[_Jim]

” NAVSEA moved to the navy yard from Crystal City in the 1990’s as part of a plan to reduce leased space. “

Sounds like someone (the classical ‘they’?) just wanted the Navy out of Crystal City ...

[Huskerfan44]

NAVAIR moved to NATC Patuxent River, MD about that time.

[robowombat]

From associates that worked there, I gathered the navy was happy to go. Crystal City boomed as an office complex (and made Charles Smith a much richer man) as a result of RN’s determination that he would be the President who finally got old Main Navy torn down.

By 1990 the once very modern Crystal City Complex was an aging monument to modernist architecture. The buildings were a generation old (built from circa 1964 to 1974) and showing signs of wear. Major systems such as HVAC had constant problems and some of the high security areas such a Trident offices had constant problems with false alarms from their old hardwired systems.

The Navy Yard move put NAVSEA into a virtually new structure with all the bells and whistles. The removal of most of NAVAIR to Patuxent NAS was another matter in which some bureaucratic operators teamed up with Maryland politicos to push jobs into southern Maryland and protect the Patuxent mafia’s rear end.