The Marriott Motor Hotel opened on January 16, 1957,[2] shortly before the second inauguration of President Dwight D.

[3] It contained 360 soundproofed rooms, each with air conditioning, king-size beds and free radio and black and white television.

[9] On June 29, 1979, American musician Lowell George suffered a fatal heart attack while staying at the hotel.

The Arlington County government rejected a 1991 proposal for office redevelopment, then in 1994 approved an office-and-hotel plan that was never built.

[12] In 2005 the County Board refused to grant permission for two seven-story office buildings on the site (and an adjacent parcel at 355 Old Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway).

Instead, the County organized an exchange of parcels that shifted the private development closer to Crystal City and secured the Twin Bridges property for public uses more in accord with its visual prominence and sensitive location.

[3][13] The site has been developed as a public recreation area as part of Arlington County's Long Bridge Park.