Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in Vienna. You can follow Laura on Instagram at @LauraSchwartzRealtor or her Facebook page. Laura can be reached at 703-283-6120 or [email protected].
One week until Halloween! You know that means the 76th Annual Vienna Halloween Parade is this Wednesday at 7pm! Here are my best tips for enjoying the event and the holiday around town:
- Trick or Treating is always the actual night of Halloween, regardless of day of the week. Most of the younger kids start right before it gets dark (around 530/6 p.m.). In my experience, most of the kids are done by 9 p.m., especially because it’s a school night.
- The Halloween parade starts at 7 p.m., however, people put out chairs/blankets to reserve their spots along the route starting around noon the day of the parade (the Town asks that people not do it before then). Also please be mindful not to cover or block the sidewalk and benches.
- If you have a flatbed truck, you can back into parking spaces at the shopping centers and sit high to get a better view.
- Some of the groups in the parade are very loud. If you have someone who is noise sensitive, consider bringing something to help them enjoy the parade without the noise.
- There are no food vendors except for the nearby restaurants so plan to bring food if you need it or support a local restaurant.
- Kids in costumes can walk in the parade with an adult if they want to. Participants meet at 6 p.m. in the parking lot at United Bank (374 Maple Avenue E).
- Depending on what part of town you live in, you should be able to find parking to easily get out. Many people park at Vienna Elementary, the library, the Giant shopping plaza, side streets, Walgreens shopping center, or the Fresh Market parking lot.
The parade route runs on Maple Ave from Branch Road to Center St. Bring extra blankets in case it’s cold. You can grab hot chocolate and food at the Vienna Shopping Center and Caffe Amouri is open until 7 p.m., so grab your hot chocolate on the way.
Here’s a map of the parade route and road closures (the first year we lived in Vienna I had no idea this was a thing and we tried to get take out that night… big mistake!)
ALSO NEW ADDITION:
I started a map of creative Halloween displays around Vienna. I’m sure I’m missing something so please let me know who I’m missing!
And one more thing: The Flagship Car Wash in Vienna is doing a “Tunnel of Terror” from 7-10 p.m. October 27-30. Tickets are $25 pre sale and $30 at the door and include a car wash!
The preceding sponsored post was also published on FFXnow.com
A couple in Merrifield have been sentenced to prison for using the wife’s real estate job to steal people’s identities.
Caprice Foster, 51, and Marcus Foster, 33, took personal identifying information from at least nine people and used it to “buy a luxury vehicle, lease high-end residences, and obtain loans and credit,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said Friday (Oct. 14).
The information was primarily obtained through Caprice Foster’s work as a real estate agent and timeshare salesperson, per the news release:
To carry out their fraud scheme, the Fosters created numerous false identification documents in other people’s names, including social security cards and driver’s licenses, and they also fabricated tax and employment documents in their victims’ names. The Fosters opened fraudulent bank accounts using stolen identities and deposited stolen and altered checks into these accounts. The Fosters also incorporated a business that they used in furtherance of the fraud. Mr. Foster even impersonated victims in state court eviction proceedings to prolong the Fosters’ stay in residences they fraudulently leased.
Caprice Foster was sentenced to 80 months in prison, while Marcus has been sentenced to 58 months.
According to the Department of Justice, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis joined prosecutors at the sentencing announcement, along with officials from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Photo via Tierra Mallorca/Unsplash
In a sequence of events that could’ve been ripped out of a pulpy crime thriller, a man in Vienna was reportedly taken for a ride and robbed at gunpoint — potentially by a trio spotted patronizing a local gun shop earlier that day.
Around 2:40 p.m. on April 9, the man was picked up by three men in a vehicle, one of them an acquaintance, at the Giant shopping center (359 Maple Avenue), according to the Vienna Police Department’s recap for the week of April 8-14.
“While they were driving around, the three men displayed handguns and announced a robbery, taking the citizen’s belongings,” police said. “The men allowed the citizen to exit the vehicle on Cabin Road where he ran to the nearest residence for assistance.”
(Updated at 10:10 a.m.) Tysons got a shoutout yesterday (Wednesday) from Rep. Gerry Connolly (D) at the Congressional hearing on Metro.
Connolly called the hearing before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Reform, which he chairs, in December to address the safety issues that have sidelined more than half of the transit system’s trains for nearly three months now after a derailment in Arlington.
The two-hour hearing primarily featured Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Agency leaders addressing questions about the prolonged effort to fix the 7000-series trains, ridership declines, and a looming budget shortfall with federal relief funds running out.
However, it also saw Connolly defend the investments made to bring Metro into Tysons and Reston. The first phase of the Silver Line opened in 2014, after Connolly assumed office in Congress, but the groundwork for the $2.9 billion project was laid while he served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
Asked whether the D.C. area has the density to support Metro, witness David Ditch, a policy analyst for the conservative Heritage Foundation, suggested local governments should privatize rail or shift resources to buses, which he argued are “more economical” since they “share road infrastructure.”
“When you’re in a hole, stop digging,” Ditch said. “Past spending on transit infrastructure is not a justification for ignoring high costs and limited benefits or adding even more high-cost infrastructure on top of what we already have.”
Connolly countered that federal and local officials “experimented with” a variety of options for the Silver Line, including the inclusion of a bus rapid transit system as part of the project. Fairfax County launched an express bus service in the Dulles corridor in 1999.
However, he said the buses saw a third or less of the ridership of the existing Metro trains, indicating that rail would be the better investment.
He pointed to Tysons as an illustration of how transit can spur economic development, drawing more residents and businesses that will sustain the system long term, at least if Fairfax County’s comprehensive plan pans out.
“When we built the Silver Line through Tysons, we had 17,000 people live in Tysons, a physical area bigger than downtown Boston,” Connolly said. “Because of the advent of rail, there’ll be 100,000 additional residents in Tysons. The density, in some cases, is dependent on the investment in rail, and I believe Tysons is a great example of a potential success story.”
Unmentioned during the hearing was that plans for bus rapid transit in Tysons are in the works, though the proposed system will be tied to Route 7, rather than the Silver Line.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is also scheduled to approve plans to enhance bus service in Reston and Herndon later this month, as Metro prepares to open the Silver Line’s second phase this spring after years of delays.
For all its transit-friendly aspirations, Tysons remains decidedly car-oriented. Take the seven-lane gauntlet that is Route 7 (Leesburg Pike), where evening rush-hour backups can extend for blocks and crosswalks feel like dares.
With uprooting one of the region’s major thoroughfares presumably out of the question, state and local transportation staff hope to at least improve the situation with an ongoing study of Route 7 between Route 123 (Chain Bridge Road) and I-495.
In partnership with Fairfax County, the Virginia Department of Transportation is now seeking input on ways to minimize crashes, relieve congestion, and improve pedestrian and bus facilities in the corridor.
The online survey is open through Feb. 16, as officials finalize a plan to address safety and traffic issues.
State officials suspect congestion is a primary factor in numerous crashes. From 2015 to 2019, this stretch of road saw five crashes resulting in severe injuries, 90 other injuries, and 141 more incidents involving property damage.
Possible solutions include removing service roads and adding a shared-use path for pedestrians and cyclists, upgrading crosswalks and curbs, and widening a median for future bus rapid transit or BRT lanes.
The study is part of a new Project Pipeline launched last year by the Commonwealth Transportation Board that seeks to streamline high-priority projects. With the program, officials will prioritize limited funding for a handful of projects in the state, including Route 7.
The improvements recommended by the study will tie into plans to widen Route 7 to accommodate express bus lanes, according to Allan Fye, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission’s director of programs and policy.
“[These] efforts support the ultimate goal to provide high-quality, high-capacity BRT service along the Route 7 corridor,” he said in an email.
Plans to bring dedicated bus lanes to Tysons have been in the works for years.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a BRT route last July that’s being incorporated into NVTC’s larger effort to develop a bus service from the Spring Hill Metro station to Alexandria’s Mark Center.
The Envision Route 7 planning process began in 2013 and moved into its fourth phase in October with a mobility study looking at the proposed route from Tysons to Seven Corners. The study is expected to be complete by June 2023.
“NVTC has and continues to work closely with [the Fairfax County Department of Transportation] and VDOT,” Fye said. “Our close coordination allows us to leverage each other’s work to advance the overall BRT project while providing strategic opportunities to advance key segments that may allow service to begin in phases.”
After collecting public input from the Project Pipeline survey, VDOT will examine how to fund the upgrades from March to July this year.
Photo via VDOT
The national chain Kura Sushi is bringing a sushi bar to Tysons, its first Virginia location.
The publicly traded company, whose closest site right now is in D.C., plans to open at 8461 Leesburg Pike by the end of this year, spokesperson Lauren Murakami confirmed.
Kura Sushi will replace the closed Roti Mediterranean Grill restaurant at the plaza, which is anchored by Best Buy and also has Chick-fil-A and Chipotle. The center will also soon house Vertical Rock, a bouldering gym expected to open this spring.
“We’ve been wanting to expand more on the east coast, as the majority of our restaurants are primarily on the west coast, specifically in Southern California,” Murakami wrote in an email. “Tysons Corner is reputable for its premier entertainment and shopping centers, and we offer a unique technology-driven dining experience that we feel will cater to this lively community.”
Kura Sushi’s D.C. restaurant features $3.15 sushi plates served on a conveyor belt that rolls food to customers’ tables, a setup that will be familiar to patrons of Wasabi in Tysons Corner Center.
Menu items generally range from spicy tuna and shrimp avocado rolls to softshell crab tempura, ramen and udon soups, and Japanese-style soy milk doughnuts and other desserts.
The company is an offshoot of a Japan-based brand of the same name that has over 480 restaurants. The American subsidiary, Kura Sushi USA, has dozens of locations, mostly in California and Texas.
A quarterly earnings report on Jan. 6 reaffirmed the company’s plan to open eight to 10 new restaurants this fiscal year, which started Sept. 1, 2021.
Idylwood Shooting Was a Suicide — Fairfax County police confirmed community reports that they responded to a shooting in the 7600 block of Virginia Lane near the W&OD Trail over the weekend. A spokesperson told Tysons Reporter that an individual died by suicide in a backyard, explaining that the department generally doesn’t publicly report suicides. [FCPD]
Funding for New 911 Model Approved — A budget review approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (Jan. 25) included Covid relief funds for 26 positions to support the first phase of a permanent program where police work with behavioral health specialists when responding to 911 calls. The county began piloting the co-responder model last year. [Jeff McKay]
“City View” Tysons Site Sold to Developer — An affiliate of D.C. developer Four Points LLC bought the former Association for Manufacturing Technology building site at 7901 Westpark Drive for about $10 million in late December. AMT was poised to build a 10-story office tower on the lot east of Tysons Galleria, but the site’s future under Four Points, which generally works on primarily residential mixed-use projects, is unclear. [Washington Business Journal]
McLean Gift Shop to Close — The Artisans will close in February after 32 years of selling handmade clothing, home decor, and other items, starting in 1990 at Marketplace of McLean before moving to its current location in the Langley Shopping Center. The owners plan to retire and are selling everything for 20% off. [Patch]
County Retains AAA Bond Rating — “On Wednesday, Jan. 19, Fairfax County completed a successful bond sale, generating $300 million to fund various project areas, after once again affirming its AAA bond rating with all three major rating agencies.” [Fairfax County Government]
The Mobil gas station on Route 123 by Tysons Corner Center is getting a touch-up for the 21st century.
With a special exception application submitted to the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning on Jan. 10, Petroleum Marketing Group has proposed eliminating the station’s car wash and repair bays and replacing them with a convenience store.
While the store won’t be as extensive as a Wawa or Sheetz, it will offer coffee, doughnuts, and a variety of prepared food for customers looking to grab a snack while filling up their gas tank, development director Armand Keurian told Tysons Reporter.
“We just want a use that’s more conducive in today’s environment with a gas station, and as you can see, convenience stores and gas stations go together today,” Keurian said.
The conversion is part of a larger effort to upgrade the property at 1955 Chain Bridge Road that has been underway since PMG took control of the lease last year. So far, the company has rebranded the former Gulf gas station and installed a new canopy and fuel pumps.
Adjacent to a Sunoco, the Mobil station has eight fuel pumps and a 2,585 square-foot service building originally built in 1969. There are three vehicle service bays, a small snack shop, and a car wash that is no longer operational.
The convenience store will expand the snack shop to the entire one-story building, taking over the space currently occupied by the car wash and vehicle bays, which Keurian says “are really not being used to their full extent.”
According to PMG’s statement of justification to the county, the convenience store will employ eight workers total. It will have merchandise and display areas, a wall of refrigerated drinks, a restroom, and an employee workroom.
Space on the site’s southeast corner will be reserved for a possible future electric vehicle charging station.
PMG estimates that the redevelopment will increase travel to the site from 700 to 800 trips per day. While the majority of visitors are expected to be drivers, the company says it will make some safety improvements, including realigning and widening the existing sidewalk on Route 123 to 6 feet.
A side road parallel to Route 123 that connects the Mobil and Sunoco gas stations will also be closed off to “reduce vehicle conflicts,” the application says.
“The county’s asking for some pedestrian upgrades for their wants and needs,” Keurian said. “…They’re concerned about the walkability and safety. We’re all about safety too, so we’re amenable to their desires.”
In the statement of justification, PMG acknowledges that the gas station and convenience store will be an interim use until the site is fully redeveloped in accordance with the Tysons Comprehensive Plan, which currently designates it as retail mixed-use.
“This proposal is a unique opportunity to allow a long-standing business to adapt to changing market conditions in order to continue serving the surrounding community,” land-use attorney David Gill, who is representing PMG, wrote in the statement. “The proposal will provide a convenience store use that will serve the needs of motorists, while improving the traffic operations, safety, and ADA compliant pedestrian experience along this portion of Chain Bridge Road.”
The end has arrived for J.R.’s Stockyards Inn, where Tysons’ penchant for steakhouses began more than four decades ago.
According to Fairfax County land records, J.R.’s Custom Catering sold the two-story restaurant-turned-banquet hall at 8130 Watson Street for $15.5 million on Dec. 28. The 1.18-acre property hit the market last March.
Buyer AM Tysons LLCÂ is registered at the same address as the corporate headquarters of Macerich, the real estate firm that owns Tysons Corner Center.
The Washington Business Journal reported on Friday (Jan. 21) that Stockyards Inn closed earlier this year, and J.R.’s anticipates that the building will be torn down to make way for new development.
The county’s property record says the sale price “reflects anticipated redevelopment.”
A Macerich spokesperson told Tysons Reporter that they “are unable to comment” at this time, and efforts to contact J.R.’s Custom Catering were not returned by press time.
One of the area’s first restaurants outside of the mall, J.R.’s Stockyards Inn opened in 1978 as Tysons’ original steakhouse, according to its website, which says the venue became famous for its beef and hosted many political, sports, and entertainment figures over the years.
The restaurant closed in 2011, as the venue turned into a banquet hall for private events and catering operations.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning in October 2020 that would enable the property to be replaced with a 26-story mixed-use residential tower, but it’s unclear whether Macerich intends to revise that proposal at all.
The real estate company is currently seeking county approval for additional development at Tysons Corner Center, which is located just across the street from J.R.’s Stockyards Inn on the other side of International Drive.
J.R.’s Custom Catering also shut down its Pavilions at Turkey Run in July 2020, as the National Park Service plans to take the former Claude Moore Colonial Farm in a new, still-undetermined direction.
However, the catering business continues to operate out of its facility in Herndon and the Fairfax Hunt Club in Reston. Its recent events have included participating in a Taste of Virginia reception for Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s inauguration on Jan. 15.
The emergency room that Reston Hospital Center is building in Tysons isn’t expected to open for another three months, but efforts to staff the new facility are already underway.
HCA Healthcare Inc., the Nashville-based company that owns Reston Hospital, currently has 26 positions listed in its job database for the Tysons ER, a standalone facility that will be located at 8240 Leesburg Pike between Tysons Corner Center and the Route 123 interchange.
The project has encountered some construction challenges due to pandemic-related supply shortages, but it is currently on target for an April launch, according to HCA Healthcare spokesperson Suzanne Kelly.
With almost a quarter of U.S. hospitals reporting staffing shortages earlier this month amid surging Covid cases, HCA told Tysons Reporter’s sister site Reston Now that its most critical vacancies are the job openings for the Tysons emergency room, particularly when it comes to nurses and imaging professionals.
“Like healthcare organizations nationwide, Reston Hospital Center is working to address a tight labor market, which coincides with nursing workforce shortages compounded by the pandemic,” Kelly said in a statement. “As part of the HCA Virginia Health System, our facilities are working to retain our existing colleagues, attract new nurses, and encouraging and supporting those considering a career in nursing through education programs.”
Set to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the 14,000 square-foot Tysons emergency department will have 11 private treatment rooms, including a trauma room and 10 exam rooms, and provide the same services as at a hospital-based emergency room.
In addition to registered nurses, the facility is seeking a clinical coordinator, radiologic and ultrasound technologists, a director of emergency services, and maintenance workers.
To address immediate staffing needs, HCA is offering a $20,000 sign-on bonus to registered nurses with at least one year of experience, including for positions in the Tysons ER, according to its job postings.
The healthcare system said in a statement that it’s also recruiting nurses from other states and even internationally to work in Virginia, adjusting pay, and implementing “incentive and recognition programs,” among other “aggressive recruitment efforts”:
To support immediate staffing shortages, we’re offering sign on bonuses and employee referral bonuses. Additionally, we are also recruiting nurses from other states and even other countries to come to Virginia to support our nurses and help ensure we are providing top quality care to our patients during this unprecedented time. We are attracting new nurses to work at our facilities through aggressive recruitment efforts including sign-on bonuses and referral bonuses in strategic areas and specialties. We also continue to partner with bricks-and-mortar colleges and universities, and online programs, to attract more people to choose careers in healthcare. This will build a future pipeline to fill long-term healthcare staffing needs.
As reported by Reston Now this morning, HCA is now requiring employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine after the Supreme Court allowed a federal mandate issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to take effect last Thursday (Jan. 13).
While most D.C. area hospitals were already requiring their staff to get vaccinated, HCA put its requirement on hold in November after a federal judge blocked the CMS mandate.
Reston Hospital says it will comply with the mandate so it can keep serving Medicare and Medicaid patients.
“Any HCA Healthcare colleague who works in, or has work-related reasons to visit, these facilities or care settings is required to have their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by January 27 and be fully vaccinated by February 28, unless they receive a medical or religious exemption,” Kelly said by email.
