Alexandria, VA – Watergate at Landmark, the first condominium community in Alexandria, celebrated its 50th anniversary this month with a joyful event honoring the past, present, and future of this iconic residential development.
Among the featured speakers was longtime community attorney David S. Mercer, who has represented Watergate since its inception in 1975. At the celebration, Mercer reflected on the property’s origins—sharing that he was fresh out of law school when he was hired to help close the first sales under Virginia’s newly minted condominium law.
“I had to ramp up quickly,” Mercer recalled. “There weren’t even classes on condo law.” He ended up handling the closings of every single one of the 1,462 units. Mercer himself invested in a unit back then and said, “I think I made more selling that condo than I did my first year out of law school.”
Mercer, who still serves as Watergate’s attorney today, also revealed a little-known fact that wowed the audience: a Disney engineer helped design Watergate’s extensive grounds, which feature resort-style landscaping, gazebos, fountains, and the community’s iconic waterfall pool.
Original Residents Still There
Eighteen of the original Watergate residents, most of whom moved in during the mid-1970s, attended the celebrations and shared warm memories of raising families, organizing community events, and seeing generations grow up along the landscaped paths…