Which building is this?
Five differently named buildings sit within a few blocks of each other on this stretch of Crystal City, and the overlap causes real confusion.
| Name | Address | Manager/owner | Distinguishing fact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Plaza | 2101/2111 Richmond Hwy | Dweck Properties | This page’s subject: two 1967 towers, 539 units, two-pipe HVAC |
| Crystal Place | 1801 Crystal Drive | Equity Residential | A different building about half a mile away, with its own separate complaint history over annual rent increases |
| Crystal Square | 1515 Richmond Hwy | Not disclosed by listing sites | Renovated interiors, same street, separate ownership |
| Crystal Towers | 1600 S. Eads St | Not disclosed by listing sites | Wider one to four bedroom mix and a higher price ceiling |
| Crystal Plaza II | Adjacent Crystal City site | Vornado, per the architect of record | Not this building: an 18-story, 266-unit office-to-residential conversion, detailed below |
Is Crystal Plaza the same building as Crystal Place?No. Crystal Plaza is at 2101/2111 Richmond Highway and managed by Dweck Properties. Crystal Place is a separate building at 1801 Crystal Drive managed by Equity Residential.
Current pricing and unit sizes
| Unit type | Size range | Reconciled price range | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 593 to 762 sq ft | $1,900 to $3,100 | Four distinct studio layouts on the property’s own floor-plan page |
| 1 bedroom | 884 to 1,051 sq ft | $2,300 to $3,400 | Includes a 1.5-bath layout |
| 2 bedroom | 1,197 to 1,294 sq ft | $2,850 to $4,600 | |
| 3 bedroom | up to 1,701 sq ft | $3,800 to $6,700 | Top of the observed range |
Three separate Apartments.com snapshots taken across recent months priced the same building from $1,832 to $6,695 in one pull, and Point2Homes showed $1,915 to $5,364 on a different date. Treat any single number as a moving target and confirm it with the leasing office before signing, and ask specifically about the active move-in special, since the standing offer (one month free, the $250 amenity fee waived, up to 1.5 months free on 12-plus month leases) changes by season.
The August 2023 fire in the south tower
A fire broke out in the boiler room of the building’s southern wing on August 21, 2023, according to ARLnow’s reporting. Industrial hygienists later determined that some apartments needed new flooring, cabinetry, and wall systems to remove residual soot, work that required tenants to vacate. Dweck Properties issued vacate notices dated September 14, 2023, giving affected residents 14 days, the Virginia state-law minimum, with remediation estimated at one to six weeks per unit. Dweck said it was relocating 17 of the 68 affected residents to the building’s north tower or another nearby property it owns, with first right to re-lease at the same terms once work finished.
For a prospective renter: ask directly whether a specific unit or floor was among those remediated, and if so, what work was completed and when. The north tower, which the fire didn’t reach, served as interim housing for displaced south-tower residents.
Is the 2023 fire still affecting apartments at Crystal Plaza?Unclear from public sources. The original remediation timeline was one to six weeks per affected unit as of September 2023. No later public update on completion status was found; confirm directly with the leasing office for any specific unit.
Heating and cooling: the building-wide two-pipe system
Crystal Plaza runs on a two-pipe climate-control system, common in buildings from this era, that supplies either heat or air conditioning to the entire building at one time, never both simultaneously. In April 2026, Arlington temperatures climbed into the low 90s while the building was still on its heating cycle; ARLnow reported that management authorized an emergency early switchover to cooling after residents circulated a petition citing elderly neighbors, temperature-sensitive pets, and lost sleep. Several residents on independent review sites separately describe being unable to control the climate in their own unit, consistent with a shared two-pipe system rather than isolated complaints.
A two-pipe system means the building’s own seasonal switchover schedule, not the thermostat, decides whether a unit gets heat or cooling in a given week. Ask about the current switchover dates before signing if temperature swings outside the typical Arlington shoulder seasons matter to you.
Does Crystal Plaza have central or per-unit climate control?Central, building-wide, two-pipe. The whole building runs on either heat or air conditioning at a given time, not both, and the switch date is set by management, not by individual thermostats.
What residents say
Independent reviews (535 votes, an aggregate 4 out of 5 stars in the most recent snapshot) skew positive on staff responsiveness, unit size for the price, the underground Metro connection, and the dog park. Recurring negative themes, beyond the fire above, include a resident-reported non-operational accessible elevator, with current status unverified, inconsistent maintenance turnaround during the post-fire period, and noise near elevator shafts and Route 1-facing units. One 2025 resident review flagged that the pedestrian tunnel to the Metro was “essentially closed,” a claim not corroborated elsewhere and worth confirming directly rather than assuming it holds today.
Pet policy and fees
Crystal Plaza allows up to two pets per apartment, cats or dogs, each carrying a $500 one-time fee and $60 in monthly pet rent, with breed restrictions the leasing office discloses on request.
What’s the pet policy and fee structure at Crystal Plaza?Two pets maximum per apartment. $500 one-time fee plus $60 monthly rent, per pet, for both cats and dogs. Breed restrictions apply; ask the leasing office for the current list.
How Crystal Plaza compares with nearby Crystal City buildings
| Building | Address | Price band (recent snapshot) | Distinguishing feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Plaza | 2101/2111 Richmond Hwy | $2,092 to $6,103 | Oldest stock (1967), largest observed unit sizes, two-pipe HVAC |
| Crystal Towers | 1600 S. Eads St | $2,284 to $8,155 | Widest unit mix, up to four bedrooms |
| Crystal Square | 1515 Richmond Hwy | $2,449 to $6,784 | Renovated interiors, same street as Crystal Plaza |
| Quimby on 23rd | 320 23rd St S | $2,199 to $5,287 | Newer renovation cycle, central heating and air, not two-pipe |
A renter who values unit size and an in-building Metro connection over brand-new finishes and independent climate control fits Crystal Plaza well. A renter who needs guaranteed per-unit heating or cooling control year-round should look at Quimby on 23rd instead.
Crystal Plaza II: a different building with a similar name
Is Crystal Plaza connected to the Crystal Plaza II conversion project?Only by name and neighborhood. Crystal Plaza II is a separate Vornado-owned building converted from a former office tower; it isn’t managed by Dweck Properties and isn’t part of the 2101/2111 Richmond Highway property.
Crystal Plaza II is not part of the building described above. It’s Vornado’s adaptive-reuse project in the same Crystal City block: architect Dorsky + Yue International’s portfolio describes converting a vacant 12-story Class B office tower into an 18-story, 266-unit residential building by adding six new floors and replacing the facade with a curtain-wall glazing system, plus a rooftop pool and fitness deck. The portfolio page doesn’t state a completion or current-leasing date, so treat its leasing status as unconfirmed rather than assuming it’s open now.
Getting around
Crystal Plaza connects directly to the Crystal City Metro station (Blue and Yellow lines) via an interior tunnel, sits a few blocks from the Crystal City VRE stop, and is roughly ten minutes from downtown DC by car.
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