Back in 2000 Charles E Smith owned pretty much all of Crystal City and it was for the most part a dump except for the buildings that they occupied. They broke themselves up and sold their parts, and a commercial company bought all the commercial property and a residential company bought the few residential properties (which were real crap holes that were falling apart). At 5PM the place was pretty much a ghost town.

BRAC happened about the same time and the Navy moved their system's commands out.

Over the next 20 years, the buildings were renovated, restaurants and shops moved in and the last time I was there the place was unrecognizable. Gone were the run down GSA leased properties, replaced with commercial entities and such who demanded improvements. Tons of new restaurants and shops, people on the streets in the evenings, lots going on.

No way in the world I would live there and thankfully don't have to work there either, but for those that prefer that lifestyle, it is great. Get the right people involved, let commercial companies with profit motive take the lead and the risks and get the government and academic central planners out of the way, that could be a huge opportunity for the city. Or, a bunch of pols and their buddies are gonna get rich and the place will be a dump for a couple decades.