AN AFFORDABLE GEM: COLUMBIA FOREST
A single-family home for under $500,000? That’s a rarity in Arlington, where the average property is now valued at $603,500, according to 2016 county real estate assessments. But Columbia Forest, a neighborhood that was originally established in 1941 to house Pentagon workers, is one of the few places where you can still find that deal. Last year, the average listing here was $478,000.
“It’s a great little neighborhood in transition right now,” says Ann Wilson, an associate broker with Keller Williams Realty. “You can still get a really good bang for your buck, whereas comparable homes in [ZIP codes] 22205 or 22207 would cost you an arm and a leg.”
That relatively low price point has made the quiet neighborhood a sweet spot for first-time buyers—particularly young couples who are starting families and eager to get their kids enrolled in Arlington Public Schools. (Columbia Forest is served by neighborhood schools Claremont Immersion Elementary, Kenmore Middle and Wakefield High.)
Most of the postwar homes are small, but nearby amenities like the modern Arlington Mill Community Center and a freshly renovated Wakefield High—which now looks more like a college campus than a public high school—broaden the experience.
There’s also another potential new locus in the works: If approved, Village Center, a mixed-use development proposed for the nearby corner of Columbia Pike and South George Mason Drive, will add a public square (think outdoor dining, event space, fountains) and 82,000 square feet of supermarket retail topped by 365 new market-rate apartments. Rumor has it that Harris Teeter is the frontrunner to replace the current Food Star grocery store at that intersection.