Moving to Tysons: High-Rise Condos & Storage Planning
From a cluster of office parks and shopping malls, Tysons has transformed into a vertical downtown. It stands out in the landscape of Northern Virginia for its glass towers and thousands of new condos and luxury apartments. Moving to Tysons means you’re probably going up, which means navigating elevators and a loading dock schedule.
At Georgetown Moving and Storage, we regularly see two groups of people making this move. Some are downsizing from larger homes to enjoy a walkable neighborhood and a shorter commute. Others are coming to the area to start jobs at Capital One, MITRE, Hilton’s headquarters, or another major employer. Regardless of the reason for the move, we’re here to help it go smoothly.
High-Rise Moves Run On The Building’s Rules, Not Yours
If you haven’t lived in a high-rise before, you may be surprised to discover how much control the building has over your move. This is not a situation where you can simply pull up in a truck and start carrying boxes inside.
There are several things that clients who are new to high-rises are surprised to learn they need. Your mover will need to provide the building’s management with a Certificate of Insurance (COI) BEFORE moving day. This is proof of the mover’s liability coverage, which is required to protect the building if something gets damaged in a shared hallway or elevator. You want a mover with experience with these buildings so they get the correct COI to the manager in advance.
Another thing clients are surprised to learn about moving into high-rises is that you can only use the elevator and loading dock for a pre-determined window of time. This means you have to book your move around availability and then time it so you are ready to unload when your window starts. If your moving truck spends an extra hour in traffic, your entire move can be in jeopardy.
At Georgetown Moving and Storage, our local and long-distance movers work in these buildings all the time.
Tysons Parking And Access
Tysons is a dense area, which means anyone moving in or out of the area has to consider parking and access. For example, the height clearances in many of the parking garages won’t allow a full-size moving truck to clear. There is rarely enough room for large vehicles to turn around, and you have both limited parking and busy, high-traffic areas where you don’t want to block the flow.
Occasionally, a large truck moving people into Tysons cannot access the loading dock. This means the movers need to transfer all of your stuff to a smaller vehicle and shuffle it to the building’s entrance and into your new place. As you can imagine, this adds hours you don’t have to the process.
Because we own our trucks and employ our own crews, we plan equipment and access in advance. We confirm clearances and dock access during the estimate, not on move day, so the right truck shows up the first time.
Storage Strategies When You Downsize
Since a percentage of the people moving into Tysons are downsizing, it’s good to talk about what you do when you go from a 3,000-square-foot house to a 1,400-square-foot condo. What happens to the larger furniture pieces or other items you can no longer use in your new place? You can sell it all, but there are items you may regret letting go of later.
During a move like this, storage can be a pressure-release valve. If you’re moving on a tight timeline, it gives you time to think about what you want to keep and what you can let go of. If you have seasonal items or bigger pieces you know you’ll want later, storage gives you the space you need to enjoy your gorgeous new condo without filling it to the brim.
We offer an exceptional solution for high-rise residents in Tysons and the DMV with our full-service storage. You don’t have to mess with loading, unloading, and sorting because we do it all for you. Everything is kept safe and secure in our climate-controlled facilities in Arlington and Alexandria.
Because of our meticulous inventory, you can access a single box or a few pieces of furniture anytime you want. We’ll bring them right to you or deliver them where you need them to go. You never have to live with a rushed choice you can’t undo.
Stack Your Move In The Right Order
When you’re moving in or out of Tysons, getting the logistics in the right order is what keeps the process smooth and your schedule on track.
As soon as you know you’re moving, book the freight elevator and submit your COI. Once you have your elevator reservation, you can build the rest of your plan around it. Plus, popular times can fill up fast. If you’re moving out of one high-rise and into another, coordinate both elevator windows so your crew has enough time but isn’t wasting time being idle.
Then, if you have some time before you have to start packing, declutter first. The last thing you want is to pay a lot extra for moving and storing things you don’t want or need. You’ll also want to know precisely what is going into storage before you really start packing, because otherwise it’s too easy to mix everything up and make your unpacking process harder as you have to repack and store some of your stuff.
If your timeline is tight, we can help with full or partial packing to get you out the door and into your new life in Tysons.
Make The Right Move Into Tysons
There are many things in life you can do spontaneously or with a good amount of improvisation, but moving into a Tysons high-rise rewards planning. You need to make sure each piece is in place so you can build on it with the next. Fortunately, the right moving partner turns the whole thing into a non-event.
We’ve served the Washington, DC area for more than 20 years, and we’re here to help you with the logistics of your move. From meticulously background-checked crews to climate-controlled storage, we help give you room to make good decisions instead of rushed ones. Call us at (703) 889-8899 or request a free estimate online. Tysons is waiting.
