URBAN TRADE-UP: ROSSLYN
Left: Rosslyn’s Gateway Park. Right: Turnberry Tower
Affluent suburbanites who’ve grown weary of yard work, home repairs and traffic snarls are finding their city fix in Rosslyn, where vertical living is de rigueur and the resident population of 11,000 is but one Metro stop away from the District. A recent flurry of tony development has made the neighborhood especially alluring to empty nesters—namely those who want to trade in their larger homes for high-rise digs with direct access to shopping, museums, restaurants and Reagan National Airport, notes Kathy LoGiodice Fong, co-founder of Shepard Fong Associates.
These newly converted urban dwellers may be downsizing a bit, but they’re hardly forgoing luxury. Capping the upper end of Rosslyn’s real estate market are buildings like Turnberry Tower and Waterview, which offer white-glove services (valet parking, dry-cleaning, 24-hour concierge) penthouse-style living, unobstructed views of the D.C. skyline and residences that are accessible via private elevator.
“We see people downsizing from places like Great Falls and McLean,” says Julie Zelaska, a principal with Smith Schnider. And they’re parlaying their equity into an elegant, lock-and-leave lifestyle. In 2015, the average unit price in Turnberry Tower was $1.7 million, though the building’s priciest transaction to date involved a buyer who combined multiple units into one for a cool $13 million.