Updated at 3:15 p.m. — All lanes of Fairfax County Parkway are open, according to a Fairfax County Police Department tweet at 2:42 p.m.
Northbound on Fairfax County Parkway near Sunrise Valley Drive was shut down around 1:20 p.m. as crews work to free a trapped driver from a crash.
Fairfax County sent out a traffic alert at 1:21 p.m. about the crash.
Six minutes later, Fairfax Fire and Rescue tweeted that crews were on the scene of the two-vehicle crash.
Crews freed the driver about 10 minutes later. Two people were transported to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to a second tweet at 1:36 p.m.
UPDATE: driver extricated. Two people being transported to area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Roadway opening soon. Expect delays. #FCFRD #fairfaxcounty #traffic #vatraffic https://t.co/AgAFOfUfLH
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) February 8, 2019
UPDATE: All lanes of Fairfax County Parkway are now open. https://t.co/gBCysiS0Sn
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) February 8, 2019
Image via Google Maps
State Sen. Janet Howell (D-32nd District) is breaking the silence among Reston lawmakers about the recent developments in a series of scandals among state-elected officials.
Earlier this week, a racist photo on Gov. Ralph Northam’s yearbook page surfaced, prompting Reston-area lawmakers to join widespread calls from both sides of the aisle for Northam’s resignation.
Then, the man in line to replace Northam if he steps down, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, became mired in scandal after a woman came forward alleging Fairfax sexually assaulted her in 2004.
On Wednesday (Feb. 6), Attorney General Mark Herring, the third in line for the governor’s seat, admitted to wearing blackface while he was a student at the University of Virginia in 1980.
Yesterday, news reports revealed that Virginia Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment (R-James City County) was a top editor of a 1968 Virginia Military Institute yearbook that included photos of people in blackface and racial slurs.
Howell called the recent news a “horrible week” in a newsletter she wrote to constituents today (Feb. 8).
While Howell previously urged Northam to step down, she stopped short of calling for the resignation of Herring, Fairfax and Norment in her newsletter.
Here is her message:
Greetings!
This has been the week from h— here in Richmond. All of us, regardless of party, are shocked and devastated by the recent revelations about our Richmond leaders. Ralph Northam, Mark Herring, Justin Fairfax, and Tommy Norment are men we have known and worked with for years. Worse, we have trusted them to lead our state. We are all trying to sort through what is true and what isn’t.
At the same time we are being surrounded and queried by press – most of whom know little about Virginia. They don’t know about our shameful racist past or about how hard we have been working to overcome it.
I saw raw racism in Virginia. In 1963 I was a 19 year old civil rights worker in Danville, trying to guarantee fair pay and voting rights for everyone. Tensions were high and skirmishes broke out between civil rights activists like me and local white youth. The day after I left, a police riot occurred – called “Bloody Monday”- where dozens of peaceful demonstrators were injured by police. Those were ugly times.
People of goodwill have been working tirelessly to help Virginia move beyond the disgraceful parts of our past. Progress has been slow but there has been progress. We recently have been viewed as a beacon of hope for the South. The revelations of the past week and the pain they have caused have been a major setback. Obviously we must work harder. A bandage cannot cover the pain.
I am hopeful that this can be a cleansing moment for our state. We must each search our souls and work to bring about reconciliation and healing. There is a role for each of us to do so. This is not a time to sit back.
Meanwhile, please be assured that we are working hard here in Richmond to do the people’s business. Just yesterday the Senate passed our budget – on time and balanced. We Senate Democrats worked closely with Senate Republicans to produce a budget we can be proud of.
Please feel free to write me about anything of concern to you. I read all the emails myself and respond to as many as humanly possible.
Best regards,
Sen. Janet Howell
P.S. I found this article to be very insightful and urge you to read it.
Photo courtesy of Janet Howell’s office
Restaurant chain True Food Kitchen plans to open its Reston location at M & S Grill’s former spot in Reston Town Center.
The restaurant will fill the vacant spot at 11901 Democracy Drive, which has been empty since M & S Grill closed last year on New Year’s Day.
When True Food Kitchen will open, though, remains unclear.
Reston Town Center said a press release last month that the chain will be one of six newcomers slated to open this year.
The next day, a post on Reston Town Center’s Facebook page said: “True Food Kitchen, the award-winning restaurant that has pioneered health-conscious dining, will bring its seasonal menu offering brunch, lunch, dinner and cocktails to Reston Town Center starting Spring 2020!”
A spokeswoman for True Food Kitchen told Reston Now she was not aware of an exact opening date and that the chain will announce its job fair as it gets closer to opening in Reston Town Center. The Reston address is not listed with the locations “coming soon” on the website, which includes spots opening in the spring, summer and fall this year.
Located across the country, True Food Kitchen focuses on offering food based Dr. Andrew Weil’s anti-inflammatory diet. The chain currently has a location in Fairfax and plans to open in Arlington.
Image via Google Maps
BB&T’s signs and outdoor ATM machines are gone at its former branch spot in Reston Town Center.
A sign on the door at 1864 Explorer Street say that “this financial center is closed,” encouraging people to go to the BB&T branch and ATM at 1490 North Point Village Center.
Locals looking for the closest location can find it at 230 Herndon Parkway.
Reston Now has not heard back yet from BB&T as to why and when the branch closed.
Building permits from CH Realty indicate that the vacant spot is set to undergo interior alterations.
First image via Google Maps
Updated at 9:05 a.m. — “STRETCH” closes Saturday (Feb. 9).
“STRETCH” closes today — GRACE’s third biennial exhibition closes today with a curator’s talk at 3 p.m. Co-curators Erica Harrison and Don Russell will discuss the process of organizing “STRETCH” and its major themes, followed by a Q&A. The talk is free. [GRACE]
Black History Month exhibit — The Reston Museum is celebrating Black History Month with a new exhibit showcasing how the Reston community combated racism during the 1960s and celebrated African American arts and culture with the creation of the annual Black Arts Festival. [Reston Museum]
RA is hiring — Want to join Member Services at the Reston Association? Check out the recently posted job openings. [Reston Assocation]
Cupid’s arrow hits Great Falls restaurant — OpenTable recently unveiled its “100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America” ahead of Valentine’s Day next week. French restaurant L’Auberge Chez Francois in Great Falls made the list. [Cision]
New bank for Great Falls — “The founder and former CEO of a prominent Reston bank is building a new one. Meet Trustar Bank.” The bank, which is awaiting FDIC approval, will be based in Great Falls. [Washington Business Journal]
Updated at 8:55 a.m. — Corrects Outback Steakhouse location.
The Herndon Town Council and two of its boards held work sessions this week, taking up proposals for a new restaurant building, a massive mixed-use development and more.
Possibly soliciting public comment during the development of the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2020 was discussed at a Town Council work session on Tuesday (Feb. 5). The Town Council is set to take up the resolution next week on Feb. 12.
That same work session also held a public hearing on a comprehensive plan amendment for plans to revamp the South Elden area.
The Architectural Review Board on Wednesday (Feb. 6) discussed plans for a new Outback Steakhouse. (There’s one currently at 150 Elden Street.) The plan calls for a new 6,525-square-foot single-story commercial building and 82 parking spaces on an undeveloped site with 1.46 acres across from the Herndon Centre.
The board also continued the conversation about Penzance Properties’ redevelopment project, which would add three buildings in three phases at 555 Herndon Parkway.
The Planning Commission and Architectural Review Board previously provided dozens of suggestions and areas that needed improvement for the project, which is the first of its kind for Herndon. The Planning Commission will continue its consideration of the development plan at its public hearing set for Feb. 25.
Penzance’s redevelopment isn’t the only proposal that has hit some snags lately.
The Heritage Preservation Review Board held a public hearing on Wednesday (Feb. 6) revised plans for Aslin Beer Co.’s planned tasting room and bar at 771 Elden Street, which has recently faced design hurdles.
According to a staff report, the original application for the tasting room had a proposed deck area on the second floor that would inadvertently cover a stormwater management easement. The revised design takes away the deck, yet adds new elements that the staff report says need clarification.
“The Town and the applicant are working collaboratively to resolve this issue and a revision to the previous HPRB approval is being required as a component of this effort,” the report says.
Ira Saul, an attorney representing Aslin Beer Co., sent Community Design Planner Christopher Garcia a letter on Jan. 14 saying that all of the required materials have been submitted for the application to move forward at the Feb. 20 HPRB meeting.
“My understanding with [the Town Attorney] is that we are in a position to proceed with the HPRB application in tandem with the building permit revision, so that construction can begin expeditiously,” Saul wrote.
Later in January, the beer company told Alexandria Living Magazine that it plans to open a production facility and a 3,500-square-foot tasting room in the city’s West End neighborhood.
The board also held a public hearing on a proposal to add new retaining walls around a mausoleum and create new garden seating walls at the Chestnut Grove Cemetery (831 Dranesville Road).
The proposed retaining wall with an iron top rail is meant to minimize erosion, drainage and aesthetic issues, while the garden wall is set to be two feet high and be constructed in three separate segments, according to the staff report.
The Town Council is set for a public session next Tuesday (Feb. 12).
Images via Google Maps and Town of Herndon
Roughly half of a dozen retailers won’t be affected by JBG Smith Properties’ newest proposed changes to the Reston Heights development.
The developer filed a request with the Fairfax County seeking to scale back planned office and retail space at the mixed-use development near the future Reston Town Center Metro station, Washington Business Journal reported.
The story says that the request includes the removal of existing entitlements for 215,000 square feet of office space, along with 3,600 square feet of retail space the company does not plan to construct at the 385-unit VY apartment community (11830 Sunrise Valley Drive).
JBG Smith told the Washington Business Journal via a spokesman that the request to eliminate the office space is a “change in strategy away from office toward residential in that location.”
Meanwhile, that change keeps the planned retailers intact.
The retail space reduction won’t affect any of the previously announced retailers coming to Reston Heights, a spokesperson for JBG Smith told Reston Now.
The developer announced several retailers for VY around this time last year. Willpower Functional Fitness, Allure Nails, Signature Thai, Super Chicken and Reston Kabob are all “coming soon” to VY, according to the apartment’s website.
The more than 3,000 square feet of retail planned to be removed would be in the base of the building, the spokesperson said.
The Reston Association declined to comment for this story because neither the RA nor its Design Review Board has received any information from JBG Smith about their reconfiguration plans. “Any reconfiguration of the project by JBG Smith will have to come back to Reston Association’s DRB,” Mike Leone, RA’s spokesman, told Reston Now.
JBG Smith would need approval from the county’s Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to remove the office, Washington Business Journal reported, noting that this isn’t the first time the developer has sought changes to the site’s plans.
Images via VY and JBG Smith
The SunTrust branch inside the Safeway at Hunters Woods Plaza recently closed.
The branch at 2304 Hunters Woods Plaza shut its doors on Tuesday, Jan. 29, Hugh Suhr, a spokesman for SunTrust, told Reston Now.
The closure is unrelated to the recent announcement that BB&T will buy SunTrust Banks for about $28 billion, Suhr said.
While the spokesman did not confirm that the branch was getting demolished, a torn apart space and posted permit indicate just that.
Locals can find nearby SunTrust locations at Plaza America, South Lakes and the Safeway in Herndon.
Baayork Lee, an actress, singer and dancer, is coming to the Reston Community Center to talk about her career this Saturday (Feb. 9).
Born and raised in New York, Lee started dancing at a young age. At the age of five, she had her Broadway debut in “The King and I.”
She has appeared in the original company of George Balanchine’s “Nutcracker” and starred in the original production of “A Chorus Line.” Lee has been active in the D.C. area, from directing “Carmen Jones” at the Kennedy Center to being a resident choreographer for the Washington National Opera for 18 years.
Now, at the age of 72, Lee is slated to direct and choreograph “South Pacific” for City Springs Theatre Company in Sandy Springs, Ga. later this year.
Lee will talk about her career, the state of Broadway today and her work with the National Asian Artists Project, a nonprofit which showcases works by artists of Asian descent, at CenterStage (2310 Colts Neck Road).
She is set to take the stage at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $15 for Restonians and $20 for everyone else.
Photo via Reston Community Center
Tenants in two buildings at Halley Rise will have the option to hop into self-driving vehicles as soon as June.
Optimus Rise, a self-driving technology company, unveiled today (Feb. 7) a partnership with Brookfield Properties that will bring the self-driving vehicle program to the tenants of One Reston Crescent and Two Reston Crescent.
“We will deploy our self-driving system at Brookfield’s Halley Rise location this summer to provide users with autonomous mobility access between office buildings as we continue to scale our business,” Ryan Chin, the chief executive officer and co-founder of Optimus Rid, said in the press release.
The program’s initial phase will roll out three self-driving vehicles, which will be completely contained within the development site, starting in June, according to the press release. Tenants will be able to use Optimus Ride’s reservation system and on-demand ride services to get from the two office buildings to the parking lots at the Halley Rise site.
An operations team on site will monitor, update, provide maintenance, clean and charge the fleet service, the press release says.
The self-driving vehicle program fits into the goals of Vision Zero, a road traffic safety initiative to eliminate fatalities or serious injuries, and also adheres to Vision Zero speeds, Optimus Ride claims.
Formerly known as Reston Crescent, Halley Rise is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Reston Parkway and Sunrise Valley Drive. The new $1.4 billion mixed-use development is transforming a 36-acre office park into:
- 1,500 residential units
- 1.5 million square feet of office space
- 250,000 square feet of retail
- an 80,000-square-foot Wegmans
The development is expected to be completed by 2026.
Rendering via Optimus Ride
Stream restoration efforts are underway at Colvin Run Stream Valley at Wiehle South.
The Reston Association released a video on Tuesday (Feb. 5) detailing the project’s progress, which is expected to be finished by the summer.
Construction crews are working on small sections of the stream at a time as they use track equipment and various sizes of rocks to raise the bottom of the stream, according to the video. The rock is meant to reconnect the stream with the flood plain.
The Reston Association is working with the Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc., a consulting group that has designed and restored streams for Reston before. The Northern Virginia Stream Restoration Bank is funding the project.
Once the project is finished, the area will be stabilized with erosion netting and native plant seeds will be planted sometime in the fall, according to the video.
Until then, caution signs mark the walkable paths around the work site, which will only be closed during construction hours.
Free health expo — WUSA9 will offer information and free screenings with the Reston Hospital Center and the YMCA Fairfax County Reston today. Head to the YMCA Fairfax County Reston at 12196 Sunset Hills Road from 7 a.m. to noon and 2-7 p.m. [WUSA9]
The Hungry Hungry Games — Kids ages 12 to 18 can eat snacks and play life-sized Hungry Hungry Hippos from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Great Falls Library. [Fairfax County]
Dabke choreography — Dabke, which is based on a Middle Eastern folk dance, is a line dance often performed at celebrations. The dance performance — in partnership with Dance Place — will take place starting at 8 p.m. tonight at CenterStage. Tickets cost $20 for Reston residents. [Reston Community Center]
Temporary Reston road closure this morning — Southbound on Fairfax County Parkway at Walnut Branch Road shut down due to an accident shortly before 5 a.m. The parkway opened back up around 5:11 a.m. [Fairfax County Police on Twitter]
Silver Line test trains hit track problems — “The first test train on Metro’s Silver Line extension to Dulles Airport made it only 1,000 feet out of the Wiehle-Reston East station before running into trouble, sources told News4 … But the two-car train, pushed by an older locomotive, made it about 1,000 feet along an 11-mile journey before it ran into issues with the new tracks, sources said.” [NBC4]
Comstock Holding Companies, Inc. announced today (Feb. 6) that it acquired JBG Smith’s Commerce Metro Center Portfolio — a move that will increase the Reston Station area to 4.5 million square feet once fully built.
The portfolio spans nearly 40 acres from the Dulles Toll Road and the surrounding area by the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station. It lies directly across from Comstock’s first phase of the Reston Station neighborhood development.
The portfolio includes three office buildings totaling 408,000 square feet, along with entitlements in place for an additional 1.1 million square feet of mixed-use development for possibly adding more office, residential, retail and a hotel.
Tenants who have signed on for the three existing office buildings include:
- Applied Information Sciences
- Kimley Horn and Associates, Inc.
- CACI NSS Inc.
- Clarabridge, Inc.
- BT Americas, Inc.
- Pennsylvania State University
- Kroll Associates, Inc.
Back in November, JBG Smith said an unnamed buyer agreed to pay$115 million for its three-building Commerce Executive Park complex, which is located by Sunrise Valley Drive and Wiehle Avenue, Globe.St reported.
The acquisition also ups the total assets under management by Comstock Holding Companies, Inc., under its long-term management agreement covering Reston Station, according to the press release.
Comstock Chief Executive Officer Christopher Clemente described the portfolio as “high-quality, value-added properties.”
Photo via Comstock
A Vienna resident’s art show titled “A Bunch of ‘Nun’sense” will bring depictions of nuns and stained glass windows to Hunters Woods at Trails Edge.
The art show “consists of mainly acrylic and ink on large stretched canvas, which includes a variety of styles,” according to information provided by Hunters Woods at Trails Edge.
Jan Dittmar, 68, started painting at the age of 50. A decade later, she earned an arts degree at Columbia College in South Car0lina at the age of 60. She is currently a member of the League of Reston Artists and the Vienna Arts Society.
Locals can view her nun-themed art while sipping sangria and enjoying sweets at the Pre-Opening Showroom (2254B Hunters Woods Village Shopping Center) from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 8).
Photo via Jan Dittmar/Facebook
The Apple Store in Reston Town Center has some planned changes in the works.
Apple Inc. filed a building permit for the spot recently vacated by Pottery Barn, which is next door to the Apple Store at 11949 Market Street.
Pottery Barn shut its doors at 11937 Market Street on Jan. 24, along with the Williams-Sonoma store down the street at 11897 Market Street. (Both brands are operated by Williams-Sonoma Inc.)
Replacements for the now-empty spaces haven’t been announced yet. Reston Town Center recently unveiled six newcomers slated to open later this year, but did not indicate the expected opening dates or addresses.
The permit description says that it is for a new tenant layout. It remains unclear at this time whether Apple is considering expanding or moving into the new space.
Reston Now reached out to Boston Properties and Apple for comment and has not heard back yet.
Image via Google Maps
