Today: Coffee With a Cop — “Fairfax County Police and other law enforcement agencies will participate in National Coffee With a Cop Day on Wednesday, Oct. 3… Officers from the McLean District Station will be participating in National Coffee with a Cop Day at Peet’s, 7516A Leesburg Pike, Falls Church (Tysons Station) from 9 a.m.-11 a.m.” [Patch]

Watch Out for Deer — “Fall is here and white-tailed deer are on the move. Fall is the breeding season for deer and you can expect to see more of them on the roads as they search for mates. Deer are unpredictable and crashes with them are a safety concern.” [FCPD]

Mars Sells Drinks Biz — McLean-based Mars Inc., the maker of M&Ms, has sold its drinks business, which includes Flavia coffee, to the Italian coffee company Lavazza. [WBJ]

Tysons Firms on Coolest Cos. List — Per the FCEDA E-bird: “DC Inno compiled a list of D.C.’s ‘Coolest Companies,’ based on company culture and factors ranging from pet-friendliness to in-house happy hour availability. Level Access of Tysons Corner was rated among the five ‘All Around Coolest’ companies… Gabriel Marketing of Tysons Corner emerged tops in the ‘Best D.C. Tech Advocate’ category.” [DC Inno]

Reminder: Emergency Test Today — Expect your phone to buzz and beep just after 2:15 p.m. as part of a nationwide federal emergency alert test. [Fairfax County Emergency, Tysons Reporter]

Bliss in a Bottle, an Ohio-based company that offers unique boozy gifts, is planning to open a kiosk at Tysons Corner Center, according to a pending license application.

The company sells beer and wine with a twist: the bottles are covered in chocolate, sprinkles and other candies.

An online help-wanted ad for the kiosk says Bliss in a Bottle “combine[s] high profile wine, beer, and sodas with chocolate that is perfectly paired to create an unparalleled experience.” The company is currently hiring a “retail sales associate” to work in Tysons. The job pays $10-12 per hour, according to the posting.

Given the continued rise of Amazon and e-commerce, will Tysons Corner Center still be a retail-oriented shopping mall 5 years from now?

That was a question posed by Lynn Strobel of the law firm Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh this morning at a Bisnow event discussing the “Future of Fairfax County” in Tysons.

The consensus from the six-person panel: yes, almost certainly.

One panelist said he recently went to Tysons Corner Center at night to go to a movie and it took 20 minutes to find a parking space; it’s hard to see how that kind of demand goes away in such short order, he said.

E-commerce might actually come to malls, said another panelist. Bailey Edelson of JBG Smith said online retailers have increasingly been opening bricks-and-mortar locations. Those currently at Tysons Corner Center include Amazon, Untuckit and Warby Parker.

While suburban shopping malls have been struggling elsewhere, the malls in Tysons are benefiting from being in an increasingly dense, urban environment, according to Andrew McIntyre of Combined Properties.

“Tysons is in a good position long term since the urban environment came to it,” McIntyre said.

The upscale Tysons Galleria, meanwhile, has been facing some challenges, including the sudden closure of the huge Isabella Eatery on the fourth floor. Change may be on the horizon, said one panelist. Expect Tysons Galleria to be “repositioned” in the market and for redevelopment to happen around it as a way to revitalize the mall, he said.

Other predictions and takeaways from the panel:

• Offices and office buildings are not going away, not everybody is going to work from home.
• Amazon HQ2 and a large Apple office would, unsurprisingly, be very, very good for the local economy — and it’s on the mind of just about everyone in commercial real estate.
• The trajectory of residential development in uncertain, given increasing interest rates and years of building. Some think the D.C. area is overbuilt, some think there is a housing shortage.
• A lot of additional investment is needed to get Tysons infrastructure to where it needs to be to be a great city.
• Fairfax County is “fighting a constant battle” in competing with other local D.C. area jurisdictions for employers. But there should also be more cooperation among governments to make the D.C. area as a whole better and more competitive.
• Expect more coworking spaces to pop-up. Coworking spaces not only open the commercial real estate market to smaller companies and startups, but it’s also seen as an amenity by many larger tenants, including government contractors, who want the flexibility to rapidly add new employees beyond their existing office footprint.

HQ2 in Fairfax County? — Amid anticipation for Amazon’s announcement as to where it will establish its second headquarters, officials in Fairfax County are not betting the farm on it coming to the county. But even if it goes elsewhere, the local sites identified as a possible HQ2 landing spot stand to benefit from the Amazon attention. [Washington Business Journal]

Tysons People, Projects Awarded — Some Tysons people and projects were award recipients at the annual CREW D.C. awards ceremony last week. Among those honored by the organization, which brings together women in the local commercial real estate industry, were Capital One Mid-Atlantic Market Manager Sadhvi Subramanian and Meridian Group’s massive The Boro project in Tysons. [Bisnow]

Next Week: Open House at Fairfax Fire Stations — “In celebration of Fire Prevention Week, all Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Stations will be hosting an Open House on Saturday, October 13 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Stop by your local station that day to meet your firefighters, see the fire trucks, join in the activities and learn about fire safety.” [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue]

MoMo House, a restaurant serving Nepali cuisine, is coming to Maple Avenue in Vienna.

The new restaurant is located in the former Sweet City Desserts space at 131-A Maple Avenue W. Construction is currently wrapping up and the restaurant is hiring staff, according to signs posted in the papered-over doors and windows.

Reached via phone, MoMo House’s Roju Basnet said it will be a “full-fledged, family-run restaurant,” with a full-time staff that will include her dad, mom and two brothers. Basnet said her dad recently moved to Northern Virginia from Massachusetts and has spent more than 20 years in the restaurant industry, while the rest of the family — including her and her husband, who will be working at the restaurant part-time — have service industry backgrounds.

The family, Basnet said, is originally from Nepal and is fulfilling a longtime dream of opening their own Nepalese restaurant.

MoMo House will feature a variety of Nepali dishes including various types of momos (dumplings), thali (platters) and sekuwa (kebabs), along with street food items like noodle and potato dishes.

Basnet said the Vienna storefront is “a perfect spot for us.”

“We’ve been looking for a perfect space for almost two years now, this has been a long-term plan,” she told Tysons Reporter. “We’ve looked at a ton of space and when we came across this space in Vienna, it was just ideal. It’s right on Maple Avenue, there’s a lot of potential to serve different communities.”

She said the restaurant will serve a “big Nepali community” that lives in the area, but it also expects to serve locals of all stripes.

“Vienna is a beautiful town,” said Basnet. “It’s so open to different ethnic groups and different communities.”

The restaurant is hoping to hold its grand opening on Tuesday, Oct. 16, though it is still working on its final permits and, as with all restaurant openings, the date is subject to change.

The bike infrastructure in Tysons is still in a transitional state, with plenty of opportunities to add to and improve existing bike routes in the area.

One big win for cycling in Tyson was the addition of Capital Bikeshare stations near Metro stations and business hubs in 2016.

There are now nearly a dozen Capital Bikeshare stations around Tysons, up from the original 8. Meanwhile, a pilot program recently added powered e-bikes to the local CaBi fleet.

So where are the current bikeshare stations in Tysons? The system map lists the following 11 stations:

• Towers Crescent Dr & Tysons One Pl
• Tysons One Pl & Chain Bridge Rd
• Tysons Corner Station
• Westpark & Jones Branch Dr
• Greensboro & International Dr
• Greensboro & Pinnacle Dr
• Westpark Dr & Leesburg Pike
• Westpark & Park Run Dr
• Spring Hill Metro
• Tysons West Transit Center
• Jones Branch & Westbranch Dr

Photo via Capital Bikeshare

It’s our second official week of reporting local news for Tysons, McLean and Vienna, and the response so far has exceeded expectations.

Thank you to everyone who has liked, followed and bookmarked us.

Unfortunately, for those who only get our stories via social media, you’re missing out. Algorithms decide what you see on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and oftentimes that means important local stories don’t make it to your feed.

So how can you make sure you’re seeing all Tysons Reporter headlines? Sign up for our email newsletter, which delivers local headlines to your inbox once a day.

Also, if you think you signed up via a form on Facebook, an important note: some 1,400 would-be subscribers are, in fact, not subscribed because a byzantine Facebook policy. If you haven’t gotten the email yet, you are not subscribed and need to re-subscribe.

Capital One Building Among Largest Projects in U.S. — “Capital One Financial’s new Headquarters II addition to its Tysons Corner campus, a 31-story, 971,000-square-foot, 470-foot tall tower at 1600 Capital One Blvd. — the tallest building in the Washington region — ranks as the 4th-largest office building project in the U.S. in 2018.” [WTOP]

Vienna Taco Shop Holding Competition for Charity — “On Thursday, Oct. 4, Taco Bamba will hold its first annual BAMBATHON, a charity drive to fight childhood hunger. Taco Bamba’s four locations will compete to sell the most tacos that day.” [Patch]

Fairfax Co. Wants VDOT to Mow More Often — “Tall grass along the road can make it tough to see whether it is safe to turn and create an eyesore for the community, so Fairfax County is asking the Virginia Department of Transportation to mow more often.” [WTOP]

Bisnow Event in Tysons This Week — Online business publication Bisnow is hosting an event — “Fairfax County Forecast: What Does the Future Hold for the Region’s Booming Market?” — Thursday morning at 1550 Westbranch Drive in Tysons. Tickets are $99. [Bisnow]

Judy Smith, the crisis management expert whose career served as the inspiration for the hit TV show Scandal, has been added to the lineup for Social Media Week Fairfax.

The event, which was originally scheduled to take place on Sept. 14, was rescheduled due to Hurricane Florence and is now happening Oct. 18.

More from the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority:

Crisis management advisor Judy Smith, who has served as a consultant to high-profile celebrity and entertainment clients including Monica Lewinsky, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., actor Wesley Snipes and the family of Chandra Levy, has been added to the list of keynote speakers who will take part in Social Media Week Fairfax on October 18.

SMWFairfax, presented by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) will take place at Capital One headquarters in Tysons Corner, bringing together leading influencers, marketers, entrepreneurs and digitally-connected consumers who thrive in the hyper-connected world and push the boundaries of the status quo.

Judy Smith’s wide-ranging and ground-breaking career served as inspiration for the hit TV series Scandal, created by Shonda Rhimes, who also created ABC hit dramas Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. Smith served as co-executive producer of Scandal, providing insight and technical expertise to a show that revolved around the life and work of a professional fixer.

Smith is founder and president of Smith & Company, a leading strategic advisory firm with offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and New York. In the last 25 years, she has brought her unique combination of communication skills, media savvy, legal and political acumen to clients facing a wide array of issues and challenges.

A former federal prosecutor, she also served in the White House as deputy press secretary to President George H.W. Bush. She has honed her skills thanks to experience with some of the most historic and sensational events of our time including the Iran Contra investigation, the prosecution of former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, the 1991 Gulf War, the Los Angeles riots, the Bill Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, the congressional inquiry of Enron and the Sony Corp. hacking crisis.

Author of the book Good Self, Bad Self, Smith received her Bachelor of Science degree in public relations from Boston University and graduated from the American University Washington College of Law, where she was the first African-American woman to serve as executive editor of the Law Review.

Her keynote conversation at Social Media Week Fairfax will examine crisis management in the digital age.

Previously announced keynote speakers at Social Media Week Fairfax include National Geographic vice presidents Tammy Abraham and Amanda Waas; Debra Puchalla, senior vice president programming and video and Sara Levine, senior managing editor of Discovery Communication’s The Food Network; and change evangelist Brian Fanzo, CEO at iSocialFanz. For a full list of speakers, exhibitors and registration information, please visit SMWFairfax.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Huge Tysons Office Complex For Sale — “The developers of Towers Crescent are considering selling after anchor tenant MicroStrategy Inc. vowed to add 300 jobs to its headquarters in the 1 million-square-foot-plus Tysons office complex… The offering, which also includes an additional land site fronting Fashion Boulevard, could easily exceed the roughly $360 million assessed value of the existing buildings.” [Washington Business Journal]

School Board Adopts Sexual Misconduct Resolution — “The Fairfax County School Board will lead a cultural change in Fairfax County Public Schools regarding sexual misconduct to ensure that the organization continues to foster a caring culture, encourage open communication, properly educate and train students and employees, and hold accountable those who fail to uphold our standards of conduct and reporting.” [Fairfax County Public Schools, Fox 5]

McLean HS Team on It’s Academic — A team from McLean High School will appear on the Oct. 13 episode of It’s Academic on NBC 4. [Twitter]

Wildcat 5K in McLean This Weekend — The rolling hills of McLean will play host to the 11th annual Wildcat 5K and Family Fun Run on Saturday morning. [Wildcat 5K]