Crystal City | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published March 8, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated March 8, 2019 at 9:36AM

Crash Closes Part of Parkway — A serious crash has closed the northbound lanes of the GW Parkway between the Daingerfield Island marina and I-395. A crash investigation is underway. [Twitter]

False Report Prompts Big Police Response — “At approximately 2:30 p.m. on March 6, police were dispatched to the report of a man brandishing a firearm in the lobby of” the Days Inn hotel on Arlington Blvd. “The investigation determined that no disturbance had occurred and that the reporting party allegedly had an ongoing dispute with the hotel over a refund. A warrant for Filing a False Police Report was obtained for the suspect.” [Arlington County]

News

Crystal City Civic Association Urges Swift Approval of Amazon Incentive Deal

By Alex Koma

Published March 7, 2019 at 10:00AM

Some of Amazon’s future neighbors in Crystal City now say that they’re eager to see the County Board approve an incentive package to bring the company to Arlington.

The Crystal City Civic Association penned a letter of support Monday (March 4) for the company’s arrival in the neighborhood, encouraging the Board to give the green light to a plan to hand over $23 million in grant money to the tech giant over the next 15 years. The Board is set to consider the deal, publicly revealed for the first time this week, later this month.

News

Amazon Could Take Advantage of a Tech Incentive Program to Generate Hefty Tax Savings

By Alex Koma

Published March 6, 2019 at 3:30PM | Updated March 7, 2019 at 9:37AM

The office building at 241 18th Street S. that Amazon plans to occupy in Crystal City.

(Updated at 4:45 p.m.) Once Amazon starts to move into Arlington, the company could take advantage of a little-used county incentive program for tech firms to substantially slash its local tax burden.

Documents released in late January show that Arlington officials explicitly pitched the tech giant on the prospect of scoring major tax savings through the county’s “Technology Zone” program, back when they were still wooing Amazon last year. Created in 2001 and last updated in 2014, the program was designed to provide incentives for high-tech businesses to move to Arlington by offering significantly reduced rates for the county’s “Business, Professional and Occupational License” tax in certain neighborhoods.

News

County Unveils Amazon Incentive Deal, Sketching Out How Company Can Earn $23 Million in Grants

By Alex Koma

Published March 5, 2019 at 3:45PM

Arlington officials have, at last, unveiled a detailed version of the county’s proposed incentive package designed to bring Amazon to the county.

A draft copy of the county’s “Economic Development Incentive Grant Agreement” posted online for the first time today (Tuesday) sketches out the exact amount of office space Amazon will need to occupy in Arlington in order to win $23 million in incentive cash over the next 15 years.

News

County Plans Incremental Transportation Projects Alongside Major Efforts to Prepare for Amazon

By D. Taylor Reich

Published March 4, 2019 at 10:00AM | Updated March 4, 2019 at 10:59AM

A multimodal transit hub planned for Crystal City to coincide with Amazon's arrival. (via JBG Smith)

The following feature article was funded by our new Patreon community. Want to see more articles like this, exploring important local topics that don’t make our usual news coverage? Join and help fund additional local journalism in Arlington.

With Amazon hoping to open a headquarters in Arlington, Crystal City’s transportation network can’t seem to stay out of the spotlight.

Around Town

Los Tios Grill Opens Its Doors in Crystal City

By Alex Koma

Published March 1, 2019 at 1:30PM

The new Los Tios Grill in Crystal City.

Crystal City now has a new restaurant open on its burgeoning 23rd Street S.

Los Tios Grill opened its doors in mid-February in a small space at 515 23rd Street S. The location was once home to Cantina Mexicana, which closed last December, after first opening under a different name in 1978.

Events

County Board Sets Plans for Bevy of Amazon-Focused Community Meetings Ahead of Vote This Month

By Alex Koma

Published March 1, 2019 at 11:00AM

Arlington leaders will soon convene more than a dozen town halls to discuss Amazon’s plans for the county in the run-up to a planned vote on the matter later this month.

County Board members plan to spend the next few weeks holding meetings with a variety of civic associations and advocacy groups to discuss the tech giant’s arrival in Crystal City and Pentagon City, and have now released a schedule of the impending gatherings.

Around Town

Patrons Invited to ‘Get a Buzz and Get Buzzed’ at New Salon in Crystal City Sports Pub

By Alex Koma

Published March 1, 2019 at 10:00AM

The "Crystal City Cuts" barbershop, which just opened inside the Crystal City Sports Pub.

The Crystal City Sports Pub no longer offers just beers and bites to eat — the restaurant now has its own barber as well.

“Crystal City Cuts” opened up on the first floor of the bar in mid-February, with a small salon in the back corner of the restaurant (529 23rd Street S.).

News

Amazon ‘Felt Welcome’ in Arlington Before Moving In, But Still Plans More Extensive Outreach

By Alex Koma

Published February 28, 2019 at 1:30PM

JBG Smith CEO Matt Kelly, left, and Amazon executive Holly Sullivan, center, at a Bisnow event.

When Amazon first started seriously considering Arlington for a new headquarters, the company went so far as to send employees out to local coffee shops and bars to gauge how people around here felt about the tech giant moving in.

The company’s head of worldwide economic development, Holly Sullivan, says Amazon employees were regularly surveying Crystal City locals about the prospect of becoming the neighborhood’s newest, and largest, occupant. And by the time the tech firm was ready to select Arlington for the project, she had full confidence that Amazon would be greeted with open arms.

Around Town

Here’s Where You Can Pick Up Girl Scout Cookies Around Arlington

By Alex Koma

Published February 26, 2019 at 9:00AM

If you’ve got a hankering for samoas, thin mints and tagalongs these days, you’re in luck — it’s officially Girl Scout cookie season around Arlington.

Local troops have begun setting up booths around the county, with proceeds of the annual sale set to benefit the local Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital and fund a variety of trips and programs for kids around Arlington.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Amazon is a Perfect Fit for Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Published February 25, 2019 at 4:15PM | Updated February 25, 2019 at 5:13PM

The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by Gary Shapiro, the president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), who writes in support of Amazon’s plans to open up a new headquarters in Crystal City and Pentagon City.

The Crystal City-based group lobbies on behalf of more than 2,200 consumer technology companies, Amazon included, and it has recently come out in strong support of the company’s vision for Arlington. Shapiro appeared at a recent forum of Amazon executives and regional leaders, and the CTA even organized a pro-Amazon demonstration at the event.

Feature

Crystal City’s ByteCubed Merges With Marketing Agency to Become U.Group

By Vernon Miles

Published February 25, 2019 at 12:00PM | Updated March 7, 2019 at 2:45PM

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 2:30 p.m.) — ByteCubed, a Crystal City-based startup contractor and consulting business that’s been on the rise for the last few years, recently merged with D.C.-based digital agency CHIEF to launch U.Group: an advanced technology and creative design company.