Sweeping D.C. views
Filled with skyscrapers and ultra-urban-styled condos, Rosslyn invites residents to taste chic big-city living just miles from the nation’s capital. This metropolitan area, connected to Georgetown by the historic Key Bridge, offers sweeping D.C. views. “Having Georgetown right across the river, good restaurants within walking distance and a Metro nearby were my favorite things,” says former resident Erin Robinson. Rosslyn, one of Arlington’s established urban villages — neighborhoods with shopping, retail, offices and residences clustered within a few blocks — is also home to Arlington’s tallest building, its own Twin Towers office complex and the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial.
High-rises fill the skyline, and midcentury Brutalist office complexes, emblematic of the D.C. area’s Federal government architecture, squarely fill out blocks. “There are not really any single-family homes,” says Realtor Lynn Kern. “It’s mostly condos, apartments and townhouses. The draw is the Metro, airports, biking trails and the proximity to Georgetown and Foggy Bottom. Everything is accessible.” She adds that there is ample parking, green spaces, a charter school and a community garden.” Rosslyn’s walkability is inherent in its design — multiuse buildings follow the live-work-play principle. Restaurants and businesses fill the street-level spaces of buildings, with simple green spaces and passive parks breaking up the urban landscape.
Wide pricing range
Loft-style condo buildings in Arlington were built in the mid-2000s. Most properties’ average costs are between $128,000 and $3.7 million. Almost 90% of properties are commercial spaces and nearly 75% of residents are renters. “It’s all about the density and ratio of apartments versus condos,” says Kern, a longtime resident in the neighborhood who has sold condos in the community for 15 years with TTR Sotheby’s International Reality. “Most apartment buildings have 200 to 300 units compared to 100 with the condo complexes. Additionally, no one is building condos anymore — they’re building apartment buildings.”
Top-rated schools
While there are no schools in the neighborhood, students can attend nearby Arlington City Public Schools like Innovation Elementary School, which gets an A from Niche. Dorothy Hamm Middle School has an A-plus rating and Yorktown High School is an A-plus rated academy. Additionally, there are 15 colleges near Arlington, including George Washington University and the University of Maryland.
Potomac River hiking trails
And although most of Rosslyn’s charm lies in its city ambiance, the area is so much more than mammoth buildings and busy streets and sidewalks. A quick walk across a footbridge takes you to the trails, trees and natural wonders of Theodore Roosevelt Island, a national park and memorial on the Potomac River.
Dining options
Rosslyn’s ground-floor restaurants can be haute-cuisine like Inca Social, with its menu of Japanese-Peruvian fusion, or downhome like the neighborhood hang and whiskey bar Quinn’s. Continental Modern Pool Lounge, with all sorts of pool and game tables scattered among its funkily designed interior, also has an outdoor beer garden with a bocce court. More reserved dining options can be found at places like Sfolgina’s, a Michelin-starred Italian trattoria specializing in handmade pasta.
Rosslyn has an assortment of traditional chain stores like Target, Safeway and Starbucks, as well as some innovators like Foxtrot, a combo café/convenience store primed for online ordering and delivery.
A weeknight farmers market located close to the Metro station caters to commuting crowds with organic produce, pasture-fed beef, baked goods and fresh flowers.
More than 100 events annually
The Rosslyn Business Improvement District ensures Rosslyn is more than just a corporate center by holding events like yoga in Gateway Park, a small green space at the base of the Key Bridge that serves as a community gathering place. The park is also the site of the Rosslyn Jazz Fest, outdoor movie events and a dog park. Dark Star Park, a public art installation of fountains and geometric sculptures, draws spectators on Aug.1 when the morning light creates a shadow alignment. The group puts on more than 100 events a year.
Photography Contributed By
Tyson Le
