Pentagon City - History

History

The area was formerly known as "ReLee." The land was undeveloped through World War II. In the post-World War II era, the land was held by the Cafritz family pending future development, as empty fields and commercial warehouses. A Western Electric telephone manufacturing facility occupied the structure now redeveloped as "Pentagon Centre." In the 1960s, high-rise apartment buildings were erected on Hayes, Fern, and Joyce Streets.

On July 1, 1977, the Pentagon City Metrorail station opened on the Blue Line. Although the new station bordered a large empty field, in 10 years the station stimulated high density development.

In the 1990s, MCI Communications had a major presence in Pentagon City, with the company's Consumer Markets headquarters occupying Washington Tower, a 12-story office building that sits atop the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City. MCI also occupied two of the four office towers immediately across South Hayes Street, known as Pentagon City I & II (often abbreviated "PCY").

In 2003, the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority proposed five Northern Virginia sites as possible locations to host the relocating Montréal Expos. Pentagon Centre, shopping mall, was one of three sites in Arlington County. The other two proposed Arlington sites were a plot of undeveloped land closer to the Pentagon and a site in the neighborhood of Rosslyn. The issue was highly divisive and some Pentagon City residents launched a visible campaign against it. After the Arlington County Board opposed a stadium in Arlington, the final Virginia bid featured a site near Dulles Airport instead. Major League Baseball finally announced in the fall of 2004 that the Expos would move to the District of Columbia as the Washington Nationals.