"It has a combination of location, accessibility with the Metro and a large number of one-of-a-kind retail establishments that offer a comfortable community living experience," Fairchild says. The neighborhood has a residential vacancy rate of less than 0.1%, according to the Alexandria real estate research firm Delta Associates.

Plans for the area include two joint projects by the John Akridge Cos. and Holladay Corp. One, a 249-unit, 11-story apartment building at 3000 Washington Blvd., is scheduled to break ground this winter. The other is a 75-unit condo project at 3101 Wilson Blvd. The office portion of that tract will be developed as a 223,000-sf building with ground-floor retail.

In addition, Ed Peete Corp. of Falls Church is seeking county approval to build a 23-unit townhouse community at Washington Boulevard and Kirkwood Street, and McCaffrey Interests is building 300 apartments and 87 townhouses as part of its Market Commons project on Clarendon Boulevard.