(Updated April 8) As Sunrise Senior Living haggles through the approval process in Vienna, the assisted living franchise also filed permits earlier this week for a new facility in downtown McLean.

On March 11, Sunrise Development filed a special exception application to allow a senior living facility at 1515 Chain Bridge Road, replacing the existing McLean Medical Building.

In the application, the business noted that the need for assisted living facilities is high in Vienna.

Despite immense need, the McLean CBC does not currently contain any assisted living facilities. Per Fairfax County’s compiled demographics for the McLean Census Designated Plant , 92% of households in McLean have one or more people over the age of 60, which is more than double the 43% of households for the rest of the County.

Sunrise isn’t wrong on that count. McLean is disproportionately elderly and has struggled to create housing that allows local residents to age in place. Sunrise Senior Living isn’t cheap, so it probably doesn’t hurt that McLean is also one of the wealthiest places in the United States.

The proposal for a Sunrise facility in McLean also comes at that area is in the middle of a planning process to reshape the center of town.

The application notes that the new facility would be located within Subarea Two of the McLean Commercial Business Center, an area outside of the main downtown and planned to have very little change. The Sunrise facility would be replacing an existing medical office building, which it argues is in keeping with the intent of the plan.

While the Vienna location is locked in a struggle with the Vienna Town Council over whether or not the building fits within local height parameters, the McLean facility is half the size allowed by-right on the property and 10 feet shorter than the existing building.

The project is tentatively scheduled for a Planning Commission hearing on Sept. 11 and a Board of Supervisors hearing on Sept. 24.

Northern Virginia is home to an astonishing variety of native species of trees and shrubs, and now you have an opportunity to grow your own.

Fairfax County’s annual Native Seedling Sale will be taking place today, Friday April 5, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., and tomorrow, Saturday April 6, from 9 a.m.-noon. The event will be held at the Sleepy Hollow Bath and Racquet Club, at 3516 Sleepy Hollow Road in the Falls Church area.

Note that the pre-sale period has ended, so there’s no guarantee that the plant you want will be available — or even that any plants will. However, the county website states that “We often do have extra packages or individual seedlings for sale on the pickup days (April 5 and 6).”

This annual sale helps local residents beautify their gardens with indigenous plant species that “help cleanse water, prevent soil erosion, provide habitat, cool our climate and clean our air.”

This year’s theme is “Incredible Edibles,” so be prepared for plants that delight the tongue as well as the eye.

The plants include seedlings of pawpaw (Asimina triloba), a tree native to a wide swatch of the greater Appalachian region. It bears a delicious fruit which was recently highlighted by National Public Radio’s The Salt as “the hipster banana”.

Other selections include the American wild plum, the American elderberry, the black chokeberry, the American Hazelnut, and the flowering dogwood (Virginia’s state tree).

The packages cost only $12.50 or $17.50, depending on contents, and are easily transportable in a car — though the organizers recommend you bring a small bucket, basket, or doubled-up paper bag.

Map via Google Maps

Virginia State Police is investigating a chain reaction crash on I-66 near Oakton that happened during last night’s evening rush hour.

The crash — near the Chain Bridge Road exit — involved 14 vehicles, two of which caught fire after the wreck, but only one minor injury was reported.

“At approximately 5:50 p.m., Virginia State Police received a call about a two-vehicle crash in the eastbound lanes of I-66 near Exit 60,” said VSP spokeswoman Corinne Geller. “As oncoming traffic swerved to avoid those vehicles and then one another, a chain-reaction crash occurred. In the end, there were 12 vehicles in the chain reaction crash. The last two vehicles caught fire.”

Geller says the crash is still under investigation but charges against at least one of the drivers are pending.

Approx 6 pm last night, crews responded to I-66 EB prior to Rte 123 for report of multiple vehicles involved in a crash w/1 on fire. Units arrived to find 2 cars on fire extending to 3rd car. 14 vehicles involved w/19 passengers total–17 adults and 2 children. No injuries. #FCFRD pic.twitter.com/n3t8nv55xo

— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) April 5, 2019

Photo courtesy Virginia State Police

(Updated April 12) It’s been a year of expansions for City Works Eatery and Pour House — from Boston to Disney World — with a new Tysons location at the Capital One Headquarters right in the middle.

The City Works is planned to open at 1640 Capital One Drive North sometime next month, next to the recently opened Starbucks and the recently canceled Taco Bamba.

The restaurant’s menu is focused on classic American food and drinks, with 90 draft beers and eight wines planned for the bar.

According to the Tysons location’s website, the new restaurant will be over 12,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor dining spaces.

“We enjoy sharing our love of sports and music, and plan to show an array of events on our 24 flatscreen HDTVs with state-of-the-art audio,” City Works said on their website.

Photo via Facebook

(Updated 9:30 a.m.) Bars in Virginia can now legally advertise their happy hour specials, so here’s a look at what some of the local bars have to offer.

The law had previously allowed bars to advertise the hours but not the prices, but a lawsuit from Chef Geoff’s in Tysons led to the state legislature to amend the law.

So in honor of Chef Geoff’s success, here are some of the happy hours around Tysons:

• Chef Geoff’s Tysons (8045 Leesburg Pike): Wednesday-Sunday from 3-7 p.m. and all day Monday and Tuesday until 9 p.m. The happy hour specials include $7 wines, $8 cocktails, and $1 off all draft beers. In addition to discounted bar snacks, all pizzas are $4 and burgers are half priced.
• Paddy Barry’s (8150 Leesburg Pike): Monday-Friday from 3-7 p.m. Domestic beers are discounted by $2, with $3 off all appetizers. House red and white wines are $5.
• BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse (8027 Leesburg Pike): Monday-Friday from 3-7 p.m. and from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Specials vary by day.
• Eddie V’s (7900 Tysons One Place): Monday-Sunday from 4-7 p.m. Cocktails and wine glasses are $8 and there are discounts on oysters and other small seafood dishes.
• La Sandia (7852 Tysons Corner Center): Sunday-Friday from 4-9 p.m. Margaritas are available normal or frozen from $5 to $7. Tacos are three for $8 and a sampler platter of guacamole, quesadilla, wings, taquitos and Mexican corn is available for $15.
• Gordon Biersch (7861 Tysons Corner Center): Sunday-Friday from 3-6:30 p.m. All beers, wines and cocktails are $2 off.
• Earls Kitchen and Bar (7902 Tysons One Place): Every day from 3-6 p.m. and Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 p.m.-closing. Most food is discounted and drink discounts vary by day.
• Wildfire (Tysons Galleria, 2001 International Dr): Weekdays from 3-6 p.m. Staff at the restaurant said the restaurant offers half-price appetizers, $7 cocktails and “a couple dollars off” wines and beers.
• ENTYSE Wine Bar and Lounge (Tysons Galleria/Ritz Carlton, 1700 Tysons Blvd): Monday-Friday from 3-6 p.m. Drinks and fries are $5, with a flight of rare wines available for $55.
• Greenhouse Bistro (2070 Chain Bridge Road): Monday-Friday from 4-7 p.m. Cocktails, Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio for $6. Sangria and draught beers are $5. Appetizers, pizzas and fries range from $5-10.
• Xtreme Wings and Bar (8119 Watson St): Monday-Friday from 3-7 p.m. Staff said all beer and food is 15 percent off the regular price.
• Ten Penh (7900 Westpark): Monday-Friday from 4-7 p.m. A variety of beers, wines, cocktails and snacks are $5.

The Tysons Biergarten also offers a happy hour on weekdays from 3-9 p.m. but the payment system operates differently. Friday happy hours are 3-9 p.m. with a Tyson’s Lager and Eggenberg Pilsner, in addition to a 5-9 p.m. happy hour on all American draft beers, all for $5. On Monday’s, the bar features $2 Lionshead all day. On Sunday’s, it’s $5 Tyson’s Lager from 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Photo via Facebook

A series of new events are coming to BrandBox, a collection of pop-up stores grouped together in the Tysons Corner Center mall.

The eclectic array of groups are mostly being held in the Lounge, a free relaxation area that opened at the mall in March.

• ‘Masters’ Putt-Pong Tournament — April 13 at Chubbies from 12 p.m. “until winner dominates all rounds” — The Chubbies in BrandBox will host a Putt-Pong tournament, a ski-ball like golfing game popular at tailgates. Winners of the tournament will receive a free cooler bag and $5 off any casual stretch shorts. The top three winning teams will receive gift cards. The Masters golf tournament will be shown in the lounge next to the competition.
• Make Your Own Peep Easter Basket — April 14 at BrandBox Lounge from 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. — Sugary treat-maker Peeps is hosting an Easter basket making event to be filled with treats. Reservations can be made online or at the door.
• Rosé All Day — April 25 at Brandbox Lounge from 5-7 p.m. — A pre-Mother’s Day celebration of rosé wine will be hosted by cosmetics brand Winky Lux, Bloom Salon and Seasons 52. Entrance is $20, which includes a $20 Winky Lux gift card, a complimentary mini-makeover, rosé tasting, and hair touch-ups.
• Urban Forest Perfume Making Workshop — May 9 at Brandbox Lounge from 5:30-7:30 p.m. — The Urban Forest Perfume Company will host a sensory workshop with guests invited to explore plant-based perfumery. The event will include a discussion of synthetic vs plant-based ingredients, perfume notes, and basic perfume formulas. Each participant will also receive a 15 ml bottle of their own fragrance. Tickets are $85 and available online.

Photo via Facebook

After new ownership took over Uncle Liu’s Hot Pot (2972 Gallows Rd) in March, the restaurant is now in the process of reshaping the casual Chinese eatery in Merrifield.

An investor representing the project said the new ownership took over the restaurant on March 1 and has maintained operations to have a smooth transition into a new menu.

The restaurant is keeping the hot pots, but a new chef from the Henan Province of China is joining the project and specializes in hui mian noodles, a food popular in that region.

The noodles are typically served with lamb or beef, but the investor said at Uncle Liu’s they will also be served alongside a large plate of chicken.

Uncle Liu’s Hot Pot offers a lunch menu during weekdays for $19.95 and a dinner menu for $25.95, with all-day dinner pricing on weekends and holidays.

The investor also said Uncle Liu’s Hot Pot is also filing for a new ABC permit because the previous one didn’t carry over with the new ownership, adding that the restaurant is anticipating approval and alcohol on the menu within a few months.

Exterior photo via Google Maps

Developers of a distinctive curved-glass tower called One Tysons East have promised to make peace with the local bird population and improve nearby roads.

With an endorsement from both the McLean Citizens Association and the Planning Commission at last night’s (Wednesday) meeting, approval of rezoning for the project at a Board of Supervisors meeting next Tuesday (April 9) seems likely.

But while the project seems to have had a relatively smooth development track so far, Providence District Planning Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner noted that it raises issues in the air and on the ground that will need to be addressed as more of Tysons East is developed.

There are 27 pages of proffers — accommodations on the part of the developers offered to Fairfax County to get a development approved — associated with the project. Among them are a series of transportation improvements for Old Meadow Road, including new street lanes and a potential bike lane.

But Niedzielski-Eichner noted that new developments planned throughout Tysons East are going to put a considerable strain on the four-lane street.

“There are existing traffic issues on Old Meadow Road today, and will be as future already entitled developments are constructed that are significant and beyond the scope of this single zoning application,” said Niedzielski-Eichner. “Solutions will require all stakeholders on Old Meadow Road to resolve. I recommend staff identify concrete steps to help mitigate traffic and queuing on Old Meadow Road.”

Niedzielski-Eichner also said problems with how the glass building might impact birds came up during the development process. The proffers included an obligation on the developer to make changes to the building design to deter bird-strikes.

According to the proffers:

In an effort to reduce bird injury and death due to in- flight collisions with buildings, the Applicant will include one or more bird friendly design elements, as determined by the Applicant, in the design plans of the building. The bird friendly design elements may include, but not be limited to, the use of color, texture, opacity, fritting, frosting, patterns, louvers, screens, interior window treatments, or ultraviolet materials that are visible to birds, the angling of outside lights, curbing of excessive or unnecessary night-time illumination in commercial buildings, reduction of bird attracting vegetation, the use of decoys, and breaking of glass swaths.

It’s estimated that between 365 million and 988 million birds are killed in the United States each year from crashing into windows, with an average 24 expected to die annually at a single skyscraper.

“There was a request for clarification of how we intended to meet bird-friendly design guidelines in the proffer commitment,” said Scott Adams, representing the developers. “We’re happy to commit to work with staff to ensure the goals of bird-friendly design are met with the design of this building.”

Image via Akridge

(Updated April 8) Despite a host of other compromises, the Sunrise Senior Living Facility and Vienna Town Council are still at odds over the project exceeding the town’s height requirements.

Both parties agreed at a work session on Monday (April 1) that there’s been compromise from Sunrise. There were modifications made to spaces on the ground floor and mezzanine and the number of proposed units was taken down from 85 to 83.

But a mezzanine that cuts just under the town’s 50-percent coverage limit for what can be considered a floor is still a sticking point for Town Council members who say the project is out of line with the town’s five-story height limit.

Jerry Liang, senior vice president of development for Sunrise, argued that Vienna should reframe its limits rather than force the building to come in under a certain height.

“There’s different ways to think about density, [like] units and square footage,” Liang said. “By setting your limits on floor and height, you’ve created the maximum box. We believe the building we designed is visually pleasing.”

Planning Commissioner Mary McCullough said there were concerns from nearby residents that the back half of the building still had a “five-story look.”

The next public hearing for the project is tentatively scheduled for April 24, when the Planning Commission will discuss the development.

“Part of our goal is to satisfy a lot of particular needs for a lot of stakeholders,” Liang said. “We’re trying to find the right balance between providing critically needed service with the cost-benefit balance to really solve that Rubik’s cube.”

Image via Town of Vienna

Northern Virginia boasts the state’s first modular roundabout — a new traffic management technology that could become part of everyday life in Tysons.

Drivers venturing out to Annandale might have noticed something unusual at the intersection of Ravensworth Road and Jayhawk Street. This avian-named crossing is home to Virginia’s first-ever modular mini-roundabout, a new type of intersection design that could see much more widespread use across the region, including in Tysons.

Before last May, the intersection had only had stop signs on Jayhawk. But traffic was increasing, and cars turning from Jayhawk onto Ravensworth were having to struggle to turn enter the road safely. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) decided they needed to do something to keep cars moving.

“The primary purpose of the roundabout was to allow side streets to have safer access onto the main road,” explained Terry Yates, Assistant Transportation and Land Use Director for VDOT in Arlington and Fairfax Counties. The goal was achieved: the time that cars spend waiting to turn onto the main road has dropped by almost 90%.

They could have installed traffic lights, which would probably have cost around $600,000. Or they could have installed a conventional concrete mini-roundabout, probably around $300,000. The concrete mini-roundabout would have both been safer for pedestrians and minimized the effect that pedestrians have on vehicle traffic compared to a full-scale roundabout or a traffic signal. Dr. Wei Zhang, researcher for the Federal Highway Administration, noted that the roundabout design (whether modular or concrete) “cuts down the exposed crossing distance for pedestrians by 75%.”

For a long time, those were the only choices. But the new modular mini-roundabout is unique because it is made out of a special plastic rather than concrete. That gives it a number of enormous advantages.

First, it brings down the cost — tremendously. This design cost only $137,000 of VDOT money, although it would have been a little more expensive without materials donated by the Federal Highway Administration.

Second, installation is easy. Setting up the intersection took only two weeks, slightly less than a comparable non-modular project in Vienna. There were no impacts on utility lines or right-of-ways, and only minor impacts to the pavement.

Third, it’s eco-friendly. The plastic material is made from recycled milk jugs, reducing not only costs but also pollution. That environmental friendliness doesn’t come at any kind of cost to effectiveness: the material in question is durable and strong enough that it’s used industrially for railroad cross-ties.

The design is still experimental. In fact, the first such modular mini-roundabouts anywhere in the country were only built about two years ago in Georgia. As such, VDOT is keeping a close eye on the project. Yates explained: “We are monitoring it about every 4 months. We discuss its performance with Fairfax County Police, Fairfax County DOT, Fairfax County Government and internal VDOT sections.”

The solution isn’t perfect: VDOT has yet to develop a snow-removal procedure, and some drivers complain that the design is difficult to see at night.

Although the roundabout was built to be easily removed, Yates clarified that it “may not be temporary.” If the design continues to function as effectively as it has for the past ten months, there’s no reason it shouldn’t stay as it is — and no reason why it might not be emulated elsewhere, especially in Tysons.

In Tysons, VDOT owns and maintains most roads, meaning they could easily replicate this success. Dr. Zhang has said that “transportation departments may be able to consider similar modular roundabouts as an option where safety and congestion improvements are needed quickly.”

With Tysons slated to grow to 100,000 residents and 200,000 jobs in the next thirty years, this cheap, safe, effective intersection design could be coming to local streets in the near future.