The Rosslyn garage where Bob Woodward met with Deep Throat is finally set to be torn down after more than a decade of delayed efforts to redevelop the space. The Arlington County Board recently approved a plan to turn the property into apartments and retail. Woodward and Deep Throat—later revealed to be FBI official Mark Felt —met at parking spot 32D six times between 1972 and 1973, with Felt providing crucial tips as Woodward and Carl Bernstein unraveled the Watergate scandal. Now the famed parking structure might soon be gone.
How has Washingtonian covered this piece of history over the years? The magazine has been writing about Deep Throat since the memorably named informant first emerged. Back in 1974, we were the first publication to correctly guess that Deep Throat was Felt, when the magazine’s then-editor, Jack Limpert, wrote an article piecing together various clues.
The garage itself showed up in a 2011 story about Woodward’s old Dupont Circle apartment being up for sale. The story noted how he and Felt had set up a communication system: When the journalist wanted to talk, he’d put a flowerpot on the balcony. When Felt wanted to meet, he’d grab Woodward’s morning newspaper from the lobby and draw the hands of a clock on the bottom of page 20 to indicate what time to go to the Rosslyn garage.
Washingtonian wrote about the first rumblings of the garage’s demolition in 2013, when the development firm Monday Properties announced plans to raze the then-50-year-old structure—at 1401 Wilson Boulevard—and the office towers above it. “Why bother caring about two nondescript commercial buildings?” we wrote. “Well, one of them is far more famous for its parking facilities than for any of its tenants.” The Arlington County Board approved the idea the next year, with the teardown set to begin in 2017.
In 2016, we touted the garage in a guide to things to do in Arlington, noting that it had been approved for demolition. For the Watergate-curious, it seemed like the last chance to check out the historic clandestine spot. But the developer didn’t end up moving forward, in part due to problems finding an anchor tenant for the new property.
For DC’s press corps, the space continued to resonate. Washingtonian talked to Norah O’Donnell in 2019 when she was named anchor of CBS Evening News. O’Donnell cited the Deep Throat garage as part of the city’s legacy of newsgathering. “You want to get the best information, the best sources, the best scoops,” she said, then mentioned the garage. “That was not in New York City. It was near Washington.” In 2021, whistleblower attorney Mark Zaid told the magazine that digital correspondence was risky for reporters, who should “bring back the parking garage and Deep Throat, if you really want to protect your sources.”
The structure ended up outlasting O’Donnell’s tenure—she departed the anchor desk in 2024. But that same year, the owner said it would revisit its redevelopment plans, and this time signs point to a probable demolition. The next time Washingtonian writes about the Deep Throat garage, it will likely be because it’s gone.
Jenae Barnes previously reported and fact-checked for Capital B Gary in Indiana, 5280 Magazine in Denver, Forbes in New York and ABC News in Washington, D.C. She is a 2024 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow. As a DC-area native, she received her Bachelor’s from George Mason University and Master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School.
