A new, 86-bed assisted senior living facility could be on the way for 2347 Hunter Mill Road, adjacent to the United Methodist Church of the Good Shepherd in northern Vienna.

According to the application, the facility would primarily serve seniors living currently living within five miles of the property, or whose current caregivers live nearby. Senior living facilities around Northern Virginia can be scarce, though several are planned across the Tysons area.

The proposed facility would provide accommodations for people with dementia or memory loss, providing housing, meals, programming and supportive care services.

The applicant, Orr-BSL Hunter Mill, LLC, is proposing a two-story building with approximately 43,680 square feet of space. The application says the building will include outdoor courtyards and a garden accessible to residents of the facility.

The facility would operate 24/7 with a staff of 30 employees.

A Planning Commission hearing for the application is scheduled for June 12 at 7:30 p.m.

Photo via Google Maps

After some uncertainty about when or where the new Wawa in Vienna would arrive, plans have finally been submitted to Vienna’s Board of Architectural Review.

The new plans show the new Wawa will be located at 465 Maple Ave W.

The Wawa will be constructed on a property that was formerly a Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage location and has been vacant for over a year. The location is across the street from the controversial mixed-use development approved in October at the Vienna Wolf Trap Hotel.

The Board will review the plans at today’s (Friday) work session, which started at 8 a.m.

The new Vienna location is part of a regional expansion for Wawa, which has previously said that it plans to add 30-50 stores in the Washington, D.C. area.

Shinsekai Ramen, a new ramen eatery under construction at 234 Maple Avenue E., is just two weeks away from a planned opening.

Kevin Choe, regional operations manager for the Shinsekai, said the restaurant is scheduled to open on Monday, Feb. 11, though if there are delays he said the restaurant could open around mid-February.

Most ramens at the restaurant cost around $12 for lunch or $13 at dinner, with smaller dishes like steam buns and onigiri for $4.

The restaurant also has a variety of vegan options, including a veggie miso ramen and tempura bowl.

Also on the menu are a wide array of Japanese beers and sake.

The type of ramen at Shinsekai is a traditional type of ramen made from chicken bone broth. According to Choe:

“Ramen has many styles and with today’s pop culture it has become even more broad. Our style dates back in the old traditions where our chef owners Jin and Hideyoshi Matsu hometown of ashahikawa region only cooked chicken Bone broth ramen, which eventually made its way to the popular ramen city of Kumamoto, however today’s most popular style of ramen broth is made with pork bones (tonkutsu broth). We are using a very a underrated and yet a traditional style of chicken bone broth of ramen of Kumamoto. This style of ramen is highly underrated in the [United States].”

Choe said the type of broth used in the restaurant is a fusion of the popular “white broth” and the more traditional “clear broth.”

“Our core focus is to introduce to U.S palate to a beloved recipe… without the fancy price tag,” said Choe. “What better place to start their legacy in the diverse food community of Vienna.”

After three months of work, a bare wall behind the Vienna Shopping Center has been turned into a sweeping mural depicting the Tysons skyline and other prominent locations throughout the region.

The project was led by artists Eleanor Doughty, a Vienna native who now lives in Seattle, and Emily Herr, who lives in Richmond. Students from the nearby James Madison High School also lent a hand over a weekend in November.

The project was funded by Rappaport, owners of the shopping center at 180 Maple Avenue. The mural can be viewed at the end of Cottage Street.

The mural is complete at Vienna Shopping Center, showcasing the DC Metro sites like the cityscapes of Arlington, DC, and Tysons.

Check it out on your lunch break when you are visiting your favorite dining spots, like @TacoBamba, @panerabread, or @cava. #murals #art pic.twitter.com/TOyRKXTSdr

— Rappaport (@RappaportCRE) January 14, 2019

Months after a fire destroyed the Marco Polo restaurant in Vienna, town officials hope they could soon tear the building down.

A fire at the restaurant in October left the building completely destroyed. Two teens were ultimately charged with arson.

Today, the restaurant remains a burned husk and the Vienna Town Council has initiated “blight proceedings” to try and have the building destroyed, an effort that seems to be bearing fruit.

“We are making progress,” said Town Manager Mercury Payton at a Town Council meeting on Monday (Jan. 28). “We are rather close to having what we need for the demolition permit. We don’t have the demolition permit authorized at this point.”

According to Cindy Petkac, director of planning and zoning for the Town of Vienna, discussion on the demolition of the burned building has been proceeding quickly over the last few weeks.

Petkac said staff met with the building’s owner and staff is currently reviewing a demolition permit with revised erosion and sediment control. Water and sewer access to the building has been capped.

“It was well over a month ago that we started blight proceedings,” said Vienna Town Council Member Howard Springsteen. “I’m getting a lot of complaints that this is an eyesore.”

Petkac said demolition at the building is expected within a month.

“The sooner that building gets cleared, the safer it will be,” said Mayor Laurie DiRocco.

Another fire occurred last week, when a large tree fell onto power lines behind the 123-year-old Bouton Hall at the corner of Church and Mill Streets. The building is owned by the Masonic organization, Concord Lodge 307, and contains the Pennywise Thrift Shop.

According to town staff, the damage from the fire is still being assessed. Payton said how the damage will affect planned renovations to the building is too premature to say.

On the eve of a snowstorm sweeping across the region, it was the cybersphere that took a surprising hit.

Around 1 p.m., the City of Falls Church and the Town of Vienna both announced on Twitter that their websites had crashed and were inaccessible.

Sorry for the inconvenience folks, the Town's website is currently down. Our provider is having issues across all services. Will update as work is being done to resolve. pic.twitter.com/JBPGegtwNG

— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) January 29, 2019

Both localities use CivicPlus, a web development business that manages over 2,500 local government websites.

An employee at CivicPlus said the service is “experiencing technical disturbances” while staff at Vienna said the website provider’s datacenter faced an outage.

By 2:40 p.m., the Town of Vienna reported that their website was functional again. The City of Falls Church site is also currently online.

Photo via Town of Vienna

Don Pollo, a Peruvian chicken chain with several locations in Maryland, just opened its first restaurant in Virginia at in the Vienna Shopping Center (146 Maple Ave).

The restaurant features Peruvian cuisine, like fried rice with shrimp or the eponymous chicken. Sides include South American staples like yuca.

Meals range from $8 to a whole chicken and two sides for $20.

According to Milton Escobar, manager of the Vienna location, the store opened on Jan. 19 and has seen steady growth as word of mouth spreads.

“Every day, we’ve been having about 15-20 percent more people,” said Escobar. “We had 50 customers on Saturday, then 75 on Sunday. So it’s a little more every day.”

Escobar said he’s hoping things really kick off with the restaurant’s Super Bowl special. Don Pollo will be running a special deal where any purchase of a “fiesta-sized” family platter will come with a whole chicken for free. The deal is available on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

According to Escobar, the restaurant fills a niche for diverse food on Maple Street at an affordable price. Many of the patrons at the restaurant around noon yesterday were dressed in construction gear and came from nearby projects.

“This town doesn’t really have anything for Spanish cuisine,” said Escobar. “People have been saying that it’s about time for real Peruvian cuisine in Vienna… Our journey is just about to get started.”

One year ago, there was excitement over a Vienna Town Council’s plan to purchase one floor of a four-story commercial building on Church Street and use it as a public parking garage.

But yesterday (Monday), the Town of Vienna announced that the agreement — which would have made it easier to park in the town’s central business district — had been dissolved.

“Recently, during the project study period, Mill Street Development One notified the Town that its original proposal was not economically feasible and proposed changes to the project, including removing the retail component, reducing the number of public parking spaces, and changing the building’s architectural features,” town staff said in a press release. “The town and Mill Street Development One remain in discussions regarding an alternative parking layout and revised purchase price, but no new substantive proposal has been presented or formalized.”

The initial plan had involved paying $4.6 million to the developer for the 45,000 square-foot second floor of the building.

Plans called for parking to initially be free, but with the option to later charge for parking if needed. According to the press release, town staff are still looking for alternative public parking solutions.

“I was contacted two months ago about the status of the contract and components about the agreement,” Town Manager Mercury Payton at Monday’s Town Council meeting. “The contract is no longer in place. The terms that were agreed upon, the developer wanted to alter a number of those components and the alterations were not in line with what the town is satisfied with.”

“The town remains committed to public parking, whether with this developer or any other developer. We are currently in discussions with entities about that,” Payton added. “The Town remains committed to providing additional public parking in our commercial core in order to make the area a more convenient and accessible destination.”

A busy stretch of street connecting Vienna to Tysons could be the next spot around the area to become a bit more pedestrian friendly.

At tonight’s Vienna Town Council meeting, the council is scheduled to vote on a $2.4 million project to build a new stretch of sidewalk, curbs, gutters and drainage along Old Courthouse Road. According to the construction agreement, the Town of Vienna would pay $550,000 while Fairfax County would pay $1.7 million.

The new improvements are planned to be installed on the north side of Old Courthouse Road from Westbriar Court (near Westbriar Elementary School) running as the street leads into Tysons, ending just behind the Tysons Square and Pike 7 Plaza shopping centers.

Katy Simenson, who has lived at the top of the nearby hill since 1960, was taking advantage of the nice weather to walk around the neighborhood. Simenson said the as long as the new improvements aren’t too overbearing, they’ll be a welcome addition to the little residential spot between the town of Vienna and its towering neighbor Tysons.

“It’ll be really appreciated,” said Simenson. “When there’s heavy rain, it runs down the hill behind these houses. It goes down through the big pipes under the road and floods along Old Courthouse Road.”

Simenson said as much as she’ll appreciate the new nearby sidewalk, the neighbors closer to Tysons will be the biggest beneficiary. Simenson noted that cars often come quickly down the hill, and there’s very little protection for nearby pedestrians. Just one block north of the improvements, a pedestrian was killed last year as he was crossing the street to help his wife.

Map via Town of Vienna

Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in McLean. Reach the office at 703-790-9090.

Super Bowl LIII is quickly approaching as the Patriots take on the Rams on Sunday, February 3 at 6:30 p.m.

We all know Super Bowl Sunday is where new year’s resolutions are forgotten. Or maybe that’s just my junk food loving heart talking. If you are thinking of hosting a party this Sunday, I have some great take-out options to help make it easier.

• Don Pollo — The Vienna Charcoal chicken newcomer is offering a free chicken with any Fiesta Family Platter.
• Taco Bamba in Vienna — Is taking catering requests by Thursday, 1/31 for their wings, nachos, tacos and all of their other goodies.
• Foster’s Grill — For wings, order ahead of time or they WILL sell out.
• Santini’s — In Oakton or McLean for pizza, party subs and their other decadent food.
• Open Road — In Merrifield has platters for wings or chicken bites with pre-order.
• Bonchon — In Fairfax or Arlington for some of the most delicious wings that exist.
• Founding Farmers — To go catering where you can order off the full menu.
• Liberty BBQ — In Falls Church, offering Super Bowl specials on their BBQ meat, wings, sides and desserts. Must pre-order and pick up on Friday.
• Rocco’s — In McLean for pizza or wings.
• O’Malley’s Pub — In McLean for wings.

Check out Tyson’s Biergarten if you would rather go out to watch the game. They have a long list of beer and food.