A D.C. developer is officially scuttling plans for City View, an office high-rise once expected to break ground near Tysons Galleria a decade ago.
Four Points has asked Fairfax County to amend its plan for the 1.7-acre site at 7901 Westpark Drive so it can build a 28-story hotel and condominium tower instead of the 10-story office building that the Board of Supervisors approved in 2012 as part of the Arbor Row development.
“The Applications continue to propose a predominantly commercial use of Block F in the form of a world-class hotel and ground floor retail use,” Matthew Roberts, a counsel for the developer, wrote in an April 30 statement of justification. “New, luxury residential condominium units will complement and add to the variety of uses at the Property. Further, the condominium units will provide additional ownership opportunities for residents who wish to live, work, play, and contribute to Tysons.”
Announced in 2013, City View was intended to replace the headquarters of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), which owned the property. The CEO of American Real Estate Partners, the enlisted developer, declared it would be “the most desirable office building in the market” due to its proximity to the then-incoming Tysons Metro station and I-495, Commercial Property Executive reported at the time.
Though a groundbreaking was initially anticipated in late 2014, AMT’s existing office building wasn’t demolished until late 2018 — two years after the trade association relocated just a block away to 7901 Jones Branch Drive.
Four Points, which bought the vacant property for over $10 million in 2021, still trumpets City View as a future “crown jewel of the new Tysons” on its website, but the developer has now determined that an office building is “no longer feasible” for the site “due to persistent market conditions,” according to the application submitted to Fairfax County.
“Yet, a primarily commercial use of the site is viable, in line with the Tysons Plan’s vision for Arbor Row,” Roberts wrote.
Topping out at 365 feet, compared to the 175-foot maximum height for City View, the newly proposed building would consist of 225 hotel rooms, 32 condo units on its upper floors and 4,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor.
The building would be supported by 270 on-site parking spaces in a mostly underground garage and about 24,000 square feet of private amenity space, including a second-floor terrace with a swimming pool. The developer has offered to provide 0.25 acres of publicly accessible park space and an 8-foot-wide sidewalk along Westpark Drive.
According to the application, the hotel, condos and retail will generate fewer peak-hour vehicle trips than the planned office building would’ve, and the retail will complement the businesses in the adjacent Nouvelle Apartments, whose current tenants include the Mediterranean restaurant Agora Tysons.
A lack of proposed workforce dwelling units (WDUs) could be a sticking point for county staff, which has objected to a similar omission in another potential Arbor Row building. Four Points believes a cash contribution in lieu of WDUs is justified by the “unique circumstances” of its development, which will be mostly devoted to commercial uses.
“The residential component of this development will consist of luxury condominiums with price points and associated condominium fees exceeding other typical for-sale residential products,” the application says. “This will likely be prohibitive and generate a financial burden for lower-incomes residents.”
According to Roberts’s statement, the only residential building in Tysons to include for-sale WDUs is Monarch, which opened in Arbor Row last July, and those units have been “difficult to implement.”
The City View site is one of six blocks in Arbor Row. The approved plan for the neighborhood calls for almost 2.7 million square feet of mixed-use development on 19.4 acres along Westpark Drive near Tysons Galleria.
Image via Google Maps
School Bus Catches Fire in Reston — “#FairfaxsBravest are on scene of a school bus fire on SB Fairfax County Parkway at Fox Mill Road. The driver exited the bus prior to #FCFRD arrival. The bus was otherwise unoccupied. The fire is out.” [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue/Twitter]
Record Heat Reported at Dulles Airport — “By 6 p.m. Thursday, the record for Thursday’s date was tied at Reagan National at 91 degrees…and the record was broken at Dulles International Airport when temperatures hit 91 degrees…The previous record for May 2 at Dulles was 88 degrees, and the average high in the region for this day of the year is 73 degrees.” [WTOP]
Task Force to Recommend Metro Funding Plan — “Setting up Metro with dedicated funding has been discussed for decades in the region but still hasn’t come to fruition. Now, WMATA and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments hope a regional task force can finally bring about an agreeable plan of action.” [WTOP]
Local Schools Get New Principals — “Daniels Run Elementary School Principal Chris Smith was named the new principal at Katherine Johnson Middle School on Thursday afternoon, according to a release from the City of Fairfax Schools.” Meanwhile, Holly Dowling, an administrator at Braddock Elementary School, will serve as principal of Bailey’s Upper Elementary School, starting May 13. [Patch, Annandale Today]
County Animal Shelter Waives Adoption Fees — “The shelter is partnering with the BISSELL Pet Foundation for the ‘Empty the Shelters’ adoption event. Thanks to the foundation’s generous support, the shelter will offer fee-waived adoptions for all pets…May 2 through 5 at both shelter locations.” [Fairfax County Animal Shelter]
Resources for Mental Health Awareness Month — “Mental Health Awareness Month, observed every year during the month of May, is an opportune time to fight stigma, provide support, increase awareness and remind individuals of the services and resources that exist to support the millions of people impacted by mental health issues.” [Fairfax County]
It’s Friday — Expect a mostly sunny day with highs around 79 degrees and an east wind of 9 to 11 mph. Moving into Friday night, there is a 30% chance of showers as clouds increase. Overnight lows will be near 54 degrees with east winds around 8 to 11 mph. [NWS]
An officer who fatally shot a McLean man in 2022 violated Fairfax County Police Department policies, but the shooting itself was within policy and legal bounds, a new report on the FCPD’s investigation says.
In the report, which was released yesterday (Wednesday), Fairfax County Independent Police Auditor Richard Schott affirmed the police department and Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s findings that none of the three responding officers violated criminal law when they tased and shot 26-year-old Jasper Aaron Lynch at his home on July 7, 2022.
“I believe the conclusions reached by the department were correct in this case, although I acknowledge they may be difficult to accept,” Schott wrote. “The death of [Lynch] was unquestionably tragic. But that does not mean that the force — even the deadly force — used during the incident was legally unreasonable.”
Though it determined the shots and tasings were “lawful and allowed by departmental policy,” the FCPD’s investigation found that the officer who shot Lynch — identified by police as Edward George — violated other policies by not turning on his body-worn camera during the first of two calls to the house on Arbor Lane and not carrying his taser during either response, according to Schott’s report.
The department requires all officers to activate their body camera when making contact with community members during calls for service, and officers certified to carry an “electronic control weapon” must have it on their person. George had left his taser “in the trunk of his patrol car,” the report says.
An FCPD spokesperson declined to comment on whether George faced any discipline for the policy violations, stating that the department “cannot release details about administrative personnel files.”
No criminal charges against officers
Lynch’s sister and a family friend called the police twice that night seeking assistance for Lynch, who was experiencing a mental health crisis. During the second call, one officer deployed a taser twice after Lynch threw a “wooden tribal mask” at him, according to the report.
Four seconds later, another officer tased Lynch when he began approaching while carrying a wine bottle, which he then dropped. George fired four shots with his handgun, followed by a fifth into Lynch’s neck after Lynch collided with the second officer.
Lynch died at the scene. As described in Schott’s report, the encounter unfolded within a minute of the officers entering the home at 8:52 p.m. Read More
This sponsored column is written by the team at Arrowine & Cheese (4508 Cherry Hill Road in Arlington). Sign up for the email newsletter and receive exclusive discounts and offers. Experience Arrowine’s Tastings & Events. Have a question? Email [email protected].
This question often perplexes those of us in the industry. However, the answer, in its essence, is remarkably straightforward.
The younger generation aren’t collectors. The more you have, the more you have to move, and young people move around a lot these days for work or personal interests. Then there is the patience factor; a great bottle of wine needs time to develop into something grand. Not to mention, the snobbery thing doesn’t sit well with some.
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Understanding wine is easy. Most of it is geography, where the grapes were grown and the wine made. You need to know the basics. No one expects anyone to identify a wine blind and correctly identify it. That’s ridiculous for this discussion.
Wine is history and speaks to our past, who we are, and where we came from. Many Sunday afternoon lunches with family and friends always included wine. It was part of our culture and a remembrance of the “old country.” And that aspect should be cherished. It is who we are.
If you like to travel, wine can be your passport and companion. Anyone who has visited greater Europe, South America, Australia, or New Zealand will find that enjoying wine is part of the culture. Visiting a place and enjoying the local foods and wines are the sources of magical moments we will never forget.
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The preceding sponsored post was also published on FFXnow.com
Inova Health System appears to be narrowing its vision for the former ExxonMobil headquarters site in Merrifield to health care.
The nonprofit has “no immediate intention” of pursuing previously approved plans to turn the 117-acre campus at 8095 Innovation Park Drive into a mixed-use development, Inova President and CEO Dr. Stephen Jones recently told the Washington Business Journal.
Now named the Inova Center for Personalized Health (ICPH), the campus will instead continue to house medical facilities, such as the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, and administrative offices, which are being relocated from the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus on the west side of Gallows Road, according to the WBJ’s story.
“It’s not a priority, for sure — and never was a priority for me,” Jones told the WBJ, noting that his focus will be on “clinical care.”
Inova proposed ambitious plans in 2018 to build out ExxonMobil’s former corporate headquarters with health care, academic and research facilities, along with multi-family housing, offices, a hotel and retail.
Under Jones’s predecessor, Knox Singleton, the health care system began leasing the campus in 2015 after it was vacated by the oil and gas company, opening the Center for Personalized Health in 2017 and the cancer institute in 2019.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors amended its comprehensive plan in September 2019 to allow 3.8 million square feet of potential new development on the property in addition to five existing office buildings, which collectively totaled more than 1.2 million square feet.
About half of that future construction would’ve been devoted to academic and research spaces for George Mason University and the University of Virginia. Inova also envisioned 705 residential units — possibly for assisted living, student housing and workforce housing — and a 120,000-square-foot hotel “that could be used by families of cancer patients and researchers,” according to the county.
“The campus now will be transformed into a vibrant innovation district with dynamic academic and research spaces, along with supporting retail, hotel, housing, and recreation uses that are open and inviting to the community,” Inova said in a press release at the time.
Just a month later, however, Jones announced an organizational restructuring for Inova, and the nonprofit shuttered the capital investments initiative, start-up accelerator and genomics research institute based at the ICPH.
Since then, the ICPH has expanded its cancer screening services and leased space to UVA, which is expected to begin offering college degree programs, classes for high school students and workforce training on the Merrifield campus in January 2025.
Jones told the WBJ that Inova could still follow through on a substantial redevelopment in the future if “opportunities came along,” but he doesn’t want to get distracted from the system’s health care-related needs, including new hospitals planned in Alexandria and Springfield.
Police Continue Traffic Enforcement Campaign — “Between April 22 and 28, the Fairfax County Police Department worked in conjunction with the Virginia State Police (VSP) and raised the bar by issuing over 6,500 citations and warnings, with over 200 citations for reckless driving on our roadways…Wave three of Road Shark will commence on June 17.” [FCPD]
Family of Woman Killed in Shooting Starts Fundraiser — “Kate Laporta was one of eight cousins in Zubrick’s family that were closest to him in age. But earlier this month, she was shot and killed — with Laporta’s boyfriend charged in her killing…To honor her memory, the cousins have launched an online fundraiser. They say the money collected will go into [college] savings plans for Laporta’s children.” [NBC4]
Transformer Catches Fire in Reston — “Around 10:35am, #FCFRD units responded to a transformer fire at a mid-rise building in the 2200 blk of Colts Neck Rd in Reston. Units were dispatched for an explosion from a ground transformer. The fire was quickly brought under control. No reported injuries.” [FCFRD/Twitter]
New Apartments Open Near Huntington Metro — “Aventon Huntington Station…officially opened March 15, according to Kevin Pinckney, senior business manager at Willow Bridge Property Company-Mid-Atlantic. The 366-unit complex is tentatively planning to hold a grand opening ceremony Aug. 8, he said.” [On the MoVe]
Tysons Has Highest Apartment Rents in Region — “Apartment rental rates in Tysons were at the top of the heap in the Washington region in April, according to new data. With an overall median rental price of $2,566 ($2,334 for one-bedroom units, $2,798 for two bedrooms), the Tysons area led 33 different sub-sectors of the D.C. metro area over the past month.” [Gazette Leader]
D.C. Region Celebrates Asian Heritage Month — “Throughout the month of May, several communities across the D.C. area plan to host a series of captivating festivals, each showcasing the diverse traditions and customs of different Asian cultures.” Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month celebrations will include festivals in Chantilly and Old Town Fairfax. [WTOP]
It’s Thursday — Expect sunshine and a high of 91 degrees during the day, accompanied by a light west wind blowing at 3 to 7 mph. The evening will bring partly cloudy skies and a low of about 64 degrees, with calm winds shifting to come from the northeast at approximately 6 mph after midnight. [NWS]
Sushi Umi has arrived in Tysons.
The Japanese restaurant began accepting pick-up orders at 7615 Colshire Road in the Scotts Run neighborhood on April 19 and quietly opened to dine-in customers on April 22.
Operations manager Jung Song says Sushi Umi hasn’t started advertising the opening, in part because it’s still in the process of hiring employees, but the team is working to set a date for a more formal introduction to the community.
“We want to make sure that we fully have everything we need to do the grand opening,” Song told FFXnow. “So, we don’t have a date yet, but we’re trying to plan everything out.”
This is Sushi Umi’s second location, following its launch at Worldgate Centre in Herndon in December 2020. When looking to expand, the business was drawn to Tysons by the urban center’s reputation as an office hub.
“With all the businesses and different companies located in Tysons, I believe that it was a great opportunity to serve our customers even better,” Song said.
The Tysons location is smaller than its Herndon counterpart, seating 40 to 45 people indoors with the capacity for more diners on a covered outdoor patio.
The menus at both restaurants are similar, featuring a variety of sushi, sashimi and rice bowls, but they offer different specials “to capture a different audience of customers,” Song says. For instance, the Tysons location’s signature dish of unagi kabayaki — a whole broiled eel served with an egg omelette over sushi rice — isn’t available in Herndon.
All of the food is curated by Song’s father-in-law, Sushi Umi’s owner and executive chef. The Song family has over 30 years of culinary experience, operating restaurants in Alexandria in the 1990s and in Manassas in the early 2000s before they started Sushi Umi.
“Our goal is to provide the freshest fish and ingredients to satisfy our customers’ needs,” Song said.
Though still in its soft opening phase, the Tysons location has gotten a warm response from early customers, according to Song.
He noted that dining options within walking distance remain limited for residents of Scotts Run, which is home to the Kingston and Haden apartments as well as the 410-unit Heming that finished construction last fall. Another Japanese restaurant, Modan, is expected to open in the new high-rise this year.
“I think a lot of our customers are glad that we’re open,” Song said. “It took us a long time, some difficulties with construction and permits and so on, but…the vibe is that they’re just glad to have somewhere [that they can go].”
Sushi Umi is open for lunch in Tysons from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekdays. Dinner hours are 4:30-9:30 p.m. on weekdays, 3-9:30 p.m. on Saturday and 3-9 p.m. on Sunday.
Hat tip to Rich Arnold
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has signed off on a 3-cent bump in its real estate tax rate, a move it said was partly forced by insufficient state funding.
The board approved the new rate yesterday (Tuesday) as part of a mark-up session on the fiscal year 2025 budget, which will be formally adopted next Tuesday, May 7. The 3-cent hike is expected to generate about $97 million in additional revenue for the county — about $32.3 million less compared to the 4-cent increase initially proposed.
With much of that money going towards county and public school employee salaries, the supervisors acknowledged a need to retain skilled workers and maintain quality public services, but many voiced concerns about the county’s overreliance on real estate taxes.
As a Dillon Rule state, Virginia limits counties to the taxing authorities explicitly granted by the General Assembly. In guidance for next year’s budget, the Board of Supervisors noted that it will continue advocating for broader authority from state lawmakers, while also directing County Executive Bryan Hill to determine what additional revenue options are currently available.
“I think it’s incredibly important that we try to diversify our tax base, and we try to take the tools available to us that the state has given us to us as limited as they are,” Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman said.
The supervisors said the board was compelled to raise the real estate tax due to a lack of funding at the state level, particularly criticizing state officials for underfunding Fairfax County Public Schools.
According to a study conducted last year by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), Virginia schools receive $1,900 less per student in kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) funding than the national and regional averages. FCPS alone is shortchanged an estimated $345 million.
“We cannot do this alone…We also can’t hold our breath for them to step up,” Palchik said. “So, we are pushing, and we hope that they will finalize a budget and bring us more state champions who will help us bear the burden of funding those services that keep us a great community, our schools, our public safety, our parks, and everything that we do here.”
The General Assembly will convene for a special session on May 13 to discuss the state budget after the House of Delegates rejected amendments from Gov. Glenn Youngkin that included a 3% salary increase for teachers for the next two years.
While hopeful the county will get more financial support once the bi-annual state budget is adopted, several supervisors anticipate it won’t be enough to support the county’s future needs.
“We would be sitting here talking about reducing our tax rate dramatically if the 18 cents that the state owes us by their own formula arrived here at the government center in the form of a check,” Board Chairman Jeff McKay said. “That’s why our residents are suffering with real estate assessments: They pay a lot in income taxes to Richmond, and then we have to charge them a lot for real estate tax assessments to maintain a high-quality public school system and our own staff.”
Supervisors characterized the county’s situation as critical with costs rising and revenue declining, particularly from a sluggish commercial sector.
According to McKay, the county’s largest expense is paying county and school employees, which account for 82% of general fund expenditures.
At public hearings on the budget, several local labor union representatives urged the board to implement a 4% market rate adjustment (MRA) for county employees, as dictated by the county’s formula for calculating annual worker pay raises.
Ultimately, supervisors opted to fund the 2% MRA recommended by Hill, acknowledging that expenses will continue to escalate as employees seek improved compensation to cope with living in one of the nation’s highest-cost areas.
Expressing disappointment with the decision, Tammie Wondong, president of the Fairfax County Government Employees Union chapter of SEIU Virginia 512, pledged that the union will persist in advocating for improved wages to secure access to a “better quality of life” for its members.
“It’s concerning that the Board of Supervisors would recommend partial funding for the MRA,” she told FFXnow in an email before the mark-up session. “With partial funding, government workers will still struggle to pay for necessary things like food and medicine, and the county may continue to lose great employees to neighboring counties as a result.”
In addition to the lower-than-advertised tax rate increase, the board approved adjustments to the FY 2025 budget that included $24,000 for stipends to the Fairfax County Planning Commission and $25,000 to restore a Youth Leadership Program that provides summer internships in the county government to high school students.
The package also deferred $7.56 million in fuel and information technology costs, and the county will phase in a planned increase in senior center membership fees over two years, instead of implementing it all at once.
Supervisors acknowledged that homeowners will keep shouldering the county’s tax burden unless alternative revenue sources are identified, though no specific proposals were raised.
“The only glimmer of hope in this budget is the guidance, which helps us look at what is next,” Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said. “How do we continue to ensure that we can diversify our tax base, continue to invest in our housing and our employees, and that, hopefully, we’re not faced with harder budgets than this one. But, right now, it is looking very likely that that is the case.”
The Vienna Community Center will be abuzz with activity this Saturday (May 4), thanks to the simultaneous return of the town’s farmers market and native plant sale.
Operated by the Optimist Club of Greater Vienna, the Vienna Farmers Market will launch at 8 a.m. in the community center’s parking lot at 120 Cherry Street SE. More than two dozen food and produce vendors have been lined up for the new season, which will continue on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon through October.
This week, the farmers market will be accompanied by a Spring Native Plant Sale sponsored by the Vienna Conservation and Sustainability Commission (CSC). Seasonal plants will be available for purchase, and there will be a free drawing to win a native tree.
“All plants are raised and sold by Hill House Garden Nursery and include flowering perennials, native shrubs, and small trees available for purchase,” the town said in a press release.
The CSC is a 10-member group of appointed residents who promote environmentally friendly practices, support community initiatives and education, and recommend policies to the town council. The commission meets once a month at the community center.
New vehicle lanes and a shared-use trail are officially open to travelers on Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) after almost five years of construction.
The Virginia Department of Transportation announced last night (Tuesday) that it has finished expanding the roadway from four to six travel lanes — three in each direction — between Riva Ridge Drive in Reston and Jarrett Valley Drive just north of the Dulles Toll Road in Tysons.
A 2-mile segment between Riva Ridge and Reston Avenue has been open to traffic since October 2022, but the additional five miles of lanes were completed well ahead of VDOT’s target date of July 31.
Work has also wrapped up on 10-foot-wide paths for pedestrians and bicyclists along both sides of Route 7, as anticipated by the Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn’s office. Cyclists will get a chance to try out the amenity during Alcorn’s annual Tour de Hunter Mill community bicycle ride this Sunday (May 5).
“The shared-use paths tie into those on Route 7 beyond the eastern and western limits of the project, providing a direct bicyclist/pedestrian connection from the Fairfax County Parkway Trail to Tysons,” VDOT said in a press release. “In addition, Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail users now have a new route under the Difficult Run bridge to safely cross Route 7.”
The Route 7 Corridor Improvements project redesigned intersections, including at Lewinsville Road in Wolf Trap and Baron Cameron Road in Reston, and added a pedestrian underpass for Colvin Run Mill Park, though a trail connecting to the south side of the tunnel still needs to be built by Fairfax County.
The $313.9 million project broke ground in June 2019 with the goal of improving safety, reducing traffic congestion and expanding mobility, according to VDOT, which says the affected, nearly 7-mile section of Route 7 averages 50,000 vehicles a day.
Though construction is finished, a reduced speed limit of 45 mph will remain in early May, allowing crews to remove temporary signs that were posted throughout the work zone.
“Once this work is complete, the speed limit between Reston Avenue and Wolftrap Run Road will be restored to 55 miles per hour,” VDOT said.
Man Gets Life in Prison for N. Va. Gang Killings — An MS-13 leader was sentenced to life in prison yesterday (Tuesday) for giving orders that led to multiple murders in Northern Virginia during the summer of 2019. Prosecutors say Melvin Canales Saldana told gang members to kill rivals “more aggressively,” prompting some to target “random civilians so they could increase their status within the gang.” [Associated Press/WTOP]
Tysons Satellite Company Will Be Acquired — “Intelsat SA said Tuesday it has reached a deal to be acquired by SES SA for $3.1 billion in cash…The deal will position SES to better compete with broadband satellites of SpaceX-owned Starlink and Amazon.com Inc. The combined company will have a fleet of more than 100 geostationary and 26 medium orbit satellites.” [Washington Business Journal]
Vienna Sticks With Current Real Estate Tax Rate — “Vienna homeowners, on average, have to pony up an additional $135 because of rising property assessments, but the town’s real-estate tax rate will stay the same this year. The Vienna Town Council on April 29 unanimously agreed to keep that rate steady at 19.5 cents per $100 assessed valuation.” [Gazette Leader]
FCPS Revives Prom for Students With Disabilities — Fairfax County Public Schools recently held a day prom for around 100 special education students at the CrystalView Wedding and Events Banquet Hall in Fairfax. Returning from a five-year hiatus, the event drew students “from Centreville, Chantilly, Edison, Hayfield, Justice, Lewis, Oakton and South Lakes high schools.” [WUSA9]
Asian Food Market Draws Crowd in Annandale — “More than 500 people enjoyed Thai food at the Asiantque Market behind the Masonic lodge at 6911 Columbia Pike Sunday evening. This was the biggest crowd yet at the monthly food festivals, said organizer Nelson Figueroa Velez.” [Annandale Today]
It’s Wednesday — It will be a sunny day with high temperatures near 81 degrees and a northwest wind moving 7 to 9 mph. Night will be mostly clear, with a low around 59. The wind will shift to the southwest around 5 mph after midnight. [NWS]
