Agora, a Mediterranean restaurant in D.C., won’t be opening its new Tysons location until December or possibly January.

The restaurant, which specializes in cuisine from Turkey, Lebanon and Greece, will be moving into the ground floor of Nouvelle, a 26-story apartment complex at 7911 Westpark Dr. near Tysons II.

“Finding space for Agora that supports and drives their business strategy was most important during the site selection process,” said Oyku Hanna, vice president of brokerage agency Veritage Commercial, which represented Agora, in a press release. “Nouvelle in Tysons is a great fit for Agora and I look forward to seeing their continued success at this location.”

According to a restaurant employee, the new location will most likely be opening at some point this winter. The employee said the restaurant owners were hoping to open it sooner but are still in the process of licensing and permitting.

When the permits are approved, the 3,500 square-foot restaurant will bring to Tysons largely the same Mediterranean small plates and cocktails from its trendy Dupont Circle location.

The MPAartfest is returning to McLean Central Park this Sunday (Oct. 7) from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

The art show and sale will feature work from nearly 40 visual artists in a variety of media and styles, including woodturning, jewelry and ironwork.

Mini-art galleries will be set up throughout the park featuring artwork and food from local restaurants. The MPAartfest will also feature live music from various genres and educational activities for children.

MPAartfest is an annual event hosted by the McLean Project for the Arts (MPA), attracting an average of 5,000-6,000 visitors each year. This will be MPAartfest’s 12th year.

Admission to the festival is free. Parking will be available at “signed lots throughout McLean” with shuttles running to the MPAartfest.

Photo via McLean Project for the Arts

The application for a controversial redevelopment on Maple Avenue will be coming back to the Vienna Town Council later this week.

On paper, the rezoning application for 430, 440 and 444 Maple Ave. W. is a simple redevelopment issue, but over the last months the application has ignited questions about how Vienna adapts to a marketplace swiftly leaving it behind.

On Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m., project developer Vienna Development Associates LLC will return to the town hall for a work session to try to convince Vienna the project is right for Maple Avenue.

The site is currently occupied by the Vienna Wolf Trap Hotel, but the developer hopes to convince the Vienna Town Council to approve rezoning of the site to let them build a new four-story mixed use development. The project would have 160 multi-family residential units and 22,000 square feet of retail space.

The project attracted controversy in the community from the start, with 53 residents speaking mostly against the project at a July 9 public hearing on the project. The Vienna Town Council received 99 written comments by the time the comment period closed in August.

Many of these comments expressed concerns about the validity of traffic studies paid for by the developer. The traffic studies showed that the project would not have more of a traffic impact on Maple Avenue than any development not-requiring rezoning approval would have.

But public comments and emails to the council said citizens were still concerned the new development would add to the congestion at an already busy intersection and make traffic worse in close proximity to two nearby schools.

A third-party review initiated by Vienna Town Council staff verified the findings of the initial traffic studies, but Vienna Development Associates LLC deferred its application at the Aug. 20 Town Council meeting to take into account feedback from the council and from public comments.

Now, the developer has said the traffic concerns about the project have been addressed. Along with a series of project changes that the company says will reduce residential traffic by 25 percent, the developer has identified several transportation improvements that it hopes will make the project more palatable, including:

• Extending turn lanes on the nearby Nutley Street and Maple Avenue
• Widening the Maple Avenue exit to allow right and left turn lanes
• Pedestrian and bus stop improvements
• A shuttle running from the site to the Metro

But transportation concerns are only one part of the opposition to the project. For many who oppose the project, the development is too large and out of character for the small-town feel of Vienna.

“If we’re going to have a project there, this one is not ready for primetime,” said Councilmember Howard Springsteen at the August meeting. “I think the developer has done a horrible [public relations] job and has created a firestorm of concerns around town. This is probably one of the most divisive things that has come to this town in 20 years.”

In addition to traffic concerns, Springsteen said he and many Vienna residents were concerned that the building was too large and lacked substantial green space.

“People are upset about this around town,” said Springsteen. “Some are in favor, but the majority are opposed. This project needs to be reworked.”

But for others on the Vienna Town Council there are concerns that pushback on projects like the mixed-use development on Maple Avenue will lead to developers passing Vienna by. While residents are concerned about Vienna losing its unique small town character as more of its neighbors become rapidly urbanized, Maple Avenue is plagued with chronic vacancies.

Nearly every block on Maple Avenue has a vacancy of some kind. Traveling west on Maple Avenue, Vienna starts to look like a ghost town. Some whole blocks, like the former Marco Polo Restaurant at 245 Maple Ave., are completely abandoned and showing signs of overgrowth.

“Maple Avenue is a terrific location, but there are concerns with vacancies and commercial corridor perception,” said Councilmember Carey Sienicki. “Relying on the traditional model of neighborhoods separated from strip malls may no longer be justifiable to meet those needs. It’s important to see the benefits of mixed use options.”

Sienicki said that she believed that the additional height of the building won’t negatively impact the character of the town.

“There has been a citizen insurgency precipitated from what has happened in surrounding jurisdictions,” said Sienicki. “Town must react to those external concerns for Vienna. We are not looking to be like other jurisdictions. We are Vienna.”

Concept renderings via Vienna Development Associates LLC. Hotel photo via Vienna Wolf Trap Hotel.

(Updated at 4:50) –Archontiko is bringing modern Greek dining to McLean.

Restaurant owner Theodoros “Ted” Theodorou said Archontiko, located at 1313 Old Chain Bridge Rd., will feature a variety of modern Greek cuisine beyond the traditional fare. One point of pride for Theodorou is that every few days, the restaurant will receive a new shipment of fish brought fresh from the Mediterranean.

Theodorou is no stranger to opening restaurants in Northern Virginia — he owns Delia’s Pizzeria and Mediterranean Grille in Alexandria and restaurants in Sterling and Springfield — but he says Archontiko is specifically tailored to suit the McLean community.

“We wanted to open here because of the area and the people that live here,” said Theodorou. “The prices are very moderate. We’re not going to charge $40 for fish. It will be what people here will be able to afford.”

Construction is ongoing inside the restaurant. The location had previously been Evo Bistro, also a Mediterranean restaurant. The interior is being completely refurbished and redecorated, the walls adorned with scenes depicting Greek ruins.

Theodorou says the restaurant is aiming for a mid-November opening.

This Saturday (Oct. 6), Vienna will kick off its 11th annual Oktoberfest.

The festival will run from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. along Church St. in Vienna. Admission to the Oktoberfest is free, with a variety of food and alcohol vendors set up along the street.

Beer will be available from the Caboose beer garden, with wine offered at Vienna Vintner. Food will be sold at a German food beer garden and elsewhere.

Three stages will be set up across the Oktoberfest hosting entertainment like live German music and children’s shows.

Leashed dogs are allowed at the Oktoberfest as well, but owners should be aware that the crowds can be large and loud. Average Oktoberfest attendance ranges from 25,000-35,000 people.

There is no festival-specific parking lots. A shuttle will run to the festival from the Vienna Metro station and Madison High School.

Image via Facebook

(Updated at 4:30) — The Boro, a mixed-use complex being built near the Greensboro Metro station, has topped out.

Caroline Flax, senior analyst for site developer The Meridian Group, said the complex is as tall as it’s going to get, so it’s time for a review of the project and where it stands.

The project is broken into five lettered sections filling the block southeast of the Leesburg Pike and Westpark Drive intersection. The area is just west of the Tysons Galleria mall.

Furthest along is Block C, a grouping of two major buildings and a much smaller kiosk. A third building has been approved for the block but has not begun construction. The largest occupants of Block C are the Showplace ICON movie theater and a 437,000 square-foot office building. The kiosk in the one acre park will be where Bluestone Lane, an Australian-inspired coffee chain, will be opening their first Virginia location.

Flax said this side of the project is expected to be completed by the end of this year. In the first two quarters of 2019, Tysons Reporter was told, the office tenants will begin to move into Block C.

Meanwhile, to the northwest of Block C, the skeleton of Block A has been completed. Block A is the primarily residential area of the complex. In August, Flax said the tall towers of Block A, the 27-story apartment “Rise” tower and the 25-story luxury condominium “Verse” tower, had all of their floors poured into place. Work is now beginning on the facades and the interior of the buildings.

A 69,000 square-foot Whole Foods will occupy the base of the northern point of Block A, at the corner of Greensboro Drive and Westpark Drive.

Block B of the project, southwest of Block A, is The Loft. At five-stories tall, The Loft dwarfed by its northern residential neighbors. But the 77,000 square-foot building will stretch along the length of the new street Boro Place and hold two floors of retail and three stories of offices above that.

“Boro Place is the retail spine of The Boro,” said Flax.

Several restaurants are already signed to move into Blocks A and B, including:

• Fish Taco, a DC based taco chain
• Tasty Kabob, the first brick-and-mortar location for a popular local food truck
• Flower Child, a fast-casual restaurant specializing in healthy food
• North Italia, an Italian restaurant specializing in handmade pizzas and pasta
• Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a national smoothie chain

Taylor Gourmet had been signed to move into the area as well, but the chain filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy at the end of September and closed all locations. Flax said no decision on a new occupant has been finalized but that there are several prospects for the location under consideration.

Olympian Eli Bremer, a bronze medalist pentathlete, is coming to Tysons Sport and Health (8250 Greensboro Drive) for a talk.

Tomorrow (Saturday), Bremer will host a discussion on health and athletic performance. Bremer, who competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will look at incorporating diet, exercise and nutrition into a healthy routine.

Tickets are $25 apiece and seating is limited. Tickets are available online and will not be sold at the door.

The event runs from 6-8 p.m.

Blesssed, a store specializing in high-end shoes, has moved from Fair Oaks Mall to Tysons Corner Center.

The store opened on Sept. 16 on the mall’s second level, next to the H&M. Prices range from the $200 Nike Air Max 98 Exotic Skin to items like the $5,000 Nike Air Yeezy 2 Solar Red.

Blesssed also appraises and buys items for resale.

“If you have product such as shoes, accessories or apparel that you want to sell and turn into cash, bring it to us and we will appraise it and determine what we can offer as a cash offer or as a shuffle credit towards anything available in-store,” says the store’s website.

Police say a woman in Falls Church was physically assaulted during a robbery.

The 74-year old woman was reportedly walking through the Kingsley Commons Townhouses on her way home around 12:50 a.m. on Wednesday (Sept. 26) morning when a man approached her.

The woman told police the man, who she didn’t recognize, punched her in the face and stole her purse. The woman was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Photo via Google Maps

What is McLean?

A common theme at last night’s (Thursday) open house for the McLean Community Business Center (CBC) Planning Study is that McLean is a community without a sense of identity. The CBC is as close as McLean has to a downtown, but it’s one whose core has more gas stations than coffee shops.

The CBC Planning Study is an effort to change that and transform downtown McLean into something residents could be proud of and hopefully kickstart economic revitalization in the area. The CBC Plan would act as an update to the 20-year-old Comprehensive Plan for McLean.

Last night was the CBC Planning Study’s first open house and focused on collecting input from citizens.

McLean exists on the periphery of the hustle and bustle of Tysons, feeling more like a village than a city. At the meeting inside the McLean High School cafeteria, the few dozen attendees mostly knew each other and many have been to earlier CBC planning meetings. But unlike other Northern Virginia communities like Arlington or Falls Church, citizens of McLean say there’s no feeling of a central community.

“I would like McLean to have a sense of place,” said local resident Nancy McFalls. “I want to go here and feel like there is a downtown. Nothing crazy big, not a megalopolis, but it would be cool if it felt like a more organic downtown area.”

McFalls, like many other nearby residents, said she wants the area to be more walkable.

“I drive to the Giant, then I get in my car and drive across the street to the Total Wine,” said McFalls. “It’s not far, but I don’t want to be hit by a car crossing the road.”

As McFalls started talking about her vision for a more pedestrian- and park-friendly downtown McLean, friends joined in and referenced the Italian tradition of “la passeggiata,” the art of a social walk in the evenings. McFalls agreed, saying they hope for a more European-style downtown where residents can mingle and enjoy the local park.

“Currently, McLean is a place where you run errands,” said Kim Dorgan, a local resident and chair of the McLean CBC Study Task Force. “I would like McLean to have more of a village feeling, something distinct from the high rises in Tysons.”

Rob Jackson, chair of the McLean Citizens Association’s Planning and Zoning Committee, echoed sentiments from Supervisor John Foust in saying that the area will also have to contend with the ever-swelling plague of traffic coming to and from Tysons through McLean.

Colin Greene, senior director of planning for project consultant Streetsense, said that over the next five years McLean is projected to have 80,000 square feet of retail developed, though much of this would be replacing existing retail locations. Over ten years, Greene said McLean should expect an additional 40,000 square feet of retail to be built in the area.

Greene also noted that residential growth in McLean is expected to rise, with 900 total units projected to be built in the area over the next ten years. Most of these, Greene said, will be apartment buildings.

But Bill Frazer, a local resident, said he was concerned that the plans and projections didn’t take into account the intentions of the people who own much of the land in downtown McLean.

“There are people here who own a significant amount of property,” said Frazer. “So all that talk about new office space and such going in there won’t happen without those property owners.”

Katrina Newtson from the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning said the task force is comprised of several landowners and is working on pulling all of the major stakeholders in McLean into the process.

Input on the CBC Planning Study will be collected until Nov. 15. The next open house will be held on Nov. 8 from 7-9 p.m. in the McLean High School cafeteria.

The CBC Planning Study meets through early spring to draft a plan for downtown McLean. In late 2019 or early 2020, the final vision plan will be sent to the Board of Supervisors for adoption.