As Tysons continues to urbanize, the Meridian Group’s planned extension of The Boro may bring new locations for Silverstone Senior Living and Life Time Fitness.

Silverstone Senior Living, which is headquartered in Texas and has an office in Tysons, wants to put in a continuing care facility near Westpark Drive and Greensboro Drive, according to county documentation. The living facility would include 200 senior living units and 53,000 square feet for memory care and assisted living services.

“The applicant’s objective is to provide seniors with state of the art facilities and residential offerings with appropriate levels of care and service to meet their health needs,” the application said.

The building would occupy one of the areas in Meridian Group’s proposed mixed-use redevelopment of the National Automobile Dealers Association site. 

In addition to the senior living facility, the redevelopment wants to include residential units, retail space and an urban park, according to county documents.

The rezoning application for the senior living facility is currently being reviewed by Fairfax County, according to Lynne Strobel, the attorney representing the project. “We have filed a final development plan in conjunction with the rezoning,” she said.

Along with the senior care facility, there is also a possibility that a Life Time Fitness facility might open as well, Strobel said.

Photo courtesy Hilde Kahn

It might look like another shuttered business, but the former Container Store building in Tysons has come in handy for Fairfax County recently.

The county bought the site (8508 Leesburg Pike) near the Spring Hill Metro station in late 2019 after the Container Store relocated to 8459 Leesburg Pike in 2018.

A few months later, the county’s Department of Economic Initiatives revealed it would use the 19,000-square-foot building for its inaugural pilot “Activate Fairfax: 8508 Uncontained” to support small businesses. While the project faces delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, the county has taken advantage of the vacant space for personal protective equipment (PPE), Rebecca Moudry with Fairfax County said.

“It’s actually been a bit of a silver lining having that space because it has been housing PPE equipment for the county and other supplies — serving as a kind of like other storage needs in this time,” Moudry, who is the director of the Department of Economic Initiatives, said.

The county’s Department of Procurement and Material Management started using the space for PPE storage a few months ago, and now is storing not just PPE but also library holdings, Moudry said.

“From what I understand, PPE is being received and deployed daily, and so the library holdings are more static,” Moudry said. “The PPE has been largely moved to the logistics center just to get it in and out in an easier way than at the Container Store.”

While it’s temporarily getting used to help the county combat the coronavirus pandemic, the pop-up plans for the building are still in the works, Moudry said.

After applications for pop-up ideas closed in April, a steering committee reviewed the proposals and eventually narrowed it down to one applicant, Moudry said. Currently, the county is negotiating with that applicant and working on a feasibility study.

While it’s one applicant, the building — and possibly its parking spaces — may or may get used in several different ways.

“We were always looking for an operator that we could potentially move into a lease with, so that operator could engage multiple partners and multiple uses certainly, and I think that came through in the responses,” Moudry said.

Originally, Moudry said the goal was to get the pop-up operator in the space by this fall. That timeframe will likely get pushed due to COVID-19 delays — Moudry’s department pivoted earlier this year to providing resources to small businesses, like launching the microloan and Fairfax Rise grant programs.

“Small businesses have been hit extremely hard over the last number of months and we are still in the pandemic,” Moudry said.

But the pandemic hasn’t stopped the “8508 Uncontained” project, which Moudry said relies on the Made in Fairfax network and small businesses in the area to be successful.

“Those producers need to be around,” Moudry said. “We need to find ways to help them continue in existence or be prepared to come back with the economy. So that’s really been our focus.”

After noticing gender inequalities in STEM classes and extracurricular activities, the founders of Girls Who Math decided to intervene by setting up a tutoring service for girls and young women.

A free platform created in 2019, the program works by matching mentees with volunteers who have certain areas of expertise, Cynthia Wang, a founding member and the current director at Girls Who Math, said.

Wang is currently a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and lives in Falls Church. She is a part of the five-person team, which includes a Longfellow Middle School alumnus and a McLean High School student.

The program’s tutors currently help more than 700 students around the world with material for grades K-12 including computer coding, math classes and chemistry, the website said.

Girls Who Math offers more than tutoring — the program regularly hosts seminars that help girls with things like college admissions, Wang said, adding that they try to educate people on other free resources available.

Since the beginning of COVID-19, Wang said that the program has increased in popularity and many families are taking advantage of the service since kids are struggling to adapt to online classrooms.

Despite the group’s growth, Wang said that there are underlying problems beyond a demand for tutoring that need to be addressed. Before the program’s founding, she had been offering casual tutoring services to her peers and began to notice some problematic trends.

“I thought there was a discorporate amount of girls [who sought out tutoring],” she said, adding that she later learned this was because they felt uncomfortable asking questions during class because they would be unfairly judged by their peers.

It turned out that the problems didn’t end there. She also said that she noticed what could be labeled as sexism in other areas of academia as well — noting examples of when she sometimes felt unwelcome at clubs in middle school because the coaches would unjustly assume based on her gender alone that she didn’t have the skills to succeed or the ability to learn.

“It made something click in my mind,” she said.

Though Wang is still often the only girl in many of her clubs and extracurriculars, she hopes that Girls Who Math will empower young women across the globe and close the gender inequality gaps.

Anyone interested in getting involved with Girls Who Math can sign up online to become a volunteer or mentee.

Photo by Jerry Wang on Unsplash

BrandBox has been vacant since early spring, but that’s about to change for the pop-up focused space in Tysons Corner Center.

Located on the first level near Barnes and Noble, BrandBox targets digitally native brands for short-term leases often ranging from six months to a year. If they like the brick and mortar storefront, BrandBox works with the tenants to help them find a permanent spot in the mall.

“Needless to say, with the fate of retail as a whole up in the air due to Covid, especially in an indoor shopping center and people’s varying comfort levels,” Becca Willcox, BrandBox’s senior manager of product and brand success, told Tysons Reporter. “We are taking things slowly.”

BrandBox will soon welcome Tailor on Tap this month. Started by four college students, the business serves as personal stylists with custom high-end clothing for men and women.

“In a world where anyone can buy the same mass-produced outfit from a brick & mortar retail store, Tailor On Tap makes it possible for you to create and elevate your unique style,” according to Tailor on Tap’s website.

Willcox said that BrandBox will be the first store for the Tailor on Tap. “Along with tailored pieces, they will have some ready-to-wear items as well — perfect for those returning to the office, on virtual calls and meetings or just wanting to look great in their everyday dealings,” she said.

Willcox said that BrandBox has been vacant since leases for three brands expired in the early spring.

In the past, BrandBox at Tysons Corner Center has served as a temporary home for Nectar, Peloton, Seletti, Chubbies and Gilly Hicks.

The coronavirus pandemic has upended the retail industry. Even with widespread inventory challenges and legacy stores suffering, Willcox said that BrandBox’s ability to pivot quickly, flexibility and creativity keep it going.

BrandBox’s strategy — helping young, online brands with physical retail space through flexible leases — has remained the same through the pandemic, Willcox said.

“This formula actually makes BrandBox the perfect option for post-Covid store openings, even in unpredictable times,” she said.

FCPS Town Hall Tonight — “Join FCPS Superintendent Scott S. Brabrand for another opportunity to ask questions and provide your thoughts on Wednesday, September 2, from 6 to 7 p.m. The focus for this Town Hall will be resources for parents, including technology and other supports.” [FCPS]

Fired Capitals Head Coach Selling Local Mansion — “It’s barely been a week since the Capitals fired head coach Todd Reirden, but his Falls Church mansion is already on the market. The six-bedroom, eight-bathroom house sits on 2.3 acres, and was listed Monday for $2,250,000 by Keller Williams agent Jordan Stuart.” [Washingtonian]

Tysons Galleria Debt — “The owner of the high-end Tysons Galleria mall said it plans to avoid defaulting on $282 million in debt slated to mature Tuesday as the owners of retail centers across the nation continue to struggle amid the coronavirus pandemic.” [Washington Business Journal]

Push for Vienna Police Reform — “In June, Sam Ressin read the news reports of protests against racism and police brutality in Minneapolis. Then he looked at his own community of Vienna, in Fairfax County.” [DCist]

Photo by Michelle Goldchain

Northern Virginia community leaders are looking for affordable housing solutions as the Silver Line expansion gears up to bring more people to local urbanized areas.

The Dulles Chamber of Commerce brought together representatives from Fairfax and Loudoun counties to talk about what the expansion means for the future of affordable housing at a public meeting yesterday evening. The conversation focused on roadblocks to construction, current demand for units, land-use policies and who needs subsidized housing.

The Silver Line extension is expected to be completed in 2021 and will run from Fairfax County into Loudoun County.

But, the cost of living is not sustainable for lower-income people working in the area, according to Tom Fleetwood, the director of Housing and Community Development for Fairfax County. The average income only increased by 10% while the cost of housing increased by 17% from 2010-2015 in Fairfax County.

Fairfax County will require at least 15,000 new affordable housing units in the next 15 years to support families earning 60% of the median income and below, according to Fleetwood.

Currently, there are 30,000 low-income renters in Fairfax County that are paying more than one-third of their income on housing. “This means that they’re what we call a ‘cost-burden’ and that they have less money to contribute to our economy,” he said.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, four minimum wage jobs are needed in order to afford the average apartment in the county.

Once the Metro extension project is complete, the housing disparity is only expected to grow.

In Tysons and Reston specifically, Fleetwood said that the biggest challenge is the limited availability of land for affordable housing projects. To combat this, updated inclusionary zoning policies have been a large help in rethinking how space is used, he said.

“Visionary zoning policies have produced a substantial number of below-market units that are serving working families in Tysons and in Reston,” Fleetwood said but didn’t volunteer a specific number.

Stephen Wilson, the president of SCG Development, which has an office in Tysons, offered examples at the meeting of how his company has worked around small parcels of open land.

At Ovation at Arrowbrook in Herndon, SCG Development is branching out and working with community planners to incorporate affordable housing close to stations like Innovation Center.

“Land is a precious commodity everywhere, but particularly around high-density areas,” he said.

Image courtesy Fairfax County

Although Halloween in Vienna will look a little different this year, COVID-19 isn’t stopping the town from holding socially-distanced fall festivities. 

Currently, the town is collecting donations for “Halloween in a Bag” until Oct. 1. The collection, based on their “4th of July in a Box” over the summer, will deliver 750 bags with enough supplies for two kids per household to celebrate Halloween from home.

The bag will include a pumpkin decorating kit, Halloween candy and treats, festive crafts, recipes and activities, vampire teeth and an assortment of Halloween fun, according to the Vienna Voice. Bags are $20 each.

Then, the Vienna Business Association and the Town of Vienna will host Distanz Oktoberfest — a twist on the usual Oktoberfest celebration — from Oct. 2-4.

The celebration will feature various festivals that fall into four different categories: Festival Food, Beer & Wine, Market Platz/Retail and Business Expo/Professionals. 

On Oct. 31, the town will host the “Halloween Wave Parade.” At 10 a.m., locals can expect 10-15 floats to travel through the four quadrants of Vienna. 

The parade is looking for more sponsors — businesses can apply to be a sponsor on the VBA website. Sponsors will have their logos displayed as the parade moves across town.

Photo by David Menidrey/Unsplash

Restaurants and businesses in the Town of Vienna can take advantage of outside spaces for the next seven months.

Last night, the Vienna Town Council voted to extend a temporary waiver on commercial activity outside in hopes of helping local businesses stay open during the coronavirus pandemic.

Businesses are utilizing parking lots and sidewalks in hopes of attracting more customers as they operate under state and local rules capacity restrictions and social distancing guidelines. As the pandemic continues, customers are gauging how safe they feel inside or outside — with some people opting to limit their time inside businesses.

“We have got to do this to keep our businesses going,” Councilmember Howard Springsteen said.

The Vienna Town Council first approved the emergency ordinance on June 1 and then readopted it on June 15. Before the town officials voted last night, the temporary waiver was set to last until Sept. 30.

Now, town businesses will have until March 31, 2021 to apply for and use temporary emergency outdoor commercial activity permits, which Town Manager Mercury Payton authorizes. Payton can also waive regulations for signage and conditional use permits for outdoor dining activities.

After Councilmember Nisha Patel pushed the town to consider a similar waiver for non-commercial zones, Colbert suggested calling for an emergency session on Friday for the Vienna Town Council to consider the proposal.

Patel said that she knows of private schools that would like to use outdoor space for teaching. “If you can get the kids out of the classroom and out into the open air, I think is safer in general,” Patel said.

Photo via Vienna Business Association/Facebook

The Town of Vienna announced plans to buy the Faith Baptist Church — and now wants residents’ input on what to do with the property.

The Vienna Town Council last night (Monday) approved buying the 3-acre property at 301 Center Street S. for $5.5 million after councilmembers lauded the upcoming acquisition as a long-term benefit to the community.

Councilmember Chuck Anderson called the purchase a “once in a lifetime opportunity,” saying that the church is in the core governmental area of Vienna.

“Center Street is literally in the center of town,” Mayor Linda Colbert said.

Town Attorney Steve Briglia said that the church — a “vital and established part of the town for many, many years” — started internal discussions about changing its mission and possibly selling the property a few years ago.

Previous Town Councils were interested in buying the property, but the church wasn’t ready to sell it, Briglia said. The town is scheduled to close on the property on Sept. 18, using funds from the general obligation bonds issued earlier this year for the purchase, according to a press release from the town.

The town plans to rent the space to the church while the church makes its transitions.

“I’m sure it’s bittersweet whenever a house of faith decides to move into a new way of operating and I certainly wish them the best of success in the future,” Anderson said.

In the short-term, the town is looking to temporarily relocate the police department to the church for one to two years while the new station is under construction.

Police Chief Jim Morris said that the church — instead of the originally planned relocation to the town’s Beulah Road property, will allow the police station to have business hours. “People can come in and we’ll still remain in the community in the heart of all of the activity,” Morris said.

How the property will get used in the long-term is still to be determined. The building includes classrooms, a sanctuary and a full-size gym, Briglia said.

Councilmember Nisha Patel urged residents to share their ideas for how the property can get used. “It’s your property, and as town residents, I really hope you guys provide us with feedback about you’d like to see go into that space eventually and after its temporary use,” Patel said.

Colbert said that the town will do a feasibility study to help figure out how the property can get used. The Vienna Town Council will also start discussing the options during its Capital Improvement Plan work session on Sept. 21, according to the press release.

Image via Google Maps

As fall and winter approach, medical professionals are urging people not to skip their annual flu shot this year, as a spike in the flu could cause unnecessary hospitalizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doctors worry that people forgoing their flu shot this year could have detrimental effects on the healthcare system by potentially overwhelming hospitals, USA Today reported.

People who received their annual flu shot in a 2018 study were 82% less likely to be admitted to the ICU for potentially life-threatening symptoms, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on the website.

Since some medical professionals are worried that this upcoming winter could see a spike in COVID-19 cases — as it will be harder for people to gather outdoors while socially distancing — doctors want to keep unnecessary hospitalizations low.

People six months and older can receive a dose of the flu vaccine annually, the CDC said, adding that people can either opt for the shot or the nasal spray.

Lots of clinics and medical offices already are offering flu shots in the Tysons area:

• The Kaiser Permanente Tysons Corner Medical Center (8008 Westpark Drive) offers a drive-through flu vaccination station, according to its website. Beginning today through Nov. 30, people can stop by on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. From Sept. 12 until Oct. 24 people can also stop by on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.
• Some drug stores such as CVS and Walgreens also offer walk-in flu shots. For example, the CVS at 1452 Chain Bridge Road offers slots from 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. and from 2:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. On Saturdays, they are taking patients from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and again from 1:30 p.m. until around 4:30.
• Around Falls Church, McLean and Vienna, CVS also has several other flu shot locations which can be found online through a proximity tracker.
• While they stop to shop for groceries, people can get their flu shots at pharmacies inside specific Safeway and Giant stores. At Giant (1454 Chain Bridge Road), the pharmacy is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m., Saturdays from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
• Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church (IHVI Atrium 3300 Gallows Road) is offering free flu shots for members with an Inova insurance plan from Sept. 5 through Dec. 1 from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. each Saturday.
• People can also check with their primary care doctor, as many family practices also offer flu shots.