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Beach volleyball (and pickleball soon) in the middle of Crystal City

By Jeff Clabaugh

Developer JBG Smith has partnered with Baltimore, Maryland-based Volo Sports for outdoor beach volleyball courts on land in Crystal City that JBG Smith eventually plans to redevelop as part of several new office and residential high rises.

For now, the space at 223 Crystal Street is a pop-up public volleyball park with several courts. JBG Smith and Volo said they will add pickleball courts next spring.

JBG Smith did not say how long the courts would stay. Earlier this year, Arlington County approved JBG Smith’s proposed 30-story, 600-unit, residential tower on the 2.4-acre site.

The pop-up includes four lit beach volleyball courts, planned food and beverage options and on-site restrooms. Volo is programming the site, which includes organized league play, open community time, court rentals, regional tournaments and youth play.

“As we continue to pursue our complete vision for National Landing, we are always assessing our portfolio and looking at how we can best serve the neighborhoods where we operate,” said Amy Rice, vice president of retail leasing at JBG Smith.

The courts are just south of the Crystal City Metro, and across from a street entrance to Crystal City Shops, the underground maze of retailers, whose final tenants are vacating after JBG Smith made the decision to close it earlier this year.

The sports pop-up compliments other recently completed JBG projects for residents and workers in Crystal City, including the 1.6-acre Water Park with food kiosks, bars and restaurants.

Volo, which calls itself the largest adult social sports company in the U.S., operates in nine cities nationwide.

JBG Smith is the largest developer and landlord in Crystal City and the broader National Landing area, with two-thirds of its holdings in the submarket. It has completed, or is developing, thousands of residential units in the area. JBG Smith is Amazon’s landlord, including the development of Phase 1 of its HQ2 in Pentagon City. It is also the developer of Virginia Tech’s $1 billion Innovation Campus, which is now under construction.

Massachusetts court hears arguments in lawsuit alleging Meta designed apps to be addictive to kids

By The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts' highest court heard oral arguments Friday in the state's lawsuit arguing that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, alleges that Meta did this to make a profit and that its actions affected hundreds of thousands of teenagers in Massachusetts who use the social media platforms. “We are making claims based only on the tools that Meta has developed because its own research shows they encourage addiction to the platform in a variety of ways,” said State Solicitor David Kravitz, adding that the state's claim has nothing to do the company's algorithms or failure to moderate content. Meta said Friday that it strongly disagrees with the allegations and is “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.” Its attorney, Mark Mosier, argued in court that the lawsuit “would impose liabilities for performing traditional publishing functions” and that its actions are protected by the First Amendment.
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