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As 1st Stage Theatre outgrows its current Tysons home, the theater is hoping to move to a proposed mixed-use development by the Spring Hill Metro station.
The theater’s artistic director Alex Levy told the Fairfax County Planning Commission Wednesday night that the theater is negotiating with the county and the developers of the proposed Tysons West development known as The View.
“The stunning new venue that was designed in The View was built specifically for a thriving company like ours,” Levy said. “It will serve as the heartbeat of an exciting and thriving new development.”
Levy told Tysons Reporter last year that the theater has been growing in attendance by 15% year after year — creating capacity issues at the theater’s current space at 1524 Spring Hill Road.
While the theater wants to expand, Levy has said that 1st Stage wants to stay in Tysons.
Levy praised the county and developers for working on the art spaces with specific users in mind and aiming to offer reduced rent for a not-for-profit company, like 1st Stage.
“What makes 1st Stage’s success remarkable is it happens in a landscape in which most of the D.C. region has strong arts funding and subsidized venues,” Levy told the commissioners.
Paul Kohlenberger, the president of the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce, told the commissioners that he supports the idea of subsidizing the lease for 1st Stage at The View.
“Visionary Project”
Vienna-based Clemente Development Co.’s development would add six buildings, including a 600-foot-tall office building that would snatch the “tallest building in the region” title from Capital One’s headquarters in Tysons East and the Washington Monument.
Plans for The View also include a 455-foot-tall office building, a 394-foot-tall building for hotel and residential uses and a 108-foot-tall building with retail and office space.
“We think the diversity of height in and around Tysons is absolutely critical,” a representative for the developer told the Planning Commission.
Known as the Iconic Tower, the tallest building would capitalize on its height with a publicly-accessible botanical garden and observation deck.
While the commissioners have lingering concerns about making the buildings bird-friendly and the logistics with an athletic field tied to the project, they were mostly supportive of The View — especially its focus on the arts.
“One thing that doesn’t work is a theater that is designed for everyone,” John Carter, the commissioner for the Hunter Mill District, said. “Those tend to fail because there’s no such design that works for everybody.”
That’s Entertainment
In addition to the planned black box theater, The View wants to have an art walk, seasonal ice loop, open-air theater on the green and a Tysons Community Center at a nearby site.
“The arts are essential to thriving and robust communities,” Linda Sullivan, the president of ARTSFAIRFAX, said, along with pointing out that Capital One’s planned performance hall and The View will be “important anchors and drivers” of the arts locally.
The Landing Public Sky Park would include an outdoor amphitheater. Meanwhile, the Theater on the Green — also known as the Common Green — would be located between The Landing and one of the buildings.
“The Theater on the Green will provide space for outdoor dining, an open lawn, wayfinding, special paving and banding to visually guide pedestrian flow, a stage for events and performances, outdoor seating, outdoor games, artful lighting, access to multi-modal paths and a continuation of the Art Walk Loop,” according to county documents.
The 20,000 square-foot theater would be available for 35 years.
More from the developers’ plans for the black-box theater:
The proposed development anticipates that the applicant will construct the 199-seat black-box theater, which will be leased to an arts, entertainment, or theatrical group at a very significantly discounted rate. The theater will include “back of house” space for rehearsal, set construction, and other support activities.
The applicant has been in discussions with local theaters and arts groups, as well as national experts in this field; these discussions have continued to inform the design and practical parameters of the proposed theater space.
“The arts can have a ripple effect,” Sullivan said, adding that national studies have shown that arts have a positive economic impact.
Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner, the commissioner for the Providence District, deferred the decision on the “visionary project” to next Thursday, Oct. 10.
The View heads to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
Images via Fairfax County
Come help us celebrate the first year since founding Tysons Reporter at Tysons Biergarten tonight (Oct 3).
The first 50 guests will enjoy a drink on us.
You will have the chance to meet the editorial and business teams that work behind the scenes to bring all of the local news to you each day.
Find us on the patio between 5-7 p.m. Kids and dogs are welcome.
Check out the Facebook event to RSVP.
Signs have popped up for an upcoming development by the Tysons Corner Metro station.
Three large signs indicate that Lerner is planning a 2 million-square-foot mixed-use development called Tysons III.
The signs appear to be linked to Lerner’s plans to bring office space, street-level retail and a hotel to the grassy spot between International Drive and Tysons Blvd that is used by Cirque du Soleil in the summer.
The Tysons Comprehensive Plan envisions the area as a “Transit Station Mixed Use.”
“The overall percentage of office uses throughout all of the Transit Station Mixed Use areas should be approximately 65%. This will help Tysons maintain a balance between land use and the necessary transportation infrastructure,” according to the plan.
Meanwhile on the other side of Tysons Blvd, Lerner also wants to add two luxury residential towers known as The Residences at Tysons II. According to Nadel Architecture:
Amenities include an indoor and outdoor pool, fitness center, lounge and indoor dog wash. Rooftop amenities include BBQ areas, fire pits and a dog park. The project involves many stakeholders and sensitive issues of pedestrian design, landscaping and urban design.
Tysons Reporter called the number on the sign and reached out to Lerner via email to ask about the project, but hasn’t heard back yet.
Photo via MBA, image via Nadel Architecture
More than 160 Dominion Energy customers are without power near the Mosby neighborhood this morning (Thursday).
Dominion reports that an “equipment upgrade” caused the power outage, which is affecting 162 customers. The outage spans from Cherry to South streets between Hillwood Avenue and Route 50.
Crews are currently working to restore power, which Dominion expects to be back on between 2-5 p.m., according to the Dominion Energy power outage map.
Map via Dominion Energy
Updated at 10:30 a.m. — Police tweeted at 10:20 a.m. that all lanes on Old Dominion Drive are open. A police spokesperson told Tysons Reporter that no injuries were reported.
Earlier: A fallen tree that struck a truck has caused a partial closure of Old Dominion Drive in McLean this morning (Thursday).
Fairfax County police tweeted about the closure around 9:30 a.m. Old Dominion Drive is down to one lane between Kirby and Birch roads, according to the tweet.
Police are on scene directing traffic.
TRAFFIC ALERT: Old Dominion Dr between Kirby Rd and Birch Rd is down to one lane due to a tree that fell on a truck. Officers are on scene to direct traffic, please use caution. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/ODmDQKJbMU
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) October 3, 2019
Map via Google Maps
As businesses and restaurants start moving into an apartment building in the Mosaic District, people might notice that the building is absent from the “map view” on Google Maps.
Across the street from the Avalon Mosaic apartment building, the building at 2980 District Avenue has a sign indicating its apart of the Modera apartment building and is
Switch from bird’s-eye view to street or satellite views and the building does appear.
Typing in an address at the building will result in a pin getting dropped at the appropriate, building-less spot on the map.
While “map view” doesn’t have the building, it does show Penny Lane Park.
The expanding educational center Kumon recently opened in the building earlier this year.
Neapolitan pizza chain Pupatella, Korean BBQ chain Gyu Shige and Urban Hot Pot all have signs indicating they will occupy ground-floor space.
The Mosaic District’s website shows the building on its retail and restaurant map.
First and second maps via Google Maps; third map via Mosaic District
(Updated 10/16/19) Fairfax County is now asking residents to toss glass bottles and jars in the trash instead of the recycling bin at home.
The county decided to change its rules that previously required that glass bottles and jars be placed in curbside recycling bins “to improve the quality of single-stream recycling,” according to the county’s website.
As of yesterday (Oct. 1), residents now have two options for glass disposal — take the items to purple, glass-only recycling containers located around the county or throw them in the trash.
“The decision to remove glass from the single-stream recycling program was made after consulting with private recycling sorting centers and Covanta Fairfax, Inc., which operates the waste-to-energy plant,” according to the county.
The county also says that China’s decision to stop accepting some recycling materials has prompted changes to glass recycling.
Glass containers can break in curbside recycling bins, leading to the shards damaging the other recycled items and possible damage of machinery, the county said, adding that bins weighed down by heavy glass can increase transportation costs.
Earlier this year, Arlington County also decided to move away from recycling glass in a single stream system that has recycled items mixed together in one bin.
Meanwhile, the City of Falls Church and the Town of Vienna still allow glass bottles in curbside recycling bins.
The closest purple containers in the Tysons area are at the Providence Community Center (3001 Vaden Drive), Dolley Madison Library (1244 Oak Ridge Avenue) and the Lee Community Center (5722 Lee Hwy).
People can place any colored glass bottle or jar in the purple containers, but should not bring lamps, light bulbs, windows, mirrors or glass sheets.
What about broken glass? The county urges residents to place the broken glass in a rigid container labeled “GLASS” for trash collection.
This is “Big Blue” @ffxpublicworks recycled glass crusher that turns glass into reusable construction material. For everything you need to know about glass recycling in @fairfaxcounty click https://t.co/6efkyFiCr3 @route1corridor @FortHuntHerald pic.twitter.com/YA67hwOFPv
— Tony Castrilli (@TonyCastrilli) October 2, 2019
Map via Fairfax County
Locals can learn about human trafficking prevention in McLean next week — just days after Fairfax County police busted an alleged sex trafficking ring in the Mosaic District.
Police arrested two Falls Church residents and charged them with felony sex trafficking in connection with a sex trafficking operation run out of the Avalon Mosaic after police raided one of the units, Fox 5 reported yesterday.
“Police did not say whether they identified any sex trafficking victims,” the story said.
Juemin Luo, 35, bonded out of jail, while Feng Ni, 32, is being held without bond, according to Fox 5.
At a meeting next Thursday (Oct. 10), the Citizens Advisory Committee for the McLean Police District Station will focus on ways to identify and prevent human trafficking.
Police told Tysons Reporter that the topics for the regularly scheduled Citizens Advisory Committee meetings are often determined a month in advance.
The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at the McLean Governmental Center (1437 Balls Hill Road) and is open to the public.
Attendees will also be able to learn about resources for people who are victims of human trafficking.
Hat tip to Michael O’Connell
