FCPS to Highlight Need for Safe Gun Storage — “Fairfax County Public Schools will notify parents and guardians about Virginia’s new secure firearm storage law, why secure storage is essential, and other ways to prevent gun violence or seek help for a child who could be a threat to themselves or others. The communication will be sent in January and then annually before the start of each school year.” [Karl Frisch]
Lawsuit Accuses FCPD Officers of Sexual Assault and Complicity in Sex Trafficking — “The woman, who is referred to only as Jane Doe because she is a trafficking victim, alleges that the Fairfax County, Virginia, police department, including its former chief Edwin Roessler, knew that some officers were possibly participating in and protecting the ring, but allowed the officers to retire with full pensions rather than prosecute them.” [Reuters]
County Awarded for Mosaic Autonomous Shuttle — “The @fairfaxcounty Relay Shuttle project was presented the Fairfax County TAC Transportation Achievement Award on December 7, 2021. The award is given to the person or group that has made the most significant contribution during the year. The Relay project team accepted the award” [Virginia DRPT/Twitter]
Meet the Tysons Corner Center Santa — Tennessee resident Mike Graham has been serving as Santa at Tysons Corner Center for the past 34 years. He was first sent to the mall by a photo company that was looking for more Santas, and that initial appearance got such “a tremendous response” that the management team asked if he’d like to work with them exclusively. [Northern Virginia Magazine]
McLean 7-Eleven and Merrifield BMW Center Burglarized — Two men entered the 7-Eleven at 8110 Old Dominion Drive around 1:36 a.m. on Dec. 11, implied they had a weapon, and took property. Another commercial burglary was reported on Dec. 12 at the BMW Collison Center at 2730 Dorr Drive after someone forced their way into the business and took property around 10:30 a.m. [FCPD]
Winners of Vienna Holiday Lights Contest Announced — For the 2021 Light Up Vienna contest, first place in the business category as voted on by the town business liaison committee was split between Vienna Rexall Drug Center and Judd Tile. Public voters awarded the People’s Choice prize to Vienna Pet Spaw on Church Street, and 121 Casmar Street SE (also known as Casmar Street Lights) came out on top in the residents category. [Town of Vienna/Facebook]
Cha Tea House has arrived at Tysons Corner Center, intent on sharing a love not just of Pakistan’s food, but also its people and culture.
Located between &Pizza and Cava Mezze Grill, the cafe will welcome customers for the first time with a soft opening at 10 a.m. today (Friday). This is Cha Tea House’s first brick-and-mortar location after it started in October 2020 as a food truck in Springfield.
“Excited and anxious,” co-owner Sofhia Qamar said yesterday (Thursday) when asked how she felt about the impending opening. “We think we’re ready, but you’re never actually ready until you’re in business and operating.”
Some passersby had already popped in, perhaps drawn by the colorful signage and chairs on the eatery’s outdoor patio. Qamar says it’s been hard turning those visitors away, so she’s eager to be able to tell people that they’re now open and serving.
In addition to tea and coffee, the menu features burgers, chicken sandwiches, and burrito rolls wrapped in paratha, a traditional South Asian flatbread, along with various sides like samosas.
The snack and dessert offerings are more extensive than what Cha Tea House is able to provide at its Springfield location. Some items, like a paan milkshake, are being reintroduced after proving popular there but too challenging to make in a food truck.
Once the initial frenzy of opening a new tea shop subsides, the team plans to expand the menu further with salads, rice bowls, and other dishes, adding one new item each month, Qamar says.
Though a brick-and-mortar cafe can’t replicate the roadside dhabas that inspired Cha Tea House as closely as a food truck, Qamar and her fellow owners incorporated touches of their parents’ native Pakistan throughout the space.
A hall lined by flower boxes suggests “an outdoor vibe,” as Qamar put it, even though it’s inside, and the walls are decorated with paintings done by Pakistani artists and shipped over to the U.S. There is also a Cha Market in the back that will sell mugs, water bottles, and other products handcrafted by artists in Pakistan.
“We really want to kind of educate people about how amazing Pakistan is and how rich the culture is,” said Qamar, who was born in the U.S. to parents who immigrated from Pakistan. “We’re really proud of it, and we want to share that pride with other people and let them enjoy it as well.”
Cha Tea House is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to midnight on Fridays, 9 a.m. to midnight on Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.
The cafe is preparing to hold a bigger grand opening in January that Qamar says will include musical performances. After that, there will be musicians and other kinds of entertainment every weekend.
“We’re just really happy to be part of Tysons,” she said. “It’s a very up-and-coming area. It’s always been an up-and-coming area, but [we want] to bring a bit more diversity and introduce Pakistani food to a very, I think, adventurous group at Tysons.”
The upcoming pedestrian bridge over I-495 in Tysons has seen its estimated costs rise to $13.4 million as landowners lock in easements and right of ways needed for the connector.
The Virginia Department of Transportation says it has been working with private parties to secure deals, one of which involved a $698,920 payment agreement to the condominium Encore of McLean.
Until the bicycle/pedestrian bridge is created, residents east of the Capital Beltway have to use an interstate underpass at Route 123 or Route 7 overpass to get to Tysons Corner Center, essentially requiring vehicular trips to the mall.
When construction activities began in August, the project cost was estimated at $12.3 million. The $1.1 million increase is due to right-of-way costs, VDOT said.
Crews are developing a staging area where a drilling machine will be used to create the foundation for the pedestrians.
“Over the next several months, crews will continue installing a retaining wall off of Old Meadow Road behind the Dolley Madison Apartments and will begin installing the bicycle and pedestrian bridge foundations and piers on both sides of I-495 and in the median of the 495 Express Lanes,” VDOT spokesperson Mike Murphy said in an email.
Focused on building the bridge and part of a shared-use path on Old Meadow Road, the first phase of project is scheduled for completion in summer 2022.
“Construction of the second phase of the project, the section of the shared-use path along Old Meadow Road from Provincial Drive to Route 123, will begin once additional funding is identified,” Murphy also wrote.
According to VDOT, the rapid growth of the Tysons area has resulted in a significantly higher cost for acquiring the easements.
Among a handful of other right-of-way or easements transactions secured, Tysons Corner Property Holdings, the limited-liability company used by Southern California-based Tysons Corner Center owner Macerich, received no financial award.
The condominium Regency at McLean obtained a $35,500 agreement, and Dolley Madison finalized a settlement on Nov. 9, details of which could be released in early January, according to VDOT.
VDOT said the increased costs were part of the scope of the contract.
Omicron Variant of COVID-19 Found in Virginia — Yesterday (Thursday), the Virginia Department of Health confirmed the state’s first case of the omicron variant that was first identified in Botswana and South Africa in November. The sample came from an adult in the northwest region who had no history of international travel, but did travel domestically during the exposure period. [VDH]
Tysons Event Company Is Now Public — “Event management company Cvent has once again become a public traded company. As of Thursday morning, the firm began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker CVT following the close of a merger deal with special purpose acquisition company Dragoneer Growth Opportunities Corp. II.” [Technicl.ly]
Local Startup Raises $7 Million — “Tysons tech startup Datasembly, which gives grocers and other retailers real-time product pricing data, has raised millions in new funding to hire aggressively and get its analytics platform to more customers in a period of pandemic-fueled demand.” [DC Inno]
Washington Post Reviews Local Selfie Wrld — “I have feelings about Selfie Wrld, an Instagram selfie studio tucked away in the Tysons Corner Center mall; feelings I considered while attempting to make a sultry, thoughtful face while uncomfortably posed on a hard red plastic couch shaped like a pair of lips, in a red room, beneath a red neon sign that said ‘Feelings,’ because nothing about this place is subtle.” [The Washington Post]
Voting Starts for Vienna Holiday Lights Contest — “As homes and businesses get decorated for the holiday season in Vienna, it’s time to vote for the best displays in town. The annual Vienna Holiday Decorating Contest is now open for voting through Dec. 16.” [Patch]
Vehicle manufacturers at Tysons Corner Center can now let customers purchase a car on-site and drive away with it.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to grant the mall’s request that vehicle sales be a permitted use in its parking garages after a public hearing on Tuesday (Dec. 7).
Under the approved plan, Tysons Corner Center can allocate 30 parking spaces each to up to eight different vehicle manufacturers for vehicle storage and sales. The designated spaces will account for 240 out of the roughly 11,000 spaces available at the mall.
Tenants are prohibited from using the spaces to provide vehicle services, and the mall has committed to limiting loading activities to outside its operating hours, so they won’t disrupt customer traffic, Fairfax County Zoning Evaluation Division Director Tracy Strunk told the board.
“No outdoor display is going to be permitted. That’s one of the development conditions,” said Brian Clifford, a land-use planner with DLA Piper who represented Tysons Corner Center at the hearing. “At the moment, we only have two [tenants], but we asked for eight total just for the sake of flexibility, and there’s nothing that could limit another manufacturer from coming.”
The mall’s two current vehicle manufacturers are Tesla, which also has a store on Tyco Road, and Lucid Motors, which opened a showroom on Nov. 6.
According to Tysons Corner Center’s rezoning application, Tesla was allowed to have six designated parking spaces, including two electric chargers, to store vehicles when the county permitted its showroom in 2012, but customers couldn’t make purchases directly from the showrooms.
Instead, customers order a vehicle, make a deposit, and have the car delivered to them at a later date, according to Clifford.
He says allowing on-site vehicle sales will put Tysons Corner Center “at the forefront of the vehicle sales industry,” allowing the showrooms to offer a standard car dealership service but in an environment similar to other mall retail stores.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended on Nov. 17 that the supervisors approve the mall’s application, a decision also supported by county staff.
Lucid Motors is also planning to open a store and service center at Tysons Galleria. That proposal got the planning commission’s approval on Oct. 20 and was later granted by the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 9.
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said she believes the addition of auto sales at Tysons Corner Center will add to the mall’s vitality.
“I did get a chance to swing by on the opening day of the Lucid location recently — very enthusiastic public, very well-displayed,” Palchik said. “I look forward to seeing more of these electric vehicle sales coming to our county, especially Tysons.”
Traveling Players has big plans for its first in-person, public performances in the COVID-19 era.
After staging 15 plays on Zoom during the pandemic, the educational theater nonprofit reopened its studio at Tysons Corner Center to students this fall, and it has been able to provide in-person classes and programming to students from 4th through 12th grade, thanks to the recent expansion of vaccine eligibility to younger age groups.
“[H]aving the vaccine be an option for those younger kids has been great, and we’re actually right next door to the mass vaccination center, so they can go next door and get vaccinated,” said Jeanne Harrison, producing artistic director for the theater company. “A lot of them are in the process of being vaccinated because they’re just newly eligible, but we’re thrilled to have them with us.”
All of the company’s students will present their work to the public with a free, family-friendly showcase at the studio, located on the first floor of the mall, on Saturday, Dec. 11.
The 36 kids in the showcase will perform improv sketches, monologues, and theatrical scenes at 3:30 p.m. with advanced performances at 5:15 p.m.
Traveling Players is asking audience members to be vaccinated and wear masks. Performers — nearly all of whom are vaccinated or are in the process of getting the vaccine — will have the option to remove masks while on stage.
While most of its fall classes started in October, Traveling Players initially had to cancel those for its youngest performers, who were not vaccine-eligible at the time. Harrison told Tysons Reporter that they originally lacked the numbers needed to hold those classes.
That changed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s announcement on Nov. 2 that some 28 million children could get vaccinated against COVID-19. Traveling Players resumed the elementary student class in November.
During the pandemic, the theater company had been making costumes and creating props and sets at its studio and delivering them to kids’ houses, where they created home studios and performed in front of their computers.
Traveling Players took its first steps toward offering in-person programming again this past summer, reorganizing its typical summer camps as “residential sleepaway camps” that took place outdoors with students staying overnight.
“What we decided was that we could be in person as long as we had a big space and that we controlled the space. We were able to bubble and really control who was in there,” Harrison said.
As schools relied on remote learning for much of the past two years, the isolation took a toll on kids’ emotional and mental well-being, health researchers have noted. Harrison says Traveling Players has been an antidote to that stress.
“We’re community based, and the kids, they’re making friends,” she said. “They’re being reunited with their old friends; they’re creating art; they’re expressing themselves; they’re laughing again. Yeah, their sparkle is coming back. It’s beautiful to see.”
After the showcase, Traveling Players will hold tryouts for an upcoming Dionysian festival on Sunday, Dec. 12, followed the next week by auditions for its summer camps, which will be overnight and outdoors again.
Coupled with additional programming like Greek trivia nights, the Dionysian Play Festival will have rehearsals from January through March, culminating with performances of “Ariadne’s Thread,” “The Odyssey,” and “Hecuba” at the mall from March 12-20 next year.
David Taube contributed to this report
FCPS Settles Lawsuit Over Treatment of Students with Disabilities — “Three disability rights organizations…and the families of six students with disabilities had sued in 2019, alleging that students with disabilities in Fairfax schools experienced discrimination, trauma and physical harm through the excessive and improper use of seclusion and physical restraint. As part of the agreement reached Tuesday [Nov. 23], Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) will ban all seclusion practices and curtail its use of physical restraint by the next academic year.” [The Washington Post]
Black Friday Shoppers Return to Tysons Corner — Traffic and sales at Tysons Corner Center were roughly on par with 2019 for Black Friday, according to a senior marketing manager for the mall. She said the return of pre-pandemic crowds wasn’t surprising, since the shopping center has seen a steady increase in traffic over the past three weeks. [WTOP]
Fire and Rescue Department Offers Hanukkah Safety Tips — “Hanukkah starts this evening [Sunday] and runs through December 6. It is a joyous time, so please ensure you and your loved ones stay safe as the holiday season is the peak time of year for home candle fires. Get in S.T.E.P. (Safety Takes Every Person) With FCFRD This Holiday Season and candle with care!” [FCFRD]
McLean Rotary Club Recognizes Front-Line Service Workers — “Under the leadership of president John McEvilly, the Rotary Club of McLean has initiated a new program — ‘Dignity of Work’ Award. According to former McLean Rotary President Lynn Heinrichs, who chairs the initiative, the award ‘is designed to recognize and promote the great people working in the McLean community.'” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
Retirement Puts Vienna Tree Assessments on Hold — “Due to staffing shortages stemming from a retirement, the Town is temporarily unable to conduct tree assessments on private property. Tree assessments on private property are expected to resume in March 2022 after appropriate staffing levels have been restored.” [Town of Vienna/Twitter]
Thanksgiving is still around the corner, but at Tysons Corner Center, it’s starting to feel a little like Christmas.
The mall kicked off its 2021 winter holiday season on Friday (Nov. 19) with a tree lighting ceremony that included live music and theater performances, complimentary s’mores and hot chocolate stations, and a pop-up market featuring some of its retailers.
Despite the chilly weather, the mood on the Plaza — where the tree lighting festivities took place — was relaxed, even cheery, as loud speakers blasted winter staples from Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
“Look at all the faces out here!” a man dressed as Santa Claus said when taking the stage just after 6:20 p.m. for the lighting of the approximately 50-foot-tall pine tree.
For Marvin Ramos and Catherine Romero, this was an opportunity to resume a cherished tradition after Tysons Corner canceled the tree lighting last year due to the pandemic, though the mall still hosted a few other holiday events.
Ramos has attended every year for as long as he can remember, thanks to his parents’ avid listening to the radio station 97.1 WASH FM, which partners with Tysons Corner Center on the event. Host Toby Knapp served as emcee for this year’s ceremony.
Now 25 years old, Ramos has carried on the tradition with Romero, braving Capital Beltway traffic annually to get to the mall from their home in Rockville, Maryland.
“Just seeing everybody here together, getting ready for the holiday season, seeing the joy in everybody, the music, all that stuff,” Ramos said when asked what makes the Tysons tree lighting special.
Though she quips that she comes “to support him,” Romero says she has enjoyed turning the tree lighting into a routine since Ramos introduced her to it. She especially likes the pop-up market, which included booths for Northern Virginia Orthodontics, Sheepskin Gifts and Alpaca Too, and other local businesses.
“It’s a good way to know what’s in the area and get to meet new shop and business owners…support small businesses, meanwhile celebrating the holidays,” she said. “It’s great. It’s fun.”
On the other end of the spectrum is Luda, a Fairfax resident who declined to give her last name.
Accompanied by her partner and their two children, she was attending the Tysons Corner tree lighting for the first time. She says they have been going out more as a family than they were at this time last year.
“I like to see [the] decoration and light,” Luda said. “I’m very much enjoying bringing my baby to events, free events like this, and to get together with people, to share the holidays, I love it.”
In addition to the tree lighting, Tysons Corner Center has been hosting photos with Santa since Nov. 12, and he will be around through Dec. 24. Reservations are recommended but not required.
The mall’s upcoming holiday events are similarly Santa-centric:
- Breakfast with Santa — Dec. 4, 9-10 a.m., at the food court — Reservations are not required for this first-come, first-served complimentary catered breakfast with kid entertainment and other family-friendly activities.
- Pet Nights with Santa — Dec. 6, 13, and 20, 6-8 p.m., at the Fashion Court on Level 1 — Santa poses with visitors’ pets in this returning event. Reservations encouraged.
- Storytime with Santa — Dec. 11, 9-10 a.m., at the Fashion Court — Santa reads classic holiday stories for children. Reservations are not required.
- Sensory Santa — Dec. 12, 9:30-10:30 a.m., at the Fashion Court — In a partnership with Cherry Hill photography and the nonprofit Autism Speaks, Tysons Corner Center will open exclusively to families who have children with special needs. Reservations are not required.
Dozens of parking spots at Tysons Corner Center could soon be filled with new electric vehicles waiting for buyers.
Manufacturers Tesla, Lucid Motors, and future tenants could eventually use some of the mall’s parking spots to store and sell vehicles, pending final approval from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended approval of the amendment to the mall’s development plan following a public hearing on Wednesday (Nov. 17) to let the mall use up to 240 spots for eight businesses.
Vehicles would be prohibited from “outdoor display,” and there’s no service component involved, according to a representative for the mall, Brian Clifford, a senior use planner with the global law firm DLA Piper.
That contrasts with Lucid Motors’ plan to convert part of the former Macy’s space at nearby Tysons Galleria into a service center. The Board of Supervisors approved that special exception request on Nov. 9.
“We really envision this looking, feeling, functioning, much more like almost every other retail space we have in the mall today, rather than what we think of as kind of the large-scale, typical car dealership,” Clifford told the planning commission.
The vehicles would be parked in lots by Bloomingdale’s, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s, and Nordstrom. Tenants such as Tesla and Lucid Motors would be able to store up to 30 vehicles each, a small percentage of the mall’s 11,000-plus parking spaces.
The changes would come as the county is exploring possible ways to update its rules for off-street parking, such as the number of spots required for businesses, with a Parking Reimagined initiative.
Providence District Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner described the planned change at Tysons Corner Center as “the spirit of Tysons’ continued evolution to a modern urban center driven by innovation, rebirth, repurposing, and resiliency.”
A dessert bar featuring gourmet popcorn, milkshakes, and more has popped its way into Tysons.
The Popcorn Bag DC is opening this week at Tysons Corner Center, where it landed reduced rent there as part of a 2021 “Shark Tank”-like competition along with two other businesses.
The Popcorn Bag DC is located next to Coastal Flats and La Sandia. The hours are Thursdays through Sundays, starting at noon until they’re sold out.
It will have a private invite-only event on Thursday (Nov. 18), followed by specials and giveaways when it opens to the public starting Friday (Nov. 19).
Promotions for the grand opening weekend include coupons with all purchases on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 20), special gifts with Saturday purchases, and an additional reward for those who buy milkshakes on those two days between noon and 3 p.m.
A live DJ will also be there Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. A free mimosa will be given with purchases on Sunday.
The business offers popcorn flavors ranging from buffalo ranch and key lime pie to a Hennessy-inspired Chocolate Henny, chicken and waffles, and Ladies Night (a strawberry, champagne, and cheesecake mix). It also lists what treats are dairy-free and nut-free.
The business launched Oct. 8, 2020 in Maryland by the Metro’s Green Line in Hillcrest Heights.
“We don’t have anything like this in the area, and I wanted to be different,” owner Teia Hill said of its Maryland location in a video with the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation.
The Popcorn Bag was one of three winners of Tysons Corner Center’s DreamStart Competition, which offered businesses three months of free rent, among other prizes.
The first-place winner was the traditional Italian bakery Bisnonna Bakeshop, which opened next to Barnes & Noble in September. The Popcorn Bag was a runner-up, along with Garçon Mèlaninè & Co., a Black-owned children’s fashion brand that opened near the restaurant Wasabi at the end of August.