1776 cofounder and co-CEO Evan Burfield has moved to Crystal City, the Washington Business Journal reports. The #dctech figure traded his two bedroom Logan Circle condo for a $1.6 million, five-bedroom house in the Aurora Highlands neighborhood — about a mile from 1776’s Crystal City location.
Evan Burfield. (Photo via Linkedin)
So why is this a big deal?
Realistically, it’s probably not. Burfield can cite any number of practical reasons for the move, like, as he told WBJ, having a lawn for his young daughter. “It’s like anything else,” he said. “You go through different phases in life, and we’re in a different stage in life.”
Seen a different way, though, the move is a further endorsement of the potential of Crystal City as a hub (the first endorsement being 1776’s expansion across the river). According to the WBJ, Burfield compares Crystal City today with the 14th Street corridor when he first moved to Logan Circle eight years ago.
This is a flattering comparison. Because while Crystal City has been working hard to up its own cool factor with new restaurants and tech offices and that WeWork/WeLive location, it’s still got a ways to go to vibrancy:
@TajhaLanier I think the restaurant strip is cool, but Oldtown is only ~5 minutes away and cooler/better view. Feels out of place, maybe?
— Devon Caldwell (@DevonWBDC) October 11, 2016
@TajhaLanier boring but convenient and as an aviation fan I've always wanted one of those balcony apartments overlooking DCA
— Wright Bryan (@wrightbryan3) October 11, 2016
Burfield isn’t deaf to this perspective, either. “If you had said five years ago we would be excited to be moving into the Crystal City area, I would have looked at you quizzically,” he told WBJ. “But Crystal City has come a long way in a short period of time.”
Burfield, it seems, wants to be around to see what happens next.