NoVa Leads State in COVID-19 New Cases — “There has been an uptick of cases in Northern Virginia for over a week and an increase in the southwest region during October.” [Patch]

The Boro Wins Regional Development Awards — “KETTLER, one of Greater Washington, D.C.’s leading real estate services companies, announces the acceptance of multiple awards for Rise and Bolden Apartments, and Verse Condominiums located at The Boro in Tysons, Virginia.” [InsideNova]

Tysons Corner Center Announces Contact-Free Santa — “Santa and his helpers will be back at Tysons Corner Center, but there will be some changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.” [Yahoo]

Macerich Secures Loan for New Residential Tower in Tysons — “While reporting its financial results for the third quarter on Thursday, Macerich Co. (MAC), a self-administered real estate investment trust, said its joint venture has secured a commitment for a $95 million loan on Tysons Vita, the residential tower at Tysons Corner.” [Nasdaq]

Staff photo by Jay Westcott

An upcoming blood drive at The Boro will also double as a chance for folks to find out if that bad sickness they had might have been COVID-19.

Following up on a blood drive in July, which raised enough blood to save 38 lives according to a press release, Tysons development The Boro will host another blood drive tomorrow (Thursday) from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Boro Station (1775 Greensboro Station Place).

“The American Red Cross is also currently testing all blood, platelet, and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies for a limited time and donors will receive the free results of their antibody test within 7-10 days through the Red Cross Blood Donor App or by logging in to the donor portal at RedCrossBlood.org,” the press release said.

According to the CDC, antibody tests can show if someone may have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, though the virus can’t be use to diagnose current cases.

Appointments can be scheduled to donate online.

As hospitals begin to reopen, the need for blood in previously-delayed surgeries is resurfacing.

“There is an urgent need for blood donations right now, to meet the needs of patients in hospitals, as surgical procedures and treatments that were temporarily paused due to the pandemic resume again,” the press release said.

Photo courtesy Hilde Kahn

Grab your steins and face masks and prepare for a socially distant Oktoberfest event at The Boro in Tysons on Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10.

The event — held in collaboration with URBNmarket — will run from 3:30-8:30 p.m. on Oct. 9, and from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Oct. 10 at The Boro, 8359 Broad Street. Masks will be required at the event, unless you are seated at your table in the biergarten, and hand sanitation stations will be in place.

The event will feature an assortment of seasonal beverages in a pop-up biergarten, and vendors, local artists and crafts as a part of the URBNmarket. Open to all ages, the event will also include a kids zone featuring crafts, cornhole, a nine-hole mini golf course, live entertainment and more.

URBNmarket and the kids zone will be limit the number of guests in each area, and will be based on a first come, first serve basis. Crafts and games for the kids zone will be sanitized throughout the day. Face masks are required for everyone over the age of 5.

Reservations for the biergarten can be made at eventbrite. Each reservation is $25, which includes four free drinks in addition to a $5 donation to a local charity from every reservation. A maximum of six people will be allowed per table reservation, in accordance with Fairfax County COVID-19 regulations.

Additional beverage costs include $5 for beer, $6 for wine and $5 for non-alcoholic drinks from an onsite bar.

Visit The Boro Tysons website for directions, parking and reservations.

Photo courtesy Hilde Kahn

Silverstone Senior Living is slated to build senior housing in Tysons, becoming the first potential tenant at a proposed new development that will serve as an extension for The Boro.

The “continuing care home”, will have 200 available units for seniors and will include a fitness center, a barbershop and salon, a theater and multiple dining areas, according to documents from developer the Meridian Group. Senior housing in Tysons has been traditionally hard to come by, and much of the housing in the pipeline is not cheap.

The senior housing is a part of a 1.1 million square foot extension of The Boro, an upscale development in Tysons with apartments, offices, a movie theater and a Whole Foods. If approved, the extension will be a mixed-use development with residential housing, ground-floor retail space and a health club along with senior housing.

The site of the proposed development will be on the former grounds of the National Automobile Dealers Association Headquarters located on 8400 Westpark Drive after Meridian Group acquired the property in 2018 for $33.7 million, according to the Washington Business Journal.

Plans call for four buildings on the site with Silverstone’s senior housing to be inside a 180-foot-tall structure with 260,000 square feet of gross floor space. A representative for the Meridian Group declined to comment as no other details for what will go inside the planned development have been released.

The other planned projects include two other residential buildings with ground-level retail space that will be have a maximum height of 90-feet-tall. The fourth building is slated to become the health club if approved.

“The vision is to extend The Boro development across Westpark Drive and to continue the transformation of Tysons from a suburban office park to an urban center,” Elizabeth Baker, a senior land use planner for Walsh Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh told Tysons Reporter in May.

Rezoning for the proposed development is still in the review process and likely won’t go before a public hearing until 2021, Baker said.

Image via Google Maps

(Updated 9/9) The Weekly Planner is a roundup of interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.

We’ve scoured the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield, McLean and Falls Church. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!

Tuesday (Sept. 8)

• 2020 Tuesday Night 5k –6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Caboose Tavern (520 NE Mill Street)– Runners and walkers can take part in this multi-part series held on the W&OD Trai. Registration is $10 and people should arrive 45 minutes early for registration, the page said.

Wednesday (Sept. 9)

• Kanopy Film Discussion Group –8 to 9 p.m. online– The Mary Riley Styles Public Library is hosting a discussion on Frontline: Left Behind America. People can email Pete Sullivan ([email protected]) for a Zoom invitation or more info. The film is a documentary from PBS that explores the struggles of the post-economic recession in Dayton, Ohio, the page said.

Thursday (Sept. 10)

• Pets for Vets –4 to 8 p.m. at Settle Down Brewing (2822 Fallfax Drive)– This event invites people to take place in a fundraiser for Pets for Vets, which provides service animals that used to be shelter animals to military veterans. People can enjoy drink specials and free bingo, the Facebook event page said. 
• The Boro Farmers Market –3 to 7 p.m. at the Boro Tysons(8301 Greensboro Drive)– This local market will feature fruits and vegetables, grass-fed meats and pastured eggs and baked goods, the event page said.

Sunday (Sept. 13)

• Adoption Event –12 to 3 p.m. at Chico’s Natural Pet Market (6349 A Columbia Pike)– Anyone looking for their next furry friend can check out this dog adoption event. This event will allow attendees to meet pups up for adoption and learn about foster opportunities, the event listing said.
• Intro to Traditional Climbing –9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Seneca Rocks Mountain Guides East (9200 Old Dominion Drive)– For $125 people can try out this all-day experience which will teach them safe practices for outdoor climbing. Top rope climbing and belay experience is required, the page said. 
• Music In the Gardens –3 to 4 p.m. at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens (9750 Meadowlark Gardens Ct)– This series will feature live music from the Virginia Chamber Orchestra. Guests are welcome to bring a blanket or fold-up chairs to sit on. The concert is free with admission to the gardens.

Photo via Meadowlark Botanical Gardens/Facebook

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

ShowPlace Icon didn’t know when its Tysons location opened in February that the contactless kiosks would come in handy for a pandemic.

The kiosks are just one of the ways the newly reopened theater aims to reduce the spread of COVID-19. From the “digital box office” to the mobile app, Jim Nowicki, the theater chain’s marketing director, shared with Tysons Reporter how technology is playing a starring role in the theater’s reopening and overall brand.

“I think initially when we opened, people were apprehensive to use the kiosks because they like that human touch factor,” Nowicki said. “And then who knew that a couple of months later, we are way ahead of the curve, and everyone loves the fact that we have kiosks and a very vibrant mobile app.”

The luxury theater (1667 Silver Hill Drive) has turned to online and mobile ordering as a selling point to bring movie-goers back.

When people order their tickets, the system automatically blocks off seats around the reserved ones to keep people 6 feet apart, Nowicki said. While Nowicki doesn’t expect people to disregard the seating assignments during the pandemic, he said staff will check to make sure everyone is sitting where they are supposed to.

When Tysons Reporter talked to Nowicki, the theater in The Boro had been open for five days after its months-long closure.

The 72,000-square-foot theater originally opened in February, boasting large-format auditoriums, heated recliners, 4K laser projection and more. The Boro location especially emphasized its restaurant and bar — both of which are still temporarily closed as the theater brings back its offerings in phases, Nowicki said.

People can still get their popcorn and drinks from the concession stand’s limited menu. When people get food through the mobile app, the order will be sent to the concession stand for preparation when they check-in at the theater, he said.

“We just want to make sure that our experience when it’s open, is the best experience possible, and we didn’t want to rush our openings and have someone come into an inferior experience,” Nowicki said.

Even though movie theaters could reopen when Virginia’s Phase 3 guidelines went into effect on July 1, Nowicki said that ShowPlace waited to reopen in mid-August so that safety protocols would be in place and movie-goers could see new films, like “Unhinged,” the thriller starring Russell Crowe, and “Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula,” the horror film about soldiers battling post-apocalyptic zombies in Korea.

“Our numbers have been slower, obviously than in our opening, but we’re building so every day we’re starting to see more and more guests coming in,” Nowicki said, adding that word-of-mouth and spreading information about the theater’s safety measures are big factors for enticing people back.

To talk to customers directly, the theater is relying on its Extras Club, a free membership program that offers discounted and advance tickets, and a social media campaign. The theater also signed on to the National Association of Theatre Owners’ CinemaSafe Program that features safety guidelines developed by epidemiologists. (Full lists of the program’s guidelines and ShowPlace Icon’s safety measures are online.)

Now, COVID-19 delays that pushed the big summer movies, like “Wonder Woman 1984” and the James Bond film “No Time to Die,” to the fall and winter will hopefully entice viewers, Nowicki said.

Nowicki said he doesn’t expect the shifting release dates to be difficult for the theater, noting that the movie industry in recent years has already seen adjustments for when blockbusters hit screens.

“You used to have your big films start in June or late May when school is out, but then you started seeing films opening in early May and then you start seeing films opening in late April to build to the early May, to build to June,” Nowicki said. “So now you’re really seeing big films in March.”

With people working from home in the Tysons area, ShowPlace Icon is staying flexible about expanding its mid-day showtimes. “We still have a lot of people who can come out to matinee shows or come out to weekday shows, and they’re eager to do it,” Nowicki said.

The theater is now screening “The New Mutants” and “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” along with offering early access to “Tenet.”

Nowicki said he expects “Tenet” will be a “game-changer” that will fill more seats: “We want this to be successful, and we actually want people to come back and have a little bit of escapism.”

First photo courtesy ShowPlace Icon

After delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, several new films are hitting the screens at newly-reopened movie theaters.

“Tenet,” “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Bill & Ted Face The Music” are some of the films poised to hit theaters soon.

In the Tysons area, ShowPlace Icon in The Boro and AMC Theatre in Tysons Corner Center recently reopened. Angelika Film Center’s website says the Mosaic District location is “coming soon.”

Gov. Ralph Northam forced movie theaters to close in the spring, but under Phase Three, which started July 1, movie theaters can open at 50% capacity.

Let us know in the poll and comments below if you are comfortable heading to movie theaters again.

Photo by Corina Rainer/Unsplash

ShowPlace Icon is now screening movies again at The Boro.

The 72,000-square-foot theater (1667 Silver Hill Drive) — the seventh for the luxury movie theater chain — temporarily closed its new Tysons location due to COVID-19 restrictions just weeks after opening. During its closure, the theater sponsored The Boro’s drive-in movie series in June and July.

The theater announced that it reopened today (Friday). Competitor AMC Theatre reopened yesterday in Tysons Corner Center.

Today and this weekend, ShowPlace Icon is screening “Inception” to celebrate the film’s 10th anniversary, “Unhinged,” “Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula” and “Words on Bathroom Walls,” according to its website.

Audience goers are required to wear face coverings. The theater is encouraging people to buy tickets and concession items in advance to reduce contact. A full list of safety measures to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 is on the theater’s website.

The theater’s 14 auditoriums can seat 1,795 people, but the movie chain said that it will have reduced seating due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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