduled sponsored column is written by the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy team (AIRE). This county program helps you make smart energy decisions that save you money and leaves a lighter footprint on the environment.

People don’t see insulation so they don’t necessarily think about it. The reality is that insulation has a significantly greater impact on the average home’s energy use and comfort than windows or doors.

Believe it or not, 9 out of 10 homes in the U.S. are under-insulated. That means that you most likely live in one of them. Older Arlington homes were built when insulation was expensive and fuel was cheap.

Many Arlington homes were built with no insulation and are uncomfortably hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and have uneven temperatures room-to-room and floor-to-floor.

Do you have uneven temperatures throughout your home? Can you feel the bitter wind blowing even when to doors and windows are closed? Is your floor freezing cold? What are you waiting for!? Join other Arlingtonians that already weatherized their homes and are enjoying the benefits of year-round comfort and lower utility bills.

In most cases, the fixes aren’t complex and the cost will likely be less than you expect. In one day you can have your home insulated and be comfortable year after year.

Unsure where to start? Check out this list of contractors that participated in the our previously run Home Energy Rebate Program. Give an insulation contractor a call today to get an estimate. The sooner you act the more comfortable your home will be.

Tune in to our next post where we’ll post tips for renters and condo owners.

Open Houses in Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Looking for a home? There are plenty of houses and condos open for viewing this weekend.

Check out the Arlington Realty website for a full list of homes for sale and open houses in Arlington. Here are a few highlights:

6050 28th Street N.
5 bed/4 bath, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Optime Realty
Listed: $1,399,900
Open: Sunday 2-4 p.m.

 

1531 12th Street S.
3 bed/3 bath, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices Penfed Realty
Listed: $934,500
Open: Saturday 12-4 p.m. and Sunday 1-4 p.m.

 

5727 2nd Street S.
3 bed/2 bath single-family home
Agent: Mcenearney Associates
Listed: $895,000
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

 

314 S. Cleveland Street
3 bed/1 bath, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc.
Listed: $694,500
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

 

1530 N. Key Boulevard #527
1 bed/1 bath condo
Agent: Ttr Sotheby’s International Realty
Listed: $499,995
Open: Sunday 2-4 p.m.

 

900 N. Stafford Street #2010
1 bed/1 bath condo
Agent: Keller Williams Realty
Listed: $324,900
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

 

4600 S. Four Mile Run Drive
3 bed/2 bath condo
Agent: Keller Williams Realty
Listed: $260,000
Open: Sunday 2-4 p.m.

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