Early voting, which started on Oct. 13, has increased this year across Virginia and particularly in one Fairfax County race.
In every one of the Tysons area congressional districts, the Virginia Public Access Project reports that absentee ballots cast have increased significantly compared to ballots cast in 2017. Most of that increase is marginal in the 8th and 11th Districts, but in the 10th District absentee ballots from Fairfax County have increased 125 percent.
In just under two weeks, on Election Day, all voters locally and across the state will have a say in Virginia’s U.S. Senate race between incumbent Tim Kaine (D), Corey Stewart (R) and Matt Waters (L).
In Tysons Reporter’s coverage area, northern parts of McLean will get to participate in the hotly contested 10th Congressional District race between incumbent Barbara Comstock (R) and Jennifer Wexton (D).
In Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, which includes parts of McLean and Falls Church, incumbent Don Beyer (D) is running against Thomas Oh (R).
For voters in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, which covers Vienna and Tysons, incumbent Gerald Connolly (D) is running against Jeff Dove Jr. (R) and Stevan Porter (L).
Also on the ballot are two proposed constitutional amendments regarding tax exemptions. The first asks whether a county, city or town should be allowed to offer partial tax exemption or properties that are subject to recurring flooding, provided resiliency improvements have been made on the property.
The second asks whether the spouses of a veteran with a complete disability should be eligible to maintain their property tax exemption if they move to another state.
Finally, a bond referendum asks if Fairfax County should be authorized to raise $182,000,000 to renovate or build new public safety buildings.
The polling locations in Fairfax are grouped by their Supervisor District, as outlined below.
- Dranesville District: McLean
- Providence District: Tysons, Merrifield, parts of Falls Church
- Hunter Mill District: Vienna, Wolf Trap
(10/26) Absentee Voting Update: This morning we'll surpass 40,000 absentee ballots cast. Still have 20,000+ mail-in ballots that need to be returned (hurry!) Two more Saturdays for in-person voting 10/27 and 11/3, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at all 10 locations. https://t.co/T95E9h5Bf6 pic.twitter.com/k3KOZiMi6V
— Fairfax County Votes (@fairfaxvotes) October 26, 2018
👉🗳 About 20,000 mail-in absentee ballots haven't been returned yet, so get yours in the mail ASAP – mail delivery can take several days. If ballots arrive AFTER 7 p.m. on Nov. 6 they won't be counted. https://t.co/SRRmMqbZHj
— Fairfax County Government 🇺🇸 (@fairfaxcounty) October 26, 2018
File photo
Cubicles are out. Coworking is in.
Coworking is a well-established trend in office spaces, packing a number of different companies into a single office space. It’s popular with both tiny startups — which no longer have to occupy garages and dining room tables — and large firms seeking a local presence. The advantages include flexible terms, the ability to upgrade to larger spaces as your company grows, and common area amenities.
The king of coworking, WeWork, has a location in Tysons, as does traditional real estate players Regus and Carr. But some smaller, specialized coworking spaces are scattered through the area as well.
Like we did for apartments in Tysons, we’ve put together a list of coworking spaces available in the area.
- WeWork (1775 Tysons Blvd) — prices range from $350 per month for a desk to 21-50 seat offices at $12,100 per month.
- MakeOffices (1751 Pinnacle Dr, 6th floor) — prices start at $300 per month for shared spaces to $600 or more for private offices.
- Chisel (1751 Pinnacle Dr, 10th floor) — A coworking space specifically for lawyers, prices range from $300 for a desk to $1,400 for a furnished office.
- Play, Work or Dash (8214 Old Courthouse Rd) — A coworking space that also offers childcare; prices and access to childcare facilities vary with membership levels.
- Metro Offices (1765 Greensboro Station) — A regional coworking space, prices range from $300 for a dedicated desk to $800 or more for private offices.
- Regus (2010 Corporate Ridge) — prices range from day-to-day options to longer-term plans.
- Carr Workplaces (1750 Tysons Blvd) — prices range from $35 per month for an unreserved seat in a common area to several hundred dollars or more for a reserved office.
- Office Evolution (8609 Westwood Center Dr) — prices range from $349 per month for a dedicated desk to $860 for a private office.
- Source Office Suites (1420 Spring Hill Rd) — prices are unavailable online, but information on available suites can be requested online.
- Intelligent Office (1934 Old Gallows Rd) — price quotes are available online.
Sameride, a rideshare app that connects commuters on the same route, has opened up new lines running through Tysons.
With Sameride, app users can either drive or sign up as passengers along a commuter route. Multiple passengers means free access to HOV / HOT express lanes that would otherwise be tolled. App users input their home or office zip codes and can browse commuting route options.
One line runs from Stafford and Fredericksburg to Tysons. There are commuter lot locations throughout Stafford and Fredericksburg for pickup, while any destination inside Tysons can be selected. According to Samride, riders save an estimated $230 each month on the trip compared to train or bus fares and $1,450 per month in potential tolls compared to driving solo.
The other route runs from Woodbridge to Tysons. Like the first route, there are lot locations throughout Woodbridge for pickup and any destination in Tysons can be selected. Average cost per month for train or bus fare would be $280 or $1,110 in tolled express lanes.
What does the Tysons of 2050 look like?
Tysons 2050, an event hosted by the Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce yesterday at the Tysons Hilton (7920 Jones Branch Drive), brought technology experts across the region together to discuss how trends in cyber-security and AI will impact Tysons.
Rodney Lusk, director of National Marketing for Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, says the County expects 200,000 jobs in the Tysons area and 100,000 residents by 2050.
This growth will continue to spur development, which is well underway in various corners of Tysons. The View, a 3 million-square-foot mixed-use building planned for Tysons, is planned to be 600 feet tall, dwarfing the 470-foot Capital One Tower that currently claims the title of tallest in the region.
As Tysons moves forward, Lusk says there are certain elements beyond just office space and retail needed to make the area more than just a commuter hub. For instance, Lusk said, Tysons will need to have at least two performing arts centers in the area and a research university.
Paul McNeal, the co-founder of CryptoMarket360, said the future Tysons will look like something out of science-fiction.
“If you’ve seen Minority Report or Demolition Man,” said McNeal, “that’s where Tysons is headed in 2050.”
McNeal envisions technology driving Tysons towards a “frictionless society” with interactive ads based on user data and self-driving cars.
But as Tysons moves into the future, one of the main discussions centered on how new technology will also present challenges and opportunities for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).
“The student to teacher ratio is going to be 200 to one,” said George Strawn, former National Science Foundation CIO. “But that’s carbon-based teachers. Everyone will have their own silicon tutor.”
Not everyone who spoke saw the future so starkly different as today.
Tarun Upaday, founder of Gallop.ai, said that the artificial intelligence in classrooms will be used more to complement the teachers rather than replace them. Upaday pointed to the current status of chess championships, where the top teams are not brilliant chess players or supercomputers, but fusions of the two that beat solely computers or solely human teams every time.
Upaday also said the work of Pindar Van Arman, whose machine artists were recently on display at Tysons Corner Center, represented what man and machine can accomplish working in harmony.
Falls Church-based education specialist Tosin Adetoro said artificial intelligence can also be used to support student populations that often fall through the cracks of the education system. In particular, Adetoro said personalized AIs have been found to be very helpful for students on the autism spectrum.
Jay Garant, director of Business and Community Partnerships at FCPS, emphasized that as valuable an asset as AI will be, it can’t replace teachers. As students begin to spend more and more of their lives staring at their phone screens, Garant said schools will be critical in teaching empathy.
“When kids begin to fail, they are more likely to [positively interact] with a human than anything else,” said Garant. “That won’t go away.”
(Updated 12:20 p.m.) Tysons Corner Center’s ice skating rink will not be making a return to the mall this year.
“We are not having the ice rink this year,” said an employee in the mall’s management office. “I don’t know if there will be one somewhere else, but it will not be on mall property.”
A call to the rink’s phone number reaches a voicemail box thanking guests for a successful 2017-2018 season and saying the rink would return in November, which is no longer the case, we’re told.
The rink has been an annual winter activity at the mall for the fast few years, after its debut in 2015. It was even the site of a marriage proposal in 2016.
Becca Willcox, events and communications manager for Tysons Corner Center, confirmed that the rink would not be returning. Willcox said unpredictable weather and wind made it difficult to keep the rink open for a full season.
If you’re looking for other ice skating rinks in the area though, Tysons Reporter has you covered.
Photo via Facebook
The McLean Islamic Center (MIC) will be returning to the Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) on Nov. 14 in an effort to overturn earlier restrictions on worship hours and attendance.
The MIC, the only Islamic center in the Tysons/McLean area, was granted a special permit in 2015 to operate as a house of worship at 8800 Jarrett Valley Dr.
But the authorization also came with restrictions to mitigate the MIC’s impact on the surrounding neighborhood. The MIC was prohibited from having more than ten worshipers at its pre-dawn prayer service and no group worship between 4-7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Since then, the facility and the roads surrounding it have grown. The MIC has expanded the parking lot from 52 to 92 spaces to facilitate a prayer hall with a 200 person capacity. Route 7 has been widened and its turn lanes lengthened.
Now the MIC is hoping the BZA will amend the conditions to allow 24-hour operation of the facility and lift the restriction on parking.
“[The restrictions] are untenable,” said Dr. Sultan Chaudhry, president of the MIC Board of Directors. “We’re not allowed to have more than ten people for morning prayer service. But sometimes 20 or 25 come… we’ve never had more than 40, but you don’t RSVP for the prayer.”
Chaudhry said the number of attendees to morning prayer spikes during holidays or when there’s a death in the community.
“At the end of the day, we have 92 spots,” said Chaudhry. “So telling the eleventh person they can’t park there when we have 92 spaces, is hard.”
But a staff report from Sept. 26 recommended denial of the application pending further documentation on the site’s impact on the surrounding community. According to the staff report:
“Staff’s review determined that the applicant’s request could negatively impact the surrounding neighborhood in terms of noise and light from the parking area, since the possibility of groups arriving at and leaving the Center at all hours of the day could create incidental noise (such as from car alarms, car locking systems, or conversations held outside).”
A noise study, prepared by MIC, is under review by county staff.
The report also noted that concerns had been raised about access to the property from the congested Jarrett Valley Drive/Leesburg Pike intersection. Fairfax County Department of Transportation reviewed the project and said the overall impact on the intersection would be minimal, while the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) analysis is pending.
The Carrington Home Owners Association had been vocal about the concerns for the increased traffic and light pollution issues at the original MIC approval in 2015. The association could not be reached for comment, but concerns about traffic at the site have been an ongoing issue.
Earlier this year, an anonymous complaint was made to the county that there were more than 10 vehicles in the parking lot during a morning prayer service. An investigation by the County found the MIC in violation, after which the MIC suspended its morning prayer service.
But Chaudhry said that neighbors will have to recognize that the surrounding area is growing. Chaudhry pointed to a VDOT study in 2015 that showed that there as an average of 61,000 cars traveling on Route 7 every day even before the road was expanded.
“This is Tysons,” said Chaudhry. “In the last four years, the four tallest buildings [in the region] have been built.”
Recently, there was a death in the MIC community. Chaudhry said when the MIC was helping to plan a prayer service for the family, he was also working to keep the number of mourners low.
“I had to contact the family and tell them not to publicize it on our listserv for fear that we might have more than 80 vehicles show up,” said Chaudhry. “We had a death and our top concern was traffic.”
Photo via Facebook
Vienna’s 72nd Annual Halloween Parade tonight (Wednesday) will haunt Maple Avenue starting at 7 p.m.
The parade starts at the corner of Maple Avenue and Branch Road SE. It will proceed west along the street past a reviewing stand before ending at Center Street S. The streets surrounding Maple Avenue will be closed with traffic redirected along Church Street.
Expect a crowd for the popular, family-friendly parade. Attendees, however, are asked not to place blankets or chairs on the sidewalks, benches, or bus shelters.
Children are invited to walk in the parade in their costumes with no registration required but they must be accompanied by an adult. Those wishing to walk in the parade should meet in the parking lot at United Bank (374 Maple Ave. E).
The parade is also a contest, with participants judged in the following categories:
- Youth bands
- Floats with and without music
- Youth performers
- Antique/classic vehicles
Winners of the costume contest will be recognized by the Vienna Town Council at a meeting in November.
Spectators are asked to keep off the street and monitor any children they might bring. Merchants along Maple Avenue are asked not to put items on the street today and to keep the sidewalks clear so pedestrians can easily walk along the parade route.
For those who have never attended the parade, local realtor Laura Schwartz had a few tips for how to get the most out of the experience.
More from Vienna’s town government on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/138098266212749/posts/2014486968573860
https://www.facebook.com/TownofViennaVA/posts/2013359752019915?__xts__[0]=68.ARDaI9EfUEqJj3C37nDt0PXWzWllaDBbQOq0FtIKYT_5_D269Q9VqhGdurr6LpQCLMjQ4fi5u3fRp_2Gz5s1Cbkwo-kISZSdSpPgXUuVuSYWuseJjN6N3C-ruo7RYZcJvafkWoDIIEz2LiJNPcfDq5RRjKChSNjXjt3X3RmpqK4qLy2ln3yGi2NvHsbsEe5jaQhepdmIYKffRqz92zpQcqGvfOk&__tn__=-R
Auditing giant KPMG LLP will be bringing $30 million dollars and 500 new jobs in a sweeping expansion of its Tysons operations.
KPMG will be moving into seven floors of Boro Tower, part of a massive mixed-use development near the Greensboro Metro station, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced Wednesday morning.
The building, expected to open in early 2019, is a block away from the offices that KPMG currently occupies at 1676 International Drive. That building, in turn, is also set for a substantial renovation.
A $1 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund was approved by Northam as an economic incentive to facilitate the move. Virginia also offered a slew of other incentives, including a Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit for the new full-time jobs coming with the expansion and employee retraining activities provided by the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.
“We’re committed to Fairfax County and are excited about the growth that we’re seeing here in world-class innovation and leading-edge technology — two areas that align with our own core services and strategic approach,” said Jerry Carlson, a KPMG managing partner, in a press release.
The expansion was also facilitated with local help from the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
“KPMG has been a major employer and corporate citizen in Fairfax County for years, and we are delighted to see that the company has chosen the county as a base to expand its audit, tax and advisory business significantly,” said Gerald Gordon, president and CEO of the FCEDA, in a press release. “This coincides with the continued growth and diversification of the county economy and the increasing realization that this is a great draw for the workforce the company wants to attract and retain.”
“This illustrates our strength in the professional services sector that creates so many jobs here, and is a great vote of confidence in the kind of business community that we promote here,” a FCEDA spokesman added.
When Tysons Reporter posted polls on Facebook and on our website last week asking whether Tysons was a fun place to go out at night, the answers were… not great for the area.
Only 6.5 percent of responders at the website said Tysons has an active nightlife, though 56.2 percent said it’s starting to get better. While the “getting better” number is encouraging, the overwhelming lack of satisfaction is a sign that Tysons still has some rough spots to work out as it tries to morph into “America’s Next Great City.”
A notable bright spot, according to several Facebook commenters said, was the Tysons Biergarten.
Commenters described the Biergarten as the kind of casual and affordable late-night activities the area needed more of, so we reached out to Biergarten owner Matt Rofougaran to get his thoughts on the current state of local nightlife and how to make it better.
Rofougaran was a managing partner with Washington, D.C. nightlife hotspots like Ultrabar for years and was eager to move that scene to where he grew up: Tysons. But when the Biergarten started two and a half years ago, Rofougaran said there local nightlife scene was scarce.
“There was none,” said Rofougaran. “You had no real place for nightlife unless you wanted to sit in a bar or restaurant, and that’s not everyone’s scene.”
Rofougaran said the late-night locales in the area catered to specific interests, like the now-closed international hookah bar Babalu and Iris Lounge, which catered to an older, wealthier crowd.
“The difference with Tysons Biergarten was we were aiming for all ages,” said Rofougaran. “You can be 21 or you can be 65. That was our main aim and focus.”
Fast forward to today and Rofougaran says the nightlife scene has hardly improved. Tysons Biergarten and the nearby Greenhouse Bistro are two of the only thriving late-night spots in Tysons, but Rofougaran said their popularity is mainly because they’re one of the few options available, not an indicator of market interest for late-night activities.
“A lot of people leave here,” said Rofougaran. “They’re done with their job at 6:30 or 7 p.m. and they go home. They don’t come back. If they want to go out, they go to Arlington. If we had ten places here open late night, all of them would sink. They would all be empty. There isn’t that crowd of people that want to go out at night in Tysons.”
Andrew Taherzadeh, digital communications manager for Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, reiterated that Greenhouse is a popular hub of activity on Friday or Saturday evenings, but that aside he admitted that local late-night entertainment is sparse.
“Currently nightlife in Tysons is minimal,” said Taherzadeh. “That should change in the upcoming years with new development.”
New late-night options are coming in with developments like The Boro, which will also bring with it more housing — crucial for making Tysons a more vibrant place at night and not just a daytime destination for workers. But Rofougaran says nightlife in Tysons faces an uphill battle against the more entrenched establishments in Arlington and the more lax alcohol laws in Washington, D.C.
“In D.C., you can be open until 3 a.m.,” Rofougaran said. “Here, we do last-call at 1:30 a.m. and our doors are locked and closed by 2 a.m.”
But like Taherzadeh and 56.2 percent of Tysons Reporter’s readership, Rofougaran said it’s going to get better.
“Tysons is heading that way, it’s just not there yet,” said Rofougaran. “In another five years, it’ll be a different story. It just takes time.”
Photo via Facebook
The Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Tysons 2050 event tomorrow (Wednesday) will take a look at the challenges and opportunities that come with the title “America’s Next Great City.”
The second annual event, held at the at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner (7920 Jones Branch Drive), features discussions of emerging social and technological trends with a focus on how they will affect Tysons over the next 30 years.
The opening keynote speakers are Daniel Hoffman, a former station chief with the CIA, and Rodney Lusk, coordinator of the national marketing team for the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.
The event will run from 4-8 p.m. Panels are scheduled to cover issues like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and education, with speakers from both national and local organizations. In addition to panels, an expo will be taking place throughout the event, allowing attendees to try out the futuristic technology.
Registration for Tysons 2050 is $50 for Chamber members and $75 for non-members. Pre-registration for the event closed last night, but on-site registration is available at an additional $10 fee.
Photo via Facebook
