South American chicken chain Pollos Keiko has opened its first American location — “Keiko Charcoal Chicken” — this week at 235 Maple Ave E. in Vienna.
The restaurant offers a variety of chicken options, from quarter-portions for $5.49 to whole chickens and three sides for $24.99, as well as salads, sandwiches, and sides like rice and plantains.
Nelson Barrios, one of the partners opening the restaurant, repeated the old real estate axiom for opening in Vienna: “location, location, location.” Barrios said he didn’t see anything quite like Keiko available in Vienna. (Don Pollo, a Peruvian chicken chain that opened a few blocks south in January, said the same thing).
Barrios said, for the most part, it was easy to get started in Vienna, though some of the administrative issues along the way were stressful.
“But once that’s done, you get to the fun part,” Barrios said. “It’s the reason someone wants to open a restaurant in the first place.”
Barrios encouraged Vienna residents to come in and try the chicken. Among the sides, Barrios said one of the more unique was “Tallarin Saltado” — a Peruvian stir fry noodle dish with green peppers and onions.
UrbanStems may be gone from the BrandBox pop-up, but those looking for a little more greenery around Tysons Corner Center can look forward to a new “indoor garden oasis” coming to the mall this weekend.
Mall owner Macerich Properties partnered with Bloomia, a cut flower farm, to create “Field of Tulips” — an indoor garden in the mall’s Fashion Court.
According to a press release:
Guests can wander the garden featuring a variety of tulips in different shapes and colors, all hydroponically grown in the USA. The flowers can be picked and purchased with 10 percent of proceeds benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the local charity handpicked by Tysons Corner.
The Field of Tulips garden is scheduled to be in place from March 22-24. The garden is free to enter and is open from 10 a.m.- 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. on Sunday, according to the press release.
Photo via Tysons Corner Center
Five months after it was destroyed in a fire, the ruined husk of the Marco Polo restaurant building in Vienna has finally been completely demolished.
It’s unclear when demolition began, but by March 19 most of the rubble had been removed from the site.
The restaurant was originally built in 1954. In 2015, local developer Doug D’Alexander applied to have the lot redeveloped as Vienna Market, but the application failed. A more scaled-down version was presented in 2017 and was approved.
The development plans were complicated an alleged intentionally-set fire that gutted the building. Two teenagers were later arrested and charged with setting the fire as part of a vandalism spree.
The charred remains were left as a visible blight along Maple Avenue, though Vienna staff said plans for development are still in the works.
In January, Cindy Petkac, director of planning and zoning for the Town of Vienna, said the building was expected to be demolished within the month.
Vienna residents remembered the building, a longtime local prom-date spot, fondly.
Marco Polo… Vienna will always remember you fondly…. I think we all have had first dates, and prom dates, and meeting here over the years… Thank you for your service!
— Vienna Business Association (@vba_vienna) March 17, 2019
Dockless electronic scooters are coming to Fairfax County.
Lime scooters will soon be released on the streets of Vienna, Merrifield and Falls Church, according to a press release.
“We’re thrilled to expand our footprint in the DMV area and to begin serving Fairfax, providing accessible, affordable mobility options to riders across the city,” Sean Arroyo, Lime’s regional general manager, said in a press release. “We couldn’t be more excited to integrate ourselves into the community and to begin working with local leaders to help achieve their sustainability and accessibility goals.”
Users can use the Lime app to locate the nearest scooter, then scan the QR code on the handlebars or baseboard to use it. Users are encouraged to ride in bike lanes and wear helmets.
Scooters cost $1 to unlock and 15 cents per minute to ride. Rides are finished in the app to be parked at a street curb or bike rack. Riders must be 18 years or older.
E-scooters are popular in major cities D.C., and are already ubiquitous in close-in suburbs like Arlington, but the hoards of abandoned scooters left haphazardly strewn across the streets has also drawn some criticism or even dramatic acts of vandalism.
In addition to Vienna, Falls Church and Merrifield, Lime says it is also bringing scooters to George Mason University and the City of Fairfax.
Photo via Facebook
Fairfax County Police are holding an anti-DUI and alcohol awareness event at Langley High School in McLean today.
The event, which is being held from 9 a.m. to noon, is timed to coincide with some key moments on the school calendar.
More from FCPD:
Prom and graduation season are quickly approaching, and we want to remind teens about the importance of being responsible at celebrations. We are partnering with Fairfax County Public Schools by hosting our Spring Drug and Alcohol Awareness Program.
Juniors and seniors at Langley High School will be given the opportunity to wear physical impairment goggles while being tested on both simple and complex tasks, such as driving a wheelchair through a cone course or going through a mock sobriety check with our officers. Students will also learn about Virginia’s underage drinking laws and the consequences for breaking them, as well as the physical and mental dangers that often come with underage drinking.
In the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Tysons Corner Center mall, a space that offers a moment of calm has opened up.
On the first floor of the mall, “The Lounge” is a free respite from the noise and consumerism of the rest of the mall. Five chair swings are scattered across the room with boxes providing outlets for charging. The chairs are fairly secluded, offering privacy for work or a quick mid-day respite.
The lounge is part of Brandbox, a suite of rotating stores which opened in November.
The location is still working out some kinks, like spotty wi-fi and an occasionally glitchy TV. There was also no staff available at the location today and the reaction from most passersby was confusion, with several wandering into the back of the facility by accident.
In addition to the free relaxation, one Brandbox retailer is offering an experience this week that promises to be an alternative to the usual mall hubbub.
On Thursday (March 21), cosmetics store Winky Lux is scheduled to host a demonstration event. Admission costs $10, but attendees are given a $10 Winky Lux gift card and other goodies.
“We’ll be offering product demos from 5-7 p.m.,” the online-oriented retailer said on the event page. “Matcha themed refreshments from Kung Fu Tea and Lolli & Pops and goodie bags to the first 25 attendees!”
(Updated 9 a.m.) — Metro ridership may be in free fall overall, but at least in the Tysons area ridership is continuing to climb.
Three of the four stations in the Tysons area saw increased ridership in the last few months of 2018 as compared to the year before.
The McLean Metro station saw the largest increase in ridership, rising 18.6 percent over the last year. The station is located close to the Capital One headquarters, which opened late last year.
The Greensboro Metro station, meanwhile, saw an increase of 10.8 percent, while ridership at the Tysons Corner station increased 3.9 percent. The stats, compiled by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, compare ridership in October, November and December of 2018 with the same period in 2017.
The Wiehle-Reston East Metro station saw the highest overall ridership among Silver Line-only stations, with over 1 million rides during the three-month period. The station is the furthest point west on the Silver Line.
The only Tysons stop with a decline in ridership was the Spring Hill station, which declined 2.9 percent. There is very little in walkable proximity to the Spring Hill station, though plans are in the works for several new developments east of the site and a few to the west.
Stations on the Orange Line did not fare as well. While the West Falls Church Metro station saw a 4.1 percent increase in late 2018 as compared to late 2017, Dunn Loring and the Vienna Metro stations saw a 1.1 and 1.4 percent respective decrease in ridership.
Professor Frank Shafroth, director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University, told Tysons Reporter earlier that the high Metro ridership in Tysons is likely a result of the area’s notorious traffic, though car remains the more popular for commutes than Metro.
Photo via Twitter
VivaTysons Magazine filed for bankruptcy last month after running up hundreds of thousands in debt, but the publication is now seeking to have its case dismissed.
An attorney for VivaTysons filed a motion asking a federal bankruptcy judge to dismiss the Chapter 11 case, arguing VivaTysons can better function and pay its debts outside of the bankruptcy process.
Among other reasons for exiting bankruptcy, the filing says an unnamed magazine competitor tried to use the bankruptcy to poach advertising clients from VivaTysons. (For the record, it wasn’t us. -Ed.)
From the filing:
The Debtor seeks to dismiss its case “for cause” for the following reasons: (i) the Debtor believes that it is losing essential advertising revenue as a result of its filing for bankruptcy; (ii) the Debtor is experiencing difficulty complying with the administrative burdens of chapter 11; and (iii) the Debtor is hopeful that it can achieve settlements with its creditors outside of bankruptcy. The Debtor believes its creditors will obtain a greater dividend outside of bankruptcy than pursuant to a plan in the bankruptcy case.
After the Petition Date, at least one of the Debtor’s competitors contacted the Debtor’s advertisers and falsely stated to the Debtor’s advertisers that, as a result of the bankruptcy filing, the Debtor was “closed.” The Debtor’s competitor used the bankruptcy filing and alleged “closing” to implore the Debtor’s advertisers to advertise in the competitor’s magazine instead of the Debtor’s magazine. The Debtor believes that it has lost essential advertising revenue because of the actions of its competitors as a result of the bankruptcy filing.
VivaTysons says in the filing that it owes four small business lenders and banks more than $250,000 collectively. It also owes money to its printing company, the printing company’s owner and potentially two other financial companies. The parent company of Washingtonian Magazine also filed a claim, saying it is owed $50,000 by Tysons-based Johnny Hanna & Associates, which owns VivaTysons.
VivaTysons is published every other month. It is mailed to readers and distributed to local businesses in Tysons, McLean, Falls Church, Vienna, Great Falls and Oakton.
At least according to one real estate broker, realtors looking to expand outside Tysons, Reston or Arlington County should be looking into commercial redevelopment in Vienna.
In an article published by the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, Frank Dillow, a senior commercial broker in Long & Foster’s Commercial Division, pointed to 2014’s approval of Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zoning as a step towards flexible zoning to attract new developments.
“Vienna’s interest in rethinking its downtown comes as suburban communities throughout Northern Virginia react to residents and developers seeking to transform existing retail outlets into more modern lifestyle community centers featuring restaurants and entertainment,” Dillow said.
The approval of MAC zoning regulations are part of an effort by the Town of Vienna to combat rampant vacancies throughout the town. The new regulations allow buildings up to four stories tall and greater density than usual to be considered for Maple Avenue, a primary thoroughfare in Vienna.
But the MAC zoning has also come under fire, from the public and members of the Town Council, for what is seen as too quickly and too radically altering the character of downtown Vienna. Controversy over MAC zoning led to a moratorium on new proposed developments until a review process for the ordinance can be completed. That review is currently ongoing.
But Dillow said in his article that local residents are increasingly understanding the necessity of added density.
“Increasingly, people understand that to achieve their community goals and create a vibrant place to live, the community needs different types of development — different types of density,” Dillow said. “As Northern Virginia continues its rapid commercial transformation, realtors should be looking beyond the current well-publicized developments in Tysons, Reston or Arlington County, to expanded opportunities in the commercial redevelopment occurring in older, more established communities such as Vienna.”
If the roads have seemed a little rougher than normal, it’s not just you.
According to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) officials at a meeting earlier this month, the past year has been one of the worst years on record for potholes. The pothole problem is also prevalent in D.C.
According to Allison Richter, liaison to Fairfax and Arlington counties for VDOT, fewer than half of the secondary roadways are in good condition. For 2018, interstates were 86 percent in fair or better condition — down from 93 percent in 2016. But secondary roadways were assessed at only 41 percent fair or better condition, an improvement from 2016 but still bumpy for drivers.
“This is possibly the worst year for potholes that I’ve seen,” said Richter.
Richter said many roads throughout the area qualify for paving, but VDOT hasn’t been able to get to all of them. Road repaving is based not just on the condition of the pavement, but on traffic volume, whether the whole neighborhood can be repaved, and various costs.
“Paving funding has gone up and down,” said Richter. “We’re behind, it’s why so much is in the red.”
Total repaving funding for Northern Virginia over the last decade has grown from $58.1 million in 2013 to $140.9 million in 2018, but in 2019 it dipped back down to $105.9 million.
While Northern Virginia generates a disproportionate amount of tax revenue compared to the rest of the state, Richter said road funding is one area where the region uses proportionately more funding than other parts of the Commonwealth.
In addition to years of repaving neglect, Richter said the pothole situation is the result of record high rainfall and dramatic temperature swings.
Richter said repaving is scheduled to get started this month once temperatures are warm enough.
