Construction is underway on a new Pottery Barn on a prominent street corner in the Mosaic District.
No signs indicating the store’s identity have been posted yet, but the home furniture company has filed for a commercial alterations permit to renovate the space at 2905 District Avenue, Suite 100.
Visible from Route 29, the store will be in the location previously occupied by Nieman Marcus and then, briefly, GreatGatherings. The suite is 14,879 square feet in size, per Fairfax County’s records for the permit, which is under review.
This will be Pottery Barn’s third store in Fairfax County, joining locations in Tysons Corner Center and Fair Oaks Mall. The business didn’t return multiple requests for comment, so it’s unclear when exactly construction on the Merrifield site will be complete.
Also coming to the Mosaic District are Brilliant Earth — a jewelry store that says it sells ethically sourced diamonds and other gemstones — and Faherty, a family-owned clothing business.
Brilliant Earth will occupy a 2,029-square-foot space at 2905 District Avenue, Suite 105. It will be the company’s first store in Virginia, though there are existing locations in Georgetown, Bethesda and Baltimore.
Founded in 2005 with the goal of fostering “a more transparent, sustainable, and compassionate jewelry industry,” Brilliant Earth was drawn to “the sense of community the Mosiac District is creating,” says Kathryn Money, the senior vice president of merchandising and retail expansion.
“Brilliant Earth uses a data-driven approach to identify new showroom markets and expand our physical retail footprint in existing markets,” Money said by email. “As a digital-first company operating an omnichannel model, we are able to use online data to inform our showroom growth strategy.”
Faherty is on track to open at 2905 District Avenue in Suite 125 early this summer, a spokesperson confirmed.
Started by a Brooklyn-based couple, Faherty highlights its use of “environmentally responsible” fabrics to make “casual and elevated” clothes. Its products are available through some local retailers, including the Nordstrom in Tysons Corner Center, but the Mosaic store will be its first standalone location in Fairfax County.
“The Mosaic District seemed like the perfect place for us to open as we were attracted to the vibrant experience it offers to the community,” Faherty told FFXnow by email. “Mosaic is an innovative shopping environment and we’re excited to expand our retail experience with them.”
With the rise of ride-hailing services, Fairfax County has seen its taxicab fleet whittled down to just one operator.
That operator, Old Dominion Transportation Group (ODTG), hopes to extend the life of its 130-vehicle fleet by asking the county to revise an existing requirement that phases out taxis once they reach 10 years of age or more than 500,000 miles traveled.
The company has requested that the model-year age be raised to 12 or 15 years and that the mileage limit be eliminated.
“ODTG cites the continued struggle with the effects of the pandemic as well as competition from the transportation network companies (TNCs),” county staff said in a report for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. “ODTG also references the different requirements of other surrounding jurisdictions. ODTG believes that it can continue to provide safe, comfortable transportation for their passengers if this request is approved.”
According to county staff, ODTG raised the request on Oct. 11, 2022 after its sole competitor — Alexandria-based White Top Cab — shut down its Fairfax County operations on Sept. 1, returning its 20 taxicab certificates.
ODTG reported that 25 of its vehicles were scheduled to “age out” on Dec. 31, 2022. While it has enough active vehicles to at least temporarily offset the losses, the company says replacing vehicles has become challenging, as the new and used car markets grapple with supply chain issues and fluctuating prices.
Fairfax County and D.C. are the only jurisdictions in the region to impose mileage requirements on their taxi fleets, according to staff.
Following a model already used in Alexandria City and Arlington County, county staff have proposed splitting the requirement into separate tiers for gas-powered and electric or hybrid vehicles:
The 10-year model-age requirement [should] be increased to 12 years for gasoline-only powered non-wheelchair accessible vehicles and 15 years for hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric, and wheelchair accessible vehicles. This proposal provides an incentive for the operators to replace their fleet with non-gasoline powered vehicles. Staff also recommends that the mileage requirement for all vehicles be eliminated.
The report notes that taxis are required to under go state inspections annually during their first six years of operation. Once they hit seven years of age, they’re also inspected every six months by the county’s taxicab inspector.
“Staff believes these inspections are sufficient in lieu of maintaining a mileage requirement,” staff said.
The staff’s recommended code amendment “balances the challenges of the taxicab operators, considers the practice of local jurisdictions, ensures the safety of the riding public, and helps the environment,” the report says.
The Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the proposal around 3:30 p.m. today (Tuesday).
A bus route carrying passengers between western Fairfax County and Tysons on the new I-66 Express Lanes will take effect early next month.
Fairfax Connector will start operating its new Route 660 on Monday, Feb. 6, providing weekday, rush-hour service from the Stone Road Park & Ride in Centreville to the Tysons Metro station, the Fairfax County Department of Transportation announced Friday (Jan. 20).
The route will include stops at the Fairfax County Government Center, the Vienna Metro station and the intersection of Tysons Blvd and Westbranch Drive.
With the addition, the transit agency will eliminate Route 644, which currently connects Centreville and the Sully Government Center to the Vienna Metro on weekdays.
A couple of tweaks to service in the Reston and Herndon area will also go into effect on Saturday, Feb. 4:
- Route 937: Coppermine-Elden-Herndon Metrorail Station — Southbound service on Route 937 will be realigned to serve Coppermine Rd, with a left turn to Frying Pan Rd. Northbound Route 937 remains unchanged.
- Route 951: Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail Station to Innovation Center Metrorail Station — Eastbound service realigned to serve Coppermine Rd, with left turn to Frying Pan Rd. Westbound remains unchanged.
The service changes were approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in September. They’re being implemented slightly later than previously anticipated.
In a report, county staff said the changes are intended “to improve the customer experience and increase ridership through improved connectivity, on-time performance, service reliability, and effectiveness.”
County Lowers Flags After California Mass Shooting — “The U.S., state and county flags are lowered to half-staff today at all county government facilities as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated in Monterey Park, California. The flags will remain at half-staff until sunset on Jan. 26.” [Fairfax County/Twitter]
More Families Join Disability Rights Lawsuit — “Civil rights lawyers have expanded the scope of their class action lawsuit against the Fairfax County School Board and the Virginia Department of Education after more families came forward alleging the state had denied students their federally-mandated special education services.” [DCist]
Contract for New Dulles Terminal Awarded — “The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has awarded a contract to Clark Construction as it moves forward with plans for a new 14-gate regional-jet terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport. ‘We anticipate brearking ground this year,’ Airports Authority CEO Jack Potter said on Jan. 18.” [Sun Gazette]
FCPS Relocates Bus Stop Due to Registered Sex Offender — “Fairfax County Public Schools changed the bus stop location for students in Mount Vernon after a parent raised concerns over its proximity to a registered sex offender…FCPS announced that starting on Tuesday, the new pick-up and drop-off spot will be…about a block away and out of view from the home.” [WUSA9]
Historic Mount Vernon High School Almost Fully Demolished — “The Original Mount Vernon High School’s (OMVHS) ongoing interior demolition and hazardous materials remediation work will likely wrap up this spring, with construction expected to kick off by the end of the year, according to Fairfax County officials. The historic building…will eventually be used for a variety of educational/workforce, recreational, childcare, entrepreneurial and cultural purposes.” [On the MoVe]
Juice Company With Vienna Shop Acquired — “In addition to its existing locations, expect to see Greenheart juice at Wooden Nickel’s establishments, and be on the lookout for new shops elsewhere in Northern Virginia. It’s part of a larger growth plan for Wooden Nickel, which also plans an American eatery at Capital One Center in Tysons.” [Washington Business Journal]
TJ Students Among Winners of NASA Contest — “Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology was among the 60 winning teams chosen by NASA for the second TechRise Student Challenge…These teams will work together to build science and technology experiments in preparation for a suborbital flight test.” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
Most Popular Baby Names in Virginia for 2022 Revealed — “The Office of Vital Records in the Virginia Department of Health has unveiled its list of the Top 15 baby names for children born in the commonwealth in 2022. Topping the list of the most popular names for boys in 2022 was Noah while Charlotte was the most popular for girls.” [Inside NoVA]
Lorton Area House Race Gets New Candidate — “Natalie Shorter…announced her candidacy for the House of Delegates, running for District 19 to represent Prince William and Fairfax Counties. Shorter — a local advocate and mom of two teenage daughters — highlighted protecting abortion rights in her announcement.” [Press Release]
It’s Tuesday — Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 47 and low of 30. Sunrise at 7:22 am and sunset at 5:21 pm. [Weather.gov]
To Betsy May-Salazar, the McLean Community Center (MCC) is a place for making connections.
Funded by a special resident tax district, the facility at 1234 Ingleside Avenue serves a variety of functions, from organizing community events like the annual McLean Day festival to offering educational classes and providing meeting space.
The overarching goal of all those activities is to bring people together, says May-Salazar, MCC’s newest executive director.
“A community center is a place for members of the community to connect, and our vision is to generate inspiration and creativity and connection to McLean and its communities,” she said in a recent interview. “Our goal again is to be a warm, inclusive environment for all, a place for McLean residents who want to learn, play, relax, connect.”
As a longtime McLean resident, May-Salazar’s experience with MCC extends much further back than her a few weeks as executive director, a position she officially assumed on Jan. 3.
In addition to regularly attending performances at the Alden Theater and other cultural events, she says her children were dedicated participants in the center’s summer camps and after-school programs at the Old Firehouse Center when they were young. She has also been involved in PTAs and other groups that meet at MCC.
May-Salazar told FFXnow she’s eager to pair her perspective as a patron of the center with her professional background working at D.C.’s National Building Museum. As the museum’s senior vice president and chief operating officer, she helped manage finances and operations, while also developing programs, such as a summer block party.
“We also positioned ourselves there as a town square, where people could gather and important conversations and dialogue take place,” May-Salazar said. “I think all of this experience is applicable when looking at the community center’s role to provide opportunities for the community to engage with one another.”
After a “whirlwind” of introductions to staff and board members, May-Salazar is set to meet with the full MCC governing board for the first time on Wednesday (Jan. 25). Her initial goal is to review the strategic plan that has been in development since fall 2021 and will be finalized “in the coming months.”
In terms of specific program or event ideas, she says she’s “not walking in the door with preconceived priorities” — a deviation in approach from her predecessor Daniel Singh, whose arrival in the spring of 2021 was accompanied by a full slate of newly announced programs.
May-Salazar noted that she’s joining “at a fortuitous time” after much of the work on the strategic plan has been completed. The document is intended to guide MCC”s priorities and programming for the next five years, a time period that will include the center’s 50th anniversary in 2025.
“I want to learn from the staff and from the board and from the community members about what’s working well and what opportunities we have moving forward,” she said.
Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in Vienna. You can follow Laura on Instagram at @LauraSchwartzRealtor or her Facebook page. Laura can be reached at 703-283-6120 or [email protected].
Oh the dreaded 2-hour early release followed by 2 full days off. I’m here to share some ideas for you to make the most of your days with the kids at home.
First, if you’re looking to outsource child care for a few hours, try one of these camps:
Brian Lonardo, Nothing But Net Sports Camp at Sport and Health:
- Ages 8-14
- $50/day
- 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Sign up here
Hammerzone, Baseball Camp:
- Ages 8-14
- 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
- $85/day
- Sign up here
Educational and Fun Trips:
- Watch National Treasure (the movie from 2004)
- Take a trip the National Archives in D.C. to see the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence, but…
They also have the Super Bowl Trophy on loan from the Kansas City Chiefs, they have a whole exhibit on Title IX, learn why Presidents pitch Opening Day baseballs and other traditions, and more!
Pro Tip: while the museum is free, there can be long wait times to get through security to get in. You can reserve up to 6 tickets to timed-entry and use a different entrance to cut down on your wait time.
Do you have another ideas you’d like to share? Have a business who is offering camps at the (many) breaks coming up? Please email me!
The preceding sponsored post was also published on FFXnow.com
The Mather is now as tall as it’s ever going to get.
The apartment high-rise buildings for adults 62 and older “topped off” earlier this month, less than a year after beginning vertical construction.
Workers poured a final round of concrete onto the roofs of the two towers on Jan. 10, the nonprofit senior living developer behind the project, Mather, announced that day.
The buildings now reach 308 feet or 27 stories above ground at 7929 Westpark Drive in Tysons.
“General Contractor Whiting Turner estimates the project includes more than 50,000 cubic yards of concrete and represents almost 700,000 workforce hours to date, a number made even more significant considering the pandemic,” Mather said in the media advisory.
The Mather consists of two phases. The first phase, a 27-story high-rise, will have 179 apartment units, while the second 18-story high-rise will have 114 apartments.
The apartment homes range in size from 850 to 3,300 square feet, and entrance fees start at $646,700. Prices are dependent upon apartment size, location, service package, and health plan selected. The buildings will be connected at the third through fifth floors. Third-floor amenity spaces include a fitness center, spa, indoor pool, multiple restaurants, outdoor terraces, art studio, and more. The fourth and fifth floors will be home to a Life Centre with 16 assisted living apartment homes, 20 memory care suites, and 42 private skilled nursing suites.
The complex will also have 14,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, including a publicly accessible community center devoted to people 50 and older. The center is a “unique collaboration” with Fairfax County, according to Mather.
On track for a move-in date in 2024, The Mather is among six buildings currently under construction in Tysons, according to Fairfax County’s Tysons Tracker. One building — The Brentford apartments at The Mile — was completed in December, after the tracker was last updated.
The Monarch, a condominium building that’s part of the same Arbor Row development as The Mather, is expected to finish construction this spring. The units are 70% sold, and move-ins are scheduled to start in April and May, a public relations representative for developer Renaissance Centro said.
Other projects being built in Tysons include The Boro’s expansion and the Heming apartments in Scotts Run.
All that construction will add 3.2 million square feet of development in Tysons, including a total of 1,613 housing units, nearly 900,000 square feet of office space, and over 123,000 square feet of retail.
A new set of bills before the General Assembly would allow a casino to be built somewhere along the Silver Line corridor, Washington Business Journal first reported.
The casino could be placed somewhere around Tysons, the Reston Town Center or Herndon based on the stipulations of the proposed legislation, which would allow a casino in an urban county with at least 1 million residents.
Legislatively speaking, the casino isn’t a sure bet. It’s got a long way to go before it’s a reality, as it would still need to be approved by the Board of Supervisors and a ballot referendum.
The proposal comes amid a rush of new legislation around gambling, with several types being recently legalized over recent years. New casinos are planned in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Danville and Bristol.
The legislature is also looking at some ways to offer additional support for those suffering from a gambling addiction.
Man Fatally Stabbed in McLean Had Just Retired — “Alan Miller Kaufmann was just days into retirement from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development but was eagerly embracing post-work life. He wrote in an email to his sister that he had pored through six books, called old friends and watched a lot of sports…The day after Lauren Kaufmann read her brother’s email, Fairfax County police found Alan Kaufmann, 68, dead from a stab wound at his home in McLean” [The Washington Post]
Tim Kaine Will Seek Reelection in Senate — “Sen. Tim Kaine announced Friday that he will seek a third Senate term next year, a boost for Democrats who face a tough map in 2024. The 2016 vice presidential nominee’s decision follows months of suspense and rumors of a potential retirement.” [Politico]
Jury Sides With Police in Sex Trafficking Lawsuit — “A woman from Costa Rica who sued a former Fairfax County police chief and three former officers, alleging that they conspired with a sex-trafficking ring in Northern Virginia, was unable to convince a jury to support her claims.” [The Washington Post]
Contact Sports Reportedly Banned at Mantua ES — “Mantua Elementary School in Fairfax County has temporarily banned contact sports at recess, according to a letter sent to parents Friday…Principal Linda Shannon cited increasing conflict, injury, and poor sportsmanship as reasons for the change, and said the school is working to find ways to conduct the sports safely.” [ABC7]
FCPS Superintendent Addresses Merit Commendations — “This is not a war on merit, nor was it a concerted system-wide effort to deny recognition to these students. I sincerely believe the current antiquated process of how the certificates are provided to individual schools across the nation, and the absence of an FCPS system-wide approach to timely notification, contributed to the inconsistencies in the notification process and recognition of student achievements.” [Dr. Michelle Reid/FCPS]
Amazon Web Services Plans Big Data Center Expansion — “Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company (NASDAQ: AMZN), plans to invest $35 billion by 2040 to establish multiple data center campuses across Virginia…This announcement of planned investment will create at least 1,000 total new jobs across Virginia.” [Office of the Governor/ARLnow]
Tysons-Based Capital One Plans Layoffs — “McLean consumer-lending giant Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) is eliminating hundreds of technology jobs, according to multiple reports. More than 1,100 employees are impacted, according to Bloomberg, which was the first to report on the cuts.” [Washington Business Journal]
Mount Vernon Will Be Featured on PBS — “The Mount Vernon area will be featured on the next episode of WETA’s ‘If You Lived Here’ series, scheduled to air Monday, Jan. 23 at 9 p.m. The popular house-hunting and neighborhood history show…is hosted by John Begeny and Christine Louise, who spotlight various neighborhoods in the Washington, D.C. metro area while accompanied by a realtor.” [On the MoVe]
Vienna Church Seeks Volunteers for Shelter — “During the winter season, rotating faith community sites in Fairfax County typically host the hypothermia program, which provides overnight shelter and food to the homeless. Vienna Presbyterian Church is scheduled to host the hypothermia program from Jan. 29 to Feb. 12 and is seeking volunteers and donations.” [Patch]
It’s Monday — Light rain in the morning. High of 46 and low of 38. Sunrise at 7:23 am and sunset at 5:20 pm. [Weather.gov]
A Town of Vienna employee returned to work after the holiday weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. Day to find a pungent surprise in his vehicle.
“An employee reported someone entered his unlocked work truck and put dog feces on the steering wheel,” the Vienna Police Department said in its crime report for the week of Jan. 13-19.
Published today (Friday), the report says that the incident — which has been classified as vehicle tampering — occurred at Vienna Town Hall (127 Center Street South) sometime between 5 p.m. on Jan. 13 and 10 a.m. Tuesday (Jan. 17).
Other notable incidents from the report include a Cedar Lane School student in distress running into traffic:
Emotionally Disturbed Person 23-000333
Cedar Lane School
101 Cedar Lane, SE
January 12 8:46 a.m.
School administration reported a juvenile was in their office acting disorderly. When officers arrived, the juvenile fled from the office and ran out onto Cedar Lane where she continued to act disorderly, obstructing traffic and causing a hazard to herself and the officers. MPO Tremont arrested the juvenile on an Emergency Care Order and transported her to a mental health facility for evaluation and treatment.
In addition, Vienna police responded to the 200 block of Locust Street SE at 7:39 a.m. last Friday (Jan. 13) after “a resident reported he received an email in 2020 he believed might be threatening.”
Photo via Vienna Police Department/Facebook
