PHOTOS: The Perch skypark opens above Capital One Hall

The newest park in Tysons has arrived, though those prone to vertigo might want to exercise caution.

The Perch sits 11 stories in the air on top of the upcoming performing arts and corporate center Capital One Hall. The 2.5-acre space is filled with small trees, flowers, shrubs, and other greenery amid paths for strolling.

Anchored by the Starr Hill Biergarten, the park also includes stone-lined bocce ball pits, a dog park, and an amphitheater that is expected to be used for musical performances. A miniature golf course is slated to open this spring, lined with food stalls designed to resemble food carts.

“It’s unique,” said Rachel Obregon, who sampled beer from Starr Hill with Daniel Valcicak on Wednesday (Aug. 25).

The pair plan trips based on breweries and heard about the opening through a private Facebook group, DRINK NOVA. Valcicak, who was familiar with Starr Hill from its other Virginia locations and tried out some of the beer garden’s IPAs, said they would definitely bring friends there.

Other visitors remarked on how the spot worked well as a hangout, especially for those wanting to wait for evening rush-hour traffic to become less congested.

“Everyone has just been blown away,” Brian Griffin, Starr Hill Brewery’s Tysons general manager, said. “Families have come with their dogs.”

The brewery sells craft beer and food options ranging from burgers to arugula salad and kids’ meals. It also experiments with batches to provide beers that can’t be found in other spots.

The amphitheater will offer live music from Wednesdays through Sundays. Three booking agencies already have bands slated to play most days through November, Griffin said. Anticipated genres range from reggae to acoustic music, with a family-friendly focus on weekends during the day.

The Perch is part of Capital One Center, the mixed-use development where construction work continues on a retail-office skyscraper slated to open in 2023.

“Once this building is built out, we will be able to house 8,500 associates on site,” said Meghan Trossen, marketing and community affairs manager for Capital One Center. “We’ll have ground-floor and second-floor retail of this [upcoming] tower, so we want to have a lot of restaurant options here…That street-level pedestrian experience that we see in D.C. and a lot of fun neighborhoods, we want to bring that to Tysons.”

Future residential and office buildings are also planned.

The park will get a grand opening from Sept. 17-19 with Perchfest, a family-friendly event with games and activities for kids. Trossen noted that 10 superheroes will rappel from The Watermark Hotel as part of the festival, which will also feature face painting and an ice-cream cart.

Meanwhile, The Watermark Hotel is set to have a soft open on Sept. 21. The lobby is on the same floor as The Perch and will feature a Japanese-American small plates menu called Wren overseen by Executive Chef Yo Matsuzaki.

Drinks will range from sake to Japanese beers, and the hotel has arranged to get barrels of bourbon from Old Forester and another 127-proof bourbon from Elijah Craig, according to Luis Mantilla, the hotel’s beverage director.

“It’s really hard to get into a barrel program,” The Watermark Sales Director Tara McNamara said.

Capital One Hall will open on Oct. 2, and the popular grocery chain Wegmans opened late last year.

Block B of the Capital One Center, which contains the financial company’s headquarters, was completed in 2018, making it the tallest occupied structure in the DC region.