The development firm Monday Properties is planning to replace a pair of five-decade-old office towers in downtown Arlington. But why bother caring about two nondescript commercial buildings?
Well, one of them, 1401 Wilson Blvd., is far more famous for its parking facilities than for any of its tenants. The building’s garage is where the Washington Post‘s Bob Woodward met with W. Mark Felt, the FBI official who in 2005 revealed himself to be “Deep Throat,” Woodward’s secret source during his reporting of the 1972 Watergate break-in.
Washington Business Journal reported last week that Monday Properties wants to raze 1401 Wilson and its neighbor, 1400 Key Blvd., in favor of a full-block commercial and residential development. But it didn’t take long for many to realize the site’s importance.
Felt and Woodward met at the garage—parking spot 32D, to be precise—six times between October 1972 and November 1973. During the meetings, Felt gave the Post reporter tips about attempts by President Richard Nixon’s administration to block the FBI’s investigation of the June 1972 burglary of the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate complex.
Arlington County officials erected a marker outside the parking garage in 2011 (after a three-year delay) to commemorate its role in the greatest political scandal in US history, and it’ll be a while longer before the demolition equipment comes to hallowed spot 32D. Monday Properties executive Tim Helmig tells Washington Business Journal the buildings at 1401 Wilson and 1400 Key won’t begin to be demolished until at least 2016.
But Helmig also says that when Monday Properties opens its new building on the spot, it will try to find a way to nod to the garage’s infamous history. In the mean time, there’s always the cinematic recreation of Felt and Woodward’s meetings.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
