ARLINGTON, Va. – Can you tell me how to get to…Crystal Drive? Big Bird and the rest of the Sesame Street gang will soon know the way, when PBS moves its new headquarters to 2100 Crystal Drive in Arlington, in the heart of newly-revitalized Crystal City. PBS announced its move today, following negotiations with multiple jurisdictions. PBS chose Arlington – and Crystal City in particular – for its ability to provide the benefits of a well-located headquarters: a quick 10 minutes by cab or subway from the vibrancy of downtown Washington, D.C., and the urban amenities offered by Arlington.

PBS’s new home will occupy 110,000 square feet of office space in the Charles E. Smith property; Charles E. Smith will rename its west plaza and back access drive to “PBS Plaza.” PBS is expected to move to its new headquarters in the first quarter of 2006. Along with the move, PBS will bring approximately 400 jobs to Arlington, plus capital investments in both office improvements and in operations and IT improvements at their new location.

Local PBS affiliate, WETA, is already located in Arlington’s Shirlington Village. With the addition of PBS’s headquarters, Arlington is becoming a hub of media and entertainment, already home to WJLA-TV, washingtonpost.com, Signature Theater and other top organizations. Arlington is universally recognized for its ability to provide maximum exposure, image enhancement and a sense of vibrancy to the organizations that call it home.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with PBS’s decision to move to Arlington,” stated Arlington Board Chair Barbara A. Favola. “PBS is a wonderful community resource that provides invaluable, quality programming for millions of viewers. Welcoming the PBS organization to Arlington shows just how attractive our community is for so many different types of organizations. And, I’m sure PBS’s new home in Crystal City will be the first of many prestigious organizations we are able to attract due in part to the exciting revitalization of this neighborhood.”

“PBS is delighted to be relocating its headquarters to Crystal City, as part of its broad revitalization,” said PBS President and CEO Pat Mitchell. “The relocation of our headquarters has been a very thoughtful process, as we balance our special operational needs, cost management targets, employee satisfaction goals, market image and value objectives. Our new location in Crystal City fulfills all of these important requirements admirably. We appreciate the help and support of Arlington County and look forward to working with them as we transition to our new location.”

PBS is a private, nonprofit media enterprise that serves the nation's 349 public noncommercial television stations, reaching nearly 90 million people each week. Bringing diverse viewpoints to television and the Internet, PBS provides high-quality documentary and dramatic entertainment, and consistently dominates the most prestigious award competitions. PBS is the leading provider of educational materials for K-12 teachers, and offers a broad array of educational services for adult learners. PBS's premier kids' TV programming and Web site, PBS KIDS Online (pbskids.org), continue to be parents' and teachers' most trusted learning environments for children. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, the leading dot-org Web site on the Internet.