Foam mattress company Purple is opening today in Tysons Corner Center in the mall’s BrandBox space.
Purple is a company that specializes in cushioning products, like mattresses, pillows and seat cushions. The company is moving into BrandBox, an flexible area designed to feature a rotating set of smaller companies that don’t need a full store location.
“The store is full of amazing product and has been built out with top of the line technology and AI and is definitely something to see!” the company said in a press release. “The Purple team will be on-site to speak to the brand as well as the store.”
BrandBox is located on the first level of the mall, between Arhaus and Seasons 52. Purple joins Tailor on Tap as one of the pop-up brands filling the space after sitting vacant for months during the pandemic.
Photo via Purple/Facebook
Tysons Transit Prioritized by State — “The top five transit routings, based on preliminary analyses, are Bethesda to Dunn Loring via Tysons Corner; Bethesda to Tysons West; Gaithersburg to Tysons West; Bethesda to Tysons East; and Germantown to Tysons West.” [InsideNova]
Vienna Torn Between Biden and Trump Precincts on Election Day — “At Vienna area polling places on Election Day, totals for Biden and President Donald Trump were closer in a few precincts, and Trump received more votes at the Flint Hill, Vienna #1, Vienna #2, Wolftrap, Thoreau, Oakton and Nottoway precincts.” [Patch]
Vienna Elementary School Teacher Adrienne McCormick Dies — “Of Adrienne’s many accomplishments, her 19 years as a teacher at Stenwood Elementary was her proudest–here she helped to build a village, a community that continues to serve the students she so loved.” [Patch]
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
Slowly but surely, the controversial Broad and Washington project in Falls Church is moving forward with only minor concerns from reviewing officials.
The Falls Church Planning Commission met with the Architectural Advisory Board last night for a joint work session to discuss the upcoming project — but while public concerns remain about parking and scale, the groups offered more praise than criticism of the project.
Staff noted in a presentation that the project had gone through significant changes to offer better open space and better use of street access. The project is also perhaps most notable as the planned home of a new Whole Foods and a permanent home for local performing and visual arts group Creative Cauldron.
Members of the Planning Commission and Architectural Advisory Board were mostly satisfied with changes that scaled the building better with the surrounding area. Chair of the Architectural Advisory Board noted that one side of the building facing Broad Street still had the unfortunate “slab” look of the earlier designs.
James Way, chair of the Architectural Advisory Board, also said the roadside public square planned in the project could have been better but he said he was also happy with what the city would get.
“Like the square,” Way said. “I always like to see more space but I understand financial constraints. I worry about spaces being too taken up with hard set features. [There] might be something to make it more flexible and adaptable to actual uses.”
The project is scheduled to come back to the city government on Wednesday, Nov. 18 for a vote.
As of Thursday morning, the future of the country is still up in the air, with votes in key states still being decided and the outcome of the election is unclear.
On the sidewalks and Slack channels around the area, the election seems to be on everyone’s mind. The area’s votes have already been counted, with areas like Tysons, Merrifield, Herndon and much of Reston going for former Vice President Joe Biden while McLean and Great Falls voted for incumbent President Donald Trump.
Whichever side you picked, you might have a few more grey hairs by Thursday morning. With that being said, Tysons Reporter wanted to check in and see how folks in the area are feeling about the election.
While the vote remains undecided nationally at time of writing, Fairfax County has swung heavily towards Biden. At the precinct level, however, the results are a little more divided.
Biden swept most of the precincts in the Tysons area, with Tysons itself going 57.71% for Biden. Merrifield had one of the largest percentage of support for Biden, with 62.23%.
The precincts didn’t unanimously favor Biden, however. In McLean and Spring Hill, Trump won by 55.49% and 50.71% respectively.
Further west, Trump won more securely in the Great Falls, Hickory and Seneca and Forestville precincts.
Biden won all three of Herndon’s precincts and all of Reston except Cameron Glen and North Point, which Trump won by 37 and 78 votes respectively.
In Pimmit, Biden had a 6 vote lead over Trump, taking the precinct 48.92% to 48.20%.
Because Fairfax County had such a high level of absentee voting for the 2020 general election, however, precinct level results might not be as revealing of voter attitudes in a particular area as in previous years.
According to unofficial results from the Fairfax County Office of Elections, the county has received 404,254 absentee ballots so far that were delivered by mail or in person. Absentee votes account for an estimated 51% of Fairfax County’s overall 77.5% voter turnout for this election, and with absentee ballots permitted up to noon on Friday as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 3, more ballots may be added in the coming days.
All absentee ballots are counted in a central absentee precinct for Fairfax County regardless of where they came from or where they were dropped off. Biden won a decisive 80.67% of absentee votes in the county, while Trump received 17.86%.
“What we know is that Democrats swept to a large victory in Fairfax County, sending a message in their votes in the national election,” said Professor Frank Shafroth, director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University. “[Expressing] trust in a time of such political upheaval…being in a state with the only medical doctor of any state serving as Governor…[and] the ability to rely on facts in the middle of this pandemic is vital to trust in governance at such a difficult time of loss [for] too many American lives.”
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
Alexandria coffee shop Java Loco is planning to open a new location in Tysons starting this weekend.
Java Loco is scheduled to open on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7516 Leesburg Pike in the Tysons Station shopping center.
“We can’t wait to serve customers at our new location in Tysons Station,” Nga Ho, owner of Java Loco, said in a press release. “We always love inviting customers into our relaxing space and we’re so appreciative of the customers who have supported us with their business over the years. We’re so excited to become a part of the Falls Church community.”
The location will be a 1,385-square-foot space with gourmet house coffee, Italian espresso, espresso-based drinks, and exotic drinks like Cuban or Vietnamese coffee. The beverage menu also includes a selection of decaf items, fruit smoothies and bubble tea from Ocha Bubble Tea in Annandale, which is also owned by Ho.
The location is planned to offer a limited breakfast and lunch sandwich selection, along with bakery items like muffins, croissants and pastries.
The Tysons Station location of Java Loco will be open from Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Photo via Java Loco/Facebook
Developer KETTLER announced the day before Halloween that it has broken ground on the next stage of an ambitious development plan called The Mile.
The Mile is an approved project that will transform a 45-acre area of underutilized space northwest of Tysons Galleria. Brentford, the second phase of the development, will be a 411-unit mid-rise apartment community advertised as being in walking distance from major employers, world-class shopping, restaurants, and entertainment.
“As a business operator in Tysons, our company has felt the positive impact that redevelopments have had on our community,” KETTLER President Cynthia Fisher said. “We’re thrilled to be leading this transformational project in partnership with PS Business Parks as we begin construction on Brentford at The Mile.”
In a press release, KETTLER states that the Brentford apartments will offer “stylish, nature-inspired floor plans, with highly amenitized interior spaces and larger units such as 3 bedroom apartments and 2-story townhomes.”
With its first units expected to be completed in spring 2022, Brentford will be located near Highgate at the Mile, an apartment building with Republik Coffee Bar on the ground floor (7915 Jones Branch Drive) that represented the first part of KETTLER’s plan for The Mile.
During the project’s approval process, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors praised The Mile for featuring a natural, 10-acre green space around Brentford and Highgate at The Mile. The first stage of the plans includes a publicly accessible dog park at the location.
“Residents of The Mile will feel the ease of suburban living, just minutes from the ‘Bustling Boro’ and Tysons Corner Center,” KETTLER said.
Image via KETTLER
It’s was an unconventional Halloween to cap off an unconventional year for the McLean Community Center, an organization dedicated to establishing a sense of community a time of social isolation.
During a meeting last week, the MCC leadership discussed the Halloween activities that were ongoing at the McLean Old Firehouse Center.
Terri Markwart said that the event had been a success with many local middle school kids who were looking for a chance to meet up with their friends in costume. The event had over 200 attendees, Markwart said.
“Parents who came with their kids were appreciative,” Markwart said, “and the kids said the haunted house was fantastic.”
Other members of the MCC expressed similar approval of the work the Old Firehouse had done.
“It was a well run event,” said Barbara Zamora. “There was a line at one point, but everyone was spaced.”
The group also discussed the future of the McLean Project for the Arts with Lori Carbonneau, executive director of the MPA.
“We’re doing virtual openings and artist talks,” Carbonneau said, “[and] bringing people into the gallery in groups of six.”
Carbonneau said engagement has gone up over the last few months, which she attributed to the group working largely with people with disabilities, elderly residents, and folks who are otherwise homebound. As a result, the group had its second highest attended Artfest this year in terms of website traffic.
“For our first rodeo, we’re feeling pretty good about it,” Carbonneau said.
The success came in spire of a 95% drop in normal corporate sponsorship, but Carbonneau said the group was able to put the event together with community support. Carbonneau described artist sales as “not great” but adequate.
Unsurprisingly, the group also announced that the annual WinterFest parade has been cancelled. This is the second year in a row WinterFest has been cancelled, as it was cancelled last year due to predicted rain.
Attorney General William Barr’s McLean House Swarmed by Pro-Trump Protestors — “Protesters carrying Trump flags picketed Attorney General William Barr’s home on Saturday because they believe he isn’t doing enough to bring former Vice President Joe Biden to justice.” [Newsweek]
Junior League of Northern Virginia Announces Virtual Enchanted Forest — “The Junior League of Northern Virginia invites you to join us at the 20th annual The Enchanted Forest! Our holiday-themed signature fundraiser will take place virtually Nov. 21, 2020…” [JLNV]
Tysons-based MicroStrategy Bets Big on Bitcoin — “In volatile markets, you can use cash as offense or defense. MicroStrategy Inc., which recently had half-a-billion dollars in cash sitting around, thinks it can do both.” [Wall Street Journal]
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
Joining the annuls of small, bizarre Vienna police reports, police were called out to a 7-11 in Vienna after a customer reported that he’d been struck — a tragic victim caught in the crossfire in an act of senseless violence between two Febreze-spraying vandals.
The incident reportedly occurred at the 7-11 at 537 Maple Avenue West at 10:16 p.m. on Oct. 22.
According to the police report:
Officers responded to the report of an assault. A customer reported that two juveniles were spraying Fabreeze [sic] in the store and some of the spray landed on him, which led to a verbal dispute. The customer then attempted to block the cash register while the juveniles made their purchase.
However, officers responding to the assault call found that customer may not have, in fact, been hit in a premeditated attack.
“Officers determined that juveniles did not intentionally spray the customer and that no assault occurred,” the report said.
Another item in this week’s police report was damage to political signs in residential yards. At least two instances of yard signs being stolen were reported at different locations across Vienna. A sign was also reported damaged last week, and another sign was spray-painted and left with notes containing profanity earlier this month.
Juan Vazquez, public information officer with the Vienna Police Department, said it’s not uncommon to see these sorts of acts in election years. The incidents are generally grouped under larceny or go unreported.
Photo via Google Maps
