Yes.

One major advantage of DCA is the ability to get from curbside to kiosk to security to gate in less than 10 minutes. A few years ago I lived a couple of metro stops from DCA. I could literally leave my house 1 hour before the flight, walk to the metro and ride to the airport, arriving about 45 minutes before the flight, and stroll up to the gate 30-35 minutes before the flight right as boarding started.

Granted, the extra distance to the CO gates is only a few minutes walk. But DCA is a great airport due to its convenient layout & location, and reliable flight operations. Moving to the CO gates starts to nibble away at one of those.