CRYSTAL CITY SHOPS
Jefferson Davis Highway / US 1 and 18th Street South
Arlington County, Virginia

Washington, DC's high-rise edge city rose on a plot located 3 miles southwest of the United States Capitol. The 76-acre site, in Virginia's Arlington County, had housed scrap yards, brick yards, factories and flop houses over the years. The Airport Drive-In Theatre operated there between 1947 and 1963.

In September of that year, development of the tract -as a mixed-use office, residential and hotel complex- began. The project was built under the auspices of Crystal Associates; a joint venture of the DC-based Charles E. Smith Companies and Washington Brick & Terra Cotta Company. 

The first structure, the 800-unit Crystal House apartment tower, was completed in 1964. The ornate chandelier in its lobby lent the "crystal" name to subsequent office and condominium complexes. These included Crystal Plaza, Crystal Mall, Crystal Square, Crystal Gateway and Crystal Park.

The Crystal Plaza superblock, the first commercial development, was designed by the Weihe, Black & Kerr firm. There were eventually eight buildings; six office and two residential. These were completed between 1965 and 1968. An underground shopping center, Crystal Plaza Shops, was installed in corridors linking the high-rises. 

There were originally twenty stores and services. Among these were Crystal Florist, Crystal City Recreation Incorporated, Vincent et Vincent hair stylists and Crystal Valet. Office-type tenants included the United States Patent Office, Department of Health, Education & Welfare and Internal Revenue Service.

The five-building Crystal Mall superblock was also developed by Crystal Associates and designed by the Weihe, Black & Kerr firm. It opened in 1969, with a labyrinth of Crystal Mall Shops concourses built beneath it. The 300-room Crystal City Marriott Motor Hotel welcomed first lodgers in January 1970. 2 levels of parking were built below the Crystal Plaza and Crystal Mall complexes, with for-pay parking provided for 4,500 autos.

Meanwhile, in late 1967, construction commenced on a third superblock at the north end of the Crystal City site. As originally planned, Jefferson Plaza would encompass seven buildings and cover a 3-level garage, providing for-pay parking for 3,500 autos. The complex was built by a joint venture of DC-based Plaza Associates and New York City's Arlen Properties, Incorporated. Weihe, Black & Kerr and Henry Holle & Associates designed the facility. 

A 303-room Holiday Inn opened for business in September 1969. The adjacent Building One was dedicated in October. Apparently, only one more Jefferson Plaza structure was built. An above ground -and fully-enclosed- shopping mall was planned but never completed.  

A third subterranean retail complex was developed in the mid-1970s. Crystal Underground linked five high-rise buildings on the 16-acre Crystal City superblock. Planned by Color Design Art of Santa Monica, California, the 120,000 square foot shopping village was done in an old timey, 1920s motif. Storefronts featured antique leaded glass windows and hand-carved wood trim. Shopping concourses were floored with brick and cobblestone. 

Among the many nostalgic features were Trolley Pub, a circa-1901 trolley car replica restaurant,  the Antique Alley mall within a mall, and Crystal Palace international food court. Forty shops and services were open for business by June 1976. The subterranean center was officially dedicated, with over seventy stores, on September 30, 1976. Charter Crystal Underground tenants included Larimers general store, DrugFair and a (12,000 square foot) Jelleff's ladies' wear shop. 

The Crystal City malls became rapid transit-accessible on July 1, 1977. Revenue service commenced on the DC Metro's 11.8 route mile National Airport-to-Stadium-Armory Blue Line. Yellow Line service began on April 30, 1983. Commuter rail access, via the Virginia Railway Express, was established on June 22, 1992.

By this time, the network of subterranean shopping concourses had been expanded. Crystal Gateway Shops was completed between 1980 and 1985. This northern superblock incorporated the three existing Jefferson Plaza buildings, with four new buildings added. Crystal Park Shops was located across Crystal Drive and southeast of the core Crystal City complex. The five-building Crystal Park superblock was developed between 1984 and 1989. 

 

Crystal City had not been envisaged as a planned community, but had evolved into one over the ensuing years. In its early days, the underground city in Arlington was seen as a futuristic portent of urban living in America. However, by the 1990s, this vision had changed.

New Jersey's Vornado Realty Trust began acquiring property at Crystal City in 1997. By 1999, they were partners with Charles E. Smith Commercial Realty, the original developer. Vornado established 100 percent ownership of the five "Crystal" complexes in October 2001.

By the early 21st century, the underground malls were being marketed as a single entity known as CRYSTAL CITY SHOPS. However, its five sections still had individual names; Crystal City Shops North (formerly the Crystal Underground), Plaza Shops (previously Crystal Plaza Shops), Crystal Mall Shops, Crystal Gateway Shops North and Crystal Park Shops. 

A plan was devised to reorient some stores and restaurants up to street level. A parking structure was demolished to make way for The Streetscape, which would comprise 134,000 square feet of open-air retail and restaurant space. New sidewalks and landscaping were installed. Moreover, addresses were changed and several roadways rerouted as 2-way thoroughfares.

CRYSTAL CITY SHOPS  encountered a major setback in 2005, with the passage of the federal government's Base Realignment and Closure Act. Three million square feet of government offices, most tenants since the late 1960s, vacated the facilities. The complex persevered, due, in part, to its eclectic collection of stores.

 

By the late 2000s, the five CRYSTAL CITY SHOPS components had been renamed again. They were now known as Shops At 1750 Crystal Drive, Shops At Crystal Mall, Shops At 2100 Crystal Drive, Shops at The Gateway and Shops At Crystal Park.

In July 2017, Chevy Chase, Maryland's JBG Companies acquired the DC-area portfolio of the Vornado Realty Trust and Charles E. Smith Commercial Realty. A new management entity, known as JGB Smith, was created. Soon after, a major tenant was signed. The Amazon HQ2 building, a new eastern headquarters for the online retailer, was dedicated on June 15, 2023.

 

Unfortunately, this couldn't sustain the failing underground shopping center. According to some, it was stuck in a 1970s time warp. Vacant store spaces multiplied. By the early 2020s, there were only twenty-four operational stores and services, with space for around 130. The Covid-19 pandemic sealed the fate of the complex. Post-pandemic, it operated in a state of retail twilight. All stores closed for good in October 2024.    

 

Sources:

The Washington Post

The Northern Virginia Sun (Arlington, Virginia)

The Arlington Courier (Arlington, Virginia)
http://www.arlingtonvirginia.com

https://www.washingtonian.com

https://propertysearch.arlingtonva.us / Arlington County, Virginia

https://www.apartments.com
https://projects.arlingtonva.us

http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com

https://www.thecrystalcityshops.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

http://vornadocharlesesmith.com / Vornado Realty Trust-Charles E. Smith (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

http://www.commuterpage.com
https://www.bisnow.com

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Virginia Railway Express

"Farewell to Crystal City Underground, the DC Area’s Strangest Mall" /Arya Hodjat / May 2024
"Crystal City" article on Wikipedia