Cali Girl in the DMV

Days  one and two of my great big move to Northern Virginia has been all about apartment hunting and an awesome test in patience. The NOVA area is indeed a wonderful place in my humble opinion. The area has a great deal to offer. If one is interested in the arts, politics, good food, shopping, and even nature, it is all here. There are cute little walking areas, business areas, regular city-like areas and wonderful malls. It would seem that everything that a person could need is right here in Virginia, with Washington, DC right on the otherside of the Potomac.

In the past two days, we looked at several properties for rent. The first was a very brand new property, The Alexan Carlyle located near Carlyle Square in Alexandria, VA. It appears that once these apartments are finished, they will be very cute and very modern. At this point the first building is nearly complete, and they are currently only renting on the 1st and 2nd floor. It is within walking distance of a cute little roundabout of shops, cafes, and restaurants and located behind the Patent and Trademark Offices. It would have been a good choice, but they had only rented to three other residences and we would be the fourth, and there was dust and construction everywhere and I didn’t see an end in sight.

We went to the Clayborne in Alexandria, which was nice, but only had a 2 bedroom 1 bath available, and then to The Linc  in another part of town. The Linc did have a den, if it could be called that. It looked more like a nook or a place to put a window seat. Pretty much it was just an extra space. In addition, we were being shown the apartment with two other ladies who I can only assume were mother and daughter. They both seemed to be on the snobby side and were whispering to each other and staring at us with funny looks on their faces every time we asked the leasing agent a question. I hope this isn’t an indicator of the way people act in this area. I do know for sure that I had no desire to have either of them as neighbors. This is not a judgement on the place itself, but perhaps the management staff should consider giving separate tours to prospective tenants. Ultimately, The Linc was too small and the look of the apartments seemed more like a hotel than an apartment home.

We looked at the Monarch, which seemed ideal. I was really drawn to the Starbucks and Boxing Gym on the ground level. The area seemed to be thriving and there was lot to do within walking distance. I definitely need to make a note to go back and take one of the boxing classes. The exercisers could be seen through the window working out with the big punching bags. Looked like a whole lot of fun and a great way to work out some aggression.

Alexandria had some very interesting things to offer on day one. On day two, we set out  to look around in Arlington. Our first visit was to the Gramercy at the Metropolitan Park. All I can say is, “Wow!!!” This apartment building has everything one could even think of wanting in a place to live. The retro style building has a  beautiful pool and outdoor lounge area, huge fitness center, state of the art business and conference center, a movie theater, hardwood floors, a huge clubroom that can be rented for parties, and the amenities go on and on. They even had a two bedroom with den available and the den was actually den-sized. And the best part of all, this community was within walking distance of the wonderful Fashion Center at Pentagon City. Of course all of this luxury comes with a price that was at the higher end of our price range. I have to say though, in spite of price, this beauty would be hard for anyone to pass up. The Gramercy is most definitely a contender.

We stopped by The Halstead Tower and The Avalon at Arlington Square, but aparently they weren’t really interested in renting any apartments, because the The Halstead Tower was having some kind of training, so “all” of their people were too busy to come and talk to us, even to make an appointment. The Concierge only talked to us, when she realized that we had been standing there waiting after she passed by us to go to the water cooler and to talk to some other people. And the people at The Avalon decided that it would be a good idea to just take the day off. So that was that, there was no need to look any further. I will say that the lobby of The Halstead Towers was very artsy and cool, but of course that was not enough to make me go back on the off chance that someone may or may not help me.

IO` Piazza was extremely cute. There was no pool though, and the building seemed overly animal friendly. The draw to this particular place was the cute little walking area of Shirlington with lots of shops and places to eat and what looked to be like a really decent library. This building was built initally as a building of condos to be bought rather than rented, so there were a lot of extra nice fixtures and touches that you don’t normally get in an apartment community. There were hardwood floors throughout, the bathrooms boasted slate tiles and the appliances seemed to be on the higher end. Of course, we were looking at the model, so that could have a lot to do with how pretty and perfect everything was. Overall, it was very cute and met our needs at the right price, so it is definitely on the list.

We ended the day by looking at the Halstead at Arlington. A very chic, very new building with lots of extra amenities like Sunset Yoga, Pet Appreciation Day, and Virtual Golf, at a price somewhat below most  of the properties with similar features. Coming from a very suburban place in California, the surrounding neighborhood appeared to be a little seedy, but I couldn’t find anyone who had anything really bad to say about it, so perhaps looks can truly be deceiving. And I knew that when I chose to move to the city, everything wasn’t going to be perfectly new and manicured like the suburbs, that would defeat the move to a city in the first place. I must say that I was rather surprised at the number of people walking around the area visiting the local diners and businesses in the evening. This was definitely a plus.

The price range for a two bedroom, two bath was $1700 per month, on the lower end at The Linc, in Alexandria, to $3800 per month on the higher end at The Gramercy at Metropolitan Park on the higher end.

This area definitely has a lot to offer, from the diversity of the people to a wide range of housing choices and amenities. There seems to be enough to appeal to most everyone.

I will not say which property we actually picked for obvious reasons, but I do believe that just about any of the places on the list would be a great start if one is looking to live in the NOVA area. With all that has been built here and that will be built in the future, any prospective move to this area could be a truly satisfying experience.

Until next time.