actually almost everything is pricey in the metro area region....even Chinatown is up and coming and hard to touch...prices are so sky high everywhere...DC, Arlington, Tysons Corner, Reston, Loudoun...even further you go from the city, its high $$$$...
good place retail(restaurant) i'd look into Arlington (Clarendon, Rosslyn if you want to be stone's throw from the city) city probably a headache to do business downtown...