Moving to Alexandria -working at Mark Center (Arlington, Annandale: hair salon, real estate)

[leisrp01]

Hey, I need help finding a 1b/1b near the Mark Center. I understand you cannot drive (new employee) to the Mark Center and I would like to live as close as possible and take the bus? I have a small dog so it would be nice to not have a huge complex and hopefully could rent for about $1500. Any suggestions on apartments or transportation methods?

[persnicketygal]

I lived in a gated apartment complex, Millbrook, on Beauregard St. when I first moved to N.Va.
I had what I think they called a 2 br, but to me, it was more a 1 br w/den. The rent for the last year was nearing $1700 (my mortgage has always been less than that), plus there would've been a dog fee (which I asked about because I was thinking of getting one). That dog fee was not small. The rent had a big jump every year (well, everybody's property taxes keep rising, so the apt complexes have to keep pace, too.)

Check it out if only because it's smack dab in Mark Center, an easy walk. During your lunch break, you could go home to walk the dogs and eat lunch and saunter on back to the office.

Along Beauregard are other apartment complexes -- only you can judge if any of these would be OK for you personally.

And at the main intersection of Seminary and Beauregard, there's a big (apt?) building called Seminary Towers. Their rents seem to be more in line with what you're willing to spend. You cross one multi-laned street and walk just a bit and you're at Mark Center. Worth checking the availability.

Going a bit farther out, there are several apartment towers along Route 7 (Leesburg Pike, going west from Beauregard to Baileys Crossroads) -- home to the strip shopping centers. See if you can't get your employer's HR department to mail you one of the freebie apartment guides booklet so you can get a feel for looks and prices and get some phone numbers to start calling about availability. Route 7 is a major bus route, so I wouldn't be surprised if one of them easily got you to Beauregard.

Alternatively, check out the townhouse complexes south of that, on King Street -- Fairlington is quite a large one, and you might find some rentals in between the owner-occupied townhouses or condos. Then you'd just have to hop a bus on King Street to Mark Center (very short ride, on the 7A bus). I have no idea what the real estate prices are for any available rentals; the units I looked at about 9 years ago were too small for what I wanted.

[Carlingtonian]

I too work at the Mark of Satan Center! Welcome. Hope you like it.

Originally Posted by persnicketygal

IAnd at the main intersection of Seminary and Beauregard, there's a big (apt?) building called Seminary Towers. Their rents seem to be more in line with what you're willing to spend. You cross one multi-laned street and walk just a bit and you're at Mark Center. Worth checking the availability.

Southern Towers. Indeed, you can't get closer than that.

Originally Posted by persnicketygal

Going a bit farther out, there are several apartment towers along Route 7 (Leesburg Pike, going west from Beauregard to Baileys Crossroads) -- home to the strip shopping centers. See if you can't get your employer's HR department to mail you one of the freebie apartment guides booklet so you can get a feel for looks and prices and get some phone numbers to start calling about availability. Route 7 is a major bus route, so I wouldn't be surprised if one of them easily got you to Beauregard.

Those are probably cheap. I see the residents waiting for buses a lot--mostly families.

Originally Posted by persnicketygal

Alternatively, check out the townhouse complexes south of that, on King Street -- Fairlington is quite a large one, and you might find some rentals in between the owner-occupied townhouses or condos. Then you'd just have to hop a bus on King Street to Mark Center (very short ride, on the 7A bus). I have no idea what the real estate prices are for any available rentals; the units I looked at about 9 years ago were too small for what I wanted.

Fairlington is really nice, but I don't think you could find a 1BR for that price there.

There are apartments on Columbia Pike in S. Arlington, which is very close (less than 10 minutes), but the apartments are fairly run-down and occupied mostly by Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Metrobus 7M goes to/from the Pentagon every 15 minutes, all day--so you could also take the train/bus there and then jump on that bus to the Mark Center.

If you're not averse to a 15-minute walk twice a day, you could drive to work and park for free in the nearby neighborhood; most of the streets are zoned parking, but a few are not. I've been doing this for months now. But you don't want to drive to work if you live south of there (in Springfield, Woodbridge, etc.). You could drive there easily from northern Annandale, Alexandria, or Arlington.

If you're a single person (and thus don't care about schools), you might also consider SW DC--a very quick drive to the MC as well (since it's a reverse commute).

[leighland]

^^ like he said

Southern Towers you can walk to work.

Studios run a bit over $1000

Living there is like living at the UN-every language/culture imaginable lives there tho' it seems to be managed by Ethiopians.

You can't control your heat/ac tho'. There's a "High/Low" airflow button but it doesn't do anything.

There's at least 3 Olympic size pools, even a hair salon.

Let us know how it goes.

[persnicketygal]

oops -- Southern Towers, right! not Seminary Towers... (but it's the Seminary Road exit off 395 south...)
(thanks, Carlingtonian!)

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by persnicketygal

oops -- Southern Towers, right! not Seminary Towers... (but it's the Seminary Road exit off 395 south...)
(thanks, Carlingtonian!)

Seminary Towers would be a better name. They're in the far north of Alexandria, are mostly west (SW) of DC, west of 395, and north of the Mark Center. And nary a portico nor bit of Spanish moss to be found.

[leisrp01]

Thanks for the feedback! I was really looking at Millbrook/Townsquare. So I would be able to walk each day? They have 1b/1b starting around $1,350 plus pet fee. Anyone know how the gym at the Mark Center is? I am pretty simple during the week - work and working out but would like to be near public transit for weekend activities.

[persnicketygal]

You absolutely could walk to work from there.
When I take Beauregard as a cut-through during the mid-day, I frequently see office workers walking down to the small shopping center (there's a CVS, dry cleaners, ban, Subway sandwich shop, McDonald's, DQ, an Asian restaurant of some type -- Thai? can't recall... -- and a Noodles & Company, so on a nice day, it's a nice walk. There's also a nicer sit-down restaurant a block or 2 away from the shopping center.

And when I was living at Millbrook, there was a little shuttle bus operated by the complex that ferried people to a Metro station in the mornings and did pickups around typical quitting times. If you call for info, be sure to ask about that.

[persnicketygal]

Oh, and there was a little gym at Millbrook -- a few treadmills, stairclimbers, there might've been weights. (And some TVs, of course!)

[Carlingtonian]

Yes, you could easily walk from that area.

The gym at MC is decent--treadmills, free weights, machines, pullup bars, etc. I think it's $20/month if you prepay for the year.