McLean House Fire Results in $1M in Damages — The fire that burned down former Virginia governor Chuck Robb’s house in McLean last week produced about $1.6 million in damages, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department estimates. Robb and his wife Lynda Johnson Robb were alerted to the fire by working smoke alarms, but a cause is still under investigation. [FCFRD/Twitter]
Metro Halts Return of Railcars — “Metro abruptly halted its phased return of 7000-series railcars to service Thursday afternoon, after deciding the trains needed a more stringent inspection schedule than initially planned. Metro’s 748 railcars in the 7000 series have been off the tracks since October, following a derailment caused by faulty wheel assemblies.” [DCist]
Freedom Bank of Virginia Considers Tysons for New NoVA Branch — “The bank has looked at Tysons, Loudoun County, Arlington, Alexandria and Manassas as options. ‘We’re not in Tysons Corner and we view that as kind of the business hub of Northern Virginia, so that’s been a goal of ours,’ [president and CEO Joseph] Thomas said, though he declined to identify where the branch will be located.” [Washington Business Journal]
Tysons Company Involved in International Space Station Flight — “Tysons-based Space Adventures, a space tourism company, brokered the spacecraft flight that returned to Earth on Dec. 19 carrying a Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin along with two Japanese private astronauts Yusaku “MZ” Maezawa and Yozo Hirano. The three launched to the station on Dec. 8, SpaceNews reported.” [Fairfax County EDA]
The Alden to Host Talks on Virginia’s Native American Tribes — “The Alden Theatre of the McLean Community Center will host a five-part discussion-group series online starting in early January to reinforce information about Virginia Native American tribes. The series will use the Pocahantas Project as a guide, and will be co-facilitated by a member of the Rappahannock tribe and members of the Alden’s staff.” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
Falls Church City Requires Masks and Distancing — “Masks and social distancing are now required for all visitors and employees — regardless of vaccination status — in City of Falls Church facilities, including City Hall, the Community Center, and the Mary Riley Styles Public Library when it reopens. This safety precaution mirrors the rules in other Northern Virginia jurisdictions.” [City of Falls Church]
D.C. Restaurant Week Returns — The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s annual D.C. Restaurant Week kicked off yesterday (Monday) and will last through Sunday (Aug. 15), with many participants again offering to-go options. Tysons venues include Agora Tysons, The Capital Grille, La Sandia, and more. [Viva Tysons]
Vienna Outback Steakhouse Eyed for Another Drive-Thru Bank — “Chase Bank is seeking a conditional use permit for a bank with a drive-thru ATM at 315 Maple Avenue East. The existing one-story building at Maple Avenue East and Glyndon Street SE would be demolished and replaced with a new bank and drive-thru ATM. The project requires review from the town’s Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals.” [Patch]
Capital One Exec Appointed to Fairfax County EDA — Joe Vidulich, federal government relations director of Capital One, joined the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority Board yesterday (Monday) after the Board of Supervisors approved the addition. The Virginia General Assembly passed a law earlier this year allowing the board to expand from seven to nine seats. [Fairfax County]
The former Peet’s Coffee and Tea on Maple Avenue is officially going to be converted into a drive-thru bank.
The Town of Vienna Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved Burke & Herbert Bank’s request for a conditional use permit at the conclusion of a public hearing on March 17, allowing the Alexandria-based company to utilize and renovate the existing 2,575 square-foot building at 332 Maple Avenue East.
Burke & Herbert currently operates a branch in Vienna without a drive-thru at 302 Maple Avenue West.
“I think Burke & Herbert moving from their present location up on the corner down into the middle of Maple Avenue gives them a much better facility,” Board of Zoning Appeals Chair George Creed said during last week’s meeting. “…I think that’ll be an excellent location for them.”
Burke & Herbert Executive Vice President of Marketing Terry Cole confirmed to Tysons Reporter that the bank’s existing Vienna branch will be closed, and operations will be relocated to the new site once the renovation is completed.
Constructed in the 1980s, the building at 332 Maple Avenue originally housed a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise until Caribou Coffee took over in 2012. The shop was rebranded in 2013 after the Peet’s Coffee owners bought Caribou.
Peet’s permanently closed the Vienna shop and another location in Tysons Station last summer after they shut down in the spring on what initially appeared to be a temporary basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Burke & Herbert submitted a proposal to the Town of Vienna to convert the building into a drive-thru bank on Dec. 30, stating that the change in use would benefit the town by allowing the now-vacant facility to be refurbished and reducing traffic on Maple Avenue.
A traffic impact analysis conducted by a consultant hired by Burke & Herbert found that the proposed facility would generate an estimated 27 trips during morning peak hours and 57 trips during evening peak hours — 222 fewer morning peak-hour trips and 64 fewer evening peak-hour trips than Peet’s Coffee.
“I think the conditions will probably be significantly different than they were when this was a coffee restaurant,” said Walsh Colucci land-use attorney Robert Brandt, who represented Burke & Herbert at the public hearing. “Just the nature of the bank drive-thru use tends to get a little less of that drive-thru demand than a coffee restaurant, so the bank is very comfortable with the conditions on the site as proposed.”
Brandt says Burke & Herbert plans to make “significant improvements” to the interior and exterior of the building, but no expansions will be needed, and the existing drive-thru facility will largely be left intact, aside from moving a speaker from the back of the facility to the left side.
The bank has committed to making some accessibility improvements, including the addition of sloped sidewalks and restriping to create wheelchair-accessible parking spaces. The parking lot’s asphalt surface will also be repaved in places where it’s “in a little rough shape,” according to Brandt.
According to a report by Vienna’s planning and zoning staff, the proposed hours of operation for the new bank are between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. on Saturdays. The facility will be closed on Sundays. Four to five employees are expected to be on site at any given time during business hours. Read More
City National Bank opened its doors in The Boro last week.
The bank, which is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada, announced the opening of the 4,200-square-foot full-service regional banking center (8301 Greensboro Drive, Suite J), noting that it will help better serve clients in the D.C. and Northern Virginia areas.
“Greater Washington has responded well to City National’s deep expertise and customized solutions,” Juan Jara, who leads the bank’s personal and business banking team. “Opening our Tysons office will enable us to help individuals and local businesses navigate these uncertain times and reach their financial goals.”
The Tysons team of four commercial bankers will work closely with Royal Bank of Canada’s wealth management and capital markets businesses, the press release said.
For the last three years, City National Bank has expanded in the D.C., Boston, Long Island and Miami areas. In July, the bank opened two new branches in New York, the bank said in a press release.
The Tysons branch is following COVID-19 guidance in Fairfax County to keep clients and employees to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the press release said. The branch is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekdays, according to the bank’s website.
The bank is the latest of a string of newcomers to the Tysons development this summer, including Santouka Ramen, FRESHFARM Farmers Markets and Poki DC.
Photo courtesy City National Bank
Traffic Stop Near Gallows Roads — “A Virginia state trooper is on administrative leave and faces a criminal investigation for his conduct against a Black driver during a 2019 traffic stop in Fairfax County.” [Patch]
Falls Church Scales Back Summer Camps — “Covid-19’s spread throughout the country influenced the City to scale back or outright cancel certain camps, making “fun” one of the lesser known, but more persistent casualties of the pandemic.” [Falls Church News-Press]
COVID-19 Rules for Businesses — “Virginia on Wednesday became the first state to adopt uniform workplace safety rules related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Among the new regulations, employers in Virginia are required to mandate physical distancing and face coverings for employees in customer-facing positions. Coverings will also be required in workplace situations where social distancing is not possible.” [Washington Business Journal]
PPP Loans for Black Businesses — “Black business owners are more likely to be hindered in seeking coronavirus financial aid than their white peers, a new study has found. The study looked at how more than a dozen Washington-area banks handled requests for loans under the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program.” [Washington Business Journal]
Impacts on Falls Church Development? — “Workplaces transitioning out of the office and into being permanently remote could be one part of the “new normal” stemming from Covid-19’s global outbreak. That potential reality would be trouble for the City of Falls Church’s West End development that is relying on office tenants to help occupy some of its nearly 10-acre footprint, though the minds behind the project believe this adaptation won’t become a fixture once coronavirus’ danger lessens.” [Washington Business Journal]
The squat brick building at 1300 Chain Bridge Road is about to become a bank once again.
Renovations are underway to turn the brick building into a JP Morgan Chase Bank.
The location had previously been a drive-through Wachovia, then a Wells Fargo, but has sat empty for at least a year.
The bank is aiming for an opening sometime in the fall but has no more specific date ready yet.
Construction crews are still at work at the project — which has a largely gutted interior — and permits in the window say work will involve installing new air devices and ductworks.
It will be the only Chase bank in McLean but far from the only bank. There are roughly 17 banks currently scattered around downtown McLean, possibly because studies say McLean residents tend to be very wealthy and frugal.
(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) Trustar Bank is opening a commercial loan office this week by Tysons Galleria ahead of a future branch in the area.
Last week, the bank opened a branch in Great Falls. The company website said, “As a community bank, Trustar Bank’s strategy is to be a personalized alternative to larger, super-regional financial institutions that increasingly dominate the bank’s primary market.”
While the upcoming Tysons location (1650 Tysons Blvd) will just handle commercial loans, Chief Executive Officer Shaza Anderson said that the company also plans to bring branches in Reston in October 2019 and Tysons in 2021.
The new loan office opens after the company raised the required capital and received regulatory approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, she said.
Anderson said that the company partially decided on the location because it seemed to be the most accessible for employees and customers.
Community support has been “overwhelming” during this process, she added.
Image via Google Maps
McLean Community Center Reveals Scholarship Winners — “The Alden Theatre of the McLean Community Center has announced award recipients in its annual James C. Macdonald Performing Arts Scholarship Competition, held recently.” [Inside NoVa]
Power Surge Last Tuesday in Vienna — “Any residents who experienced a power surge shortly after midnight on July 2 may file a claim for damaged electrical appliances by calling 1-866-DOM-HELP” [Town of Vienna]
Software Company NowSecure Inc. Raised $15 Million for Expansion — “It has a total of 60 employees across its Tysons, Chicago and Seattle offices, but it plans to hire about 30 more people over the coming months, said CEO Alan Snyder, who added the Tysons office is its largest and that the company is already looking for larger space in the area.” [Washington Business Journal]
Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax Leaves McLean Law Firm — “Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has resigned his position at a McLean law firm, six months after he was placed on paid administrative leave following past sexual assault allegations. In a statement, Fairfax said the firm, Morrison and Foerster, investigated the allegations and found ‘no hint of wrongdoing.'” [Inside NoVa]
Crash Closed Falls Church Road –– On July 6 (Saturday) Magarity Road was closed at LaSalle Avenue due to a traffic crash involving a utility pole. The road reopened later that same day. [Fairfax County Police/Twitter]
Banks Coming Soon to Tysons — Great Falls-based Trustar Bank is looking to open a commercial lending office at 1650 Tysons Blvd in McLean, while VisionBank aims to open in Tysons later this year. Meanwhile, Tysons-based Old Dominion National Bank “has cleared $350 million in assets, is on track for $10 million in revenue in 2019, and will hit profitability toward the end of the year.” [WBJ, WBJ, WBJ]
Updated at 2:25 p.m. — Police said at 2:20 p.m. that “at this time there is no evidence to substantiate the threat” after completing their search. The bank is resuming its normal operations.
Earlier: Police are on the scene of a potential bomb threat at Provident Bank (7799 Leesburg Pike) in Falls Church.
Fairfax County Police said in a tweet this afternoon, below, that “a man called the bank indicating a bomb threat.”
Police told Tysons Reporter that the front desk was notified of a vague threat with very little credible information and after a search of the building no suspicious objects were found.
Following the threat, police remained at the scene to continue investigating the source of the call.
We have completed our search. At this time there is no evidence to substantiate the threat. The bank is resuming normal operations. #FCPDhttps://t.co/seUbHQuENL
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) February 8, 2019
Image via Google Maps
Car Keys Stolen from Hotel Room — “8125 Gatehouse Road (Residence Inn), 01/22/2019, 10:36 a.m. A guest left their room unlocked and someone entered the room and took keys to a car belonging to the guest. When the guest went to look for their car, they noticed it was missing. The car is a black 2014 Honda Accord.” [FCPD]
Va. Minimum Wage Bill Defeated — “A local legislator’s efforts to give Virginia’s 133 cities and counties the power to set their own minimum wage has gone down, probably predictably, to defeat in Richmond.” [InsideNova]
Hedgehogs Now Legal in Fairfax County — “Despite strong opposition to hedgehogs as suitable pets, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved adding them to the list of commonly accepted pets, along with chinchillas and hermit crabs.” [Reston Now]
New Local Bank Launching in Tysons — “VisionBank aims to be Greater Washington’s next community bank — and it’s gathered a group of longtime bankers with plans to launch in Tysons later this year.” [Washington Business Journal]
