What is your perspective on living near Duke St?

[rbkoreaus]

Originally Posted by Old Dominionite

A general rule of thumb is that the further east you go on Duke Street (towards Old Town), property values and overall desirability increase.

Your preference for a condo and budget puts most of your options in the West End of Alexandria City (between I-395 and Jordan Street) and the Lincolnia area of Fairfax County (around the intersection of Little River Turnpike and Beauregard Street). Frankly, I wouldn’t invest here. It’s not a “dump” like a previous poster mentioned, but it’s a densely-populated and socio-economically diverse area that suffers from serious traffic congestion. Most of the condo housing is old and converted apartment stock, and the area is largely built-out with relative fewer opportunities for new construction. I don’t think the area will depreciate over the time; however, I do think appreciation will be slower than other more desirable areas (e.g., Shirlington, Old Town).

I was able to explore the Shirlington area for a bit my last trip down in NoVA and was a fan.


How far east on Duke from Landmark do you think it starts becoming more desirable? Anything before hitting Old Town?

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by Old Dominionite

A general rule of thumb is that the further east you go on Duke Street (towards Old Town), property values and overall desirability increase.

Your preference for a condo and budget puts most of your options in the West End of Alexandria City (between I-395 and Jordan Street) and the Lincolnia area of Fairfax County (around the intersection of Little River Turnpike and Beauregard Street). Frankly, I wouldn’t invest here. It’s not a “dump” like a previous poster mentioned, but it’s a densely-populated and socio-economically diverse area that suffers from serious traffic congestion. Most of the condo housing is old and converted apartment stock, and the area is largely built-out with relative fewer opportunities for new construction. I don’t think the area will depreciate over the time; however, I do think appreciation will be slower than other more desirable areas (e.g., Shirlington, Old Town).

I agree its not a dump. I've been in one of the larger older condo complexes, and while it's not to my (more urbanist) tastes in urban design, the units and the amenities appeared very nice. They can be a very liveable option for middle class people. I assume the low prices reflect the high HOA fees.

It is socio economically diverse, but still not particularly high in serious crimes. For those commuting - for some people the shortness of the commute (such as to Mark Center) probably offsets the congestion. For those going further in, express buses which use the HOV (soon to be HOT) lanes provide an option. If you work in Old Town and you bike, the Holmes Run-Eisenhower Avenue trails provide a fairly easy option. In a few years there will be a BRT line on Van Dorn to Beauregard to Shirlington which will save some time over current local buses. And I believe some of the complexes have shuttles to the Van Dorn metro.

Landmark mall itself is the prime location for new construction north of Duke, though that has been dragging on.

There is new construction further south, around Pickett, closer to the Van Dorn metro. If being near new construction, and closer to metro, is important, I would look down there.

Shirlington of course, which is a walkable urban place in a way Landmark is not, and which is a single stop via express bus to the Pentagon, and which has Arlington County schools, is a quite different market.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by rbkoreaus

I was able to explore the Shirlington area for a bit my last trip down in NoVA and was a fan.


How far east on Duke from Landmark do you think it starts becoming more desirable? Anything before hitting Old Town?

If you are thinking in terms of crime, really none of it is a high crime area, though there are probably fewer nuisance crimes as soon as you are away from Landmark itself - east of Reynolds? (btw at Pickett you have the very attractive Alexandria central library, and are close to Cameron Station, a 90s era neo traditional TH development that is very nice, and Ben Brenman Park) The layout of the area remains older suburban until you cross the railroad tracks into Old Town. I think the main reason it gets "more desirable" closer to Old Town is because the commute on congested Duke Street to Old Town is shorter.

[rbkoreaus]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

If you are thinking in terms of crime, really none of it is a high crime area, though there are probably fewer nuisance crimes as soon as you are away from Landmark itself - east of Reynolds? (btw at Pickett you have the very attractive Alexandria central library, and are close to Cameron Station, a 90s era neo traditional TH development that is very nice, and Ben Brenman Park) The layout of the area remains older suburban until you cross the railroad tracks into Old Town. I think the main reason it gets "more desirable" closer to Old Town is because the commute on congested Duke Street to Old Town is shorter.

Thanks for all the great insight! My lifestyle consists of a lot of time at library, gym, and running outside. So I'll really have to spend more time exploring that area in or just outside of Old Town. The TH development you mentioned sounds like something I should definitely look into. Thank you!!