Every day, hospitals in Northern Virginia have a lot of patients in need of what we all have — blood.

Monthly, an Inova Blood Donor Services bloodmobile comes to Reston Town Center to help collect precious inventory for those patients. The mobile service is at Reston Town Center today — and the fourth Tuesday of every month — from noon to 6 p.m.

“We encourage everybody to go out and donate,” said Wally Paraiso, mobile ops team leader for Inova Blood Donor Services.

Paraiso said the bloodmobile has been making its regular visits to Reston Town Center for about five years. It sets up on Discovery Street near the pavilion.

Sharing figures from the past three months, Paraiso said the Reston bloodmobile has been averaging about two dozen donors a month. The number of donors varies — 35 came in March, but only 18 came in April. Paraiso said it is important to keep blood supplies up.

“Every day, there are a lot of patients who need blood,” he said.

Donors receive a T-shirt (while supplies last) and parking validation for up to two hours. Prospective donors are encouraged to pre-register online or call 866-BLOODSAVES and use sponsor code 1000.

If the Reston Town Center drive isn’t convenient, Paraiso said there are several other drives across Virginia, Maryland and D.C. on a daily basis. Residents are encouraged to search Inova’s website to find one that’s right for them.

“It doesn’t matter what blood type you are,” Paraiso said. “As long as you’re healthy and well, you’re eligible to donate.”

The bloodmobile will next be at Reston Town Center on Tuesday, June 27.

LeAnn Rimes Headlining Tysons Concert Series — Nine concerts are planned in June and July at The Plaza at Tysons Corner Center. Highlights include LeAnn Rimes (July 28) and James Arthur (June 22). [Tysons Corner Center]

SLHS Sports Teams Have Big Week — Boys tennis and boys soccer both have playoff matchups tonight, while varsity baseball and outdoor track and field have their regional events later this week. [Fairfax County Public Schools]

New Herndon Official to Start June 1 — Tammy L. Chastain has been hired as the town’s new deputy director of Public Works. [Town of Herndon]

Real Estate Professional Marks 40 Years — Carol Welsh marked the anniversary with Long & Foster’s Reston office last week. She is an active member of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. She is a lifetime member of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors’ Million Dollar Sales Club and Top Producers Club. She is also a member of the Founder’s Club of the Long & Foster Gold Team, and she is an accredited staging professional. [Long & Foster]

County Libraries Sharing Backpacks — The packs include a parking pass for Virginia State Parks, items to help kids explore the outdoors and much more. There are 32 available for loan from the county’s library branches. [Fairfax County]

Florida-based World of Beer is suing Evan Matz, the former local franchisee who rebranded his restaurants earlier this month, saying he violated terms of the franchise agreement.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that World of Beer alleges Matz in 2016 “refused to use the services, supplies, ingredients, food and beverage products required by WOBF under the franchise agreements” for his three locations, including at 1888 Explorer St. in Reston Town Center. Matz is now operating his three restaurants — the others are in Fairfax and Ballston — under the name Crafthouse.

In the suit, World of Beer says it sent Matz a formal notice in January telling him he was in default of the franchise agreement. At that time, records show, Matz brought up the fact that World of Beer had opened a restaurant at One Loudoun in March 2016 that was hurting his business in Reston.

“World of Beer Franchise gave permission for the WOB Ashburn to open just eight miles from WOB Reston which WOBF knew that this would cause harm/cannibalization to WOB Reston,” Matz’s told the company in a letter, the TBBJ reports. “This is still an ongoing issue and our number dropped 15 percent to 20 percent because of WOB Ashburn opening.”

The franchise agreement was terminated in February.

According to the suit, World of Beer says it “never consented to Matz’s proposal to rebrand and that it never reached an agreement to amend his post-termination obligations under the franchise agreement.” It is seeking, the TBBJ reports, “an order blocking Matz and Crafthouse from using WOBF marks and logos, using its confidential information, recruiting WOBF employee[s], diverting WOBF customers or engaging in any competitive business from operating in non-compete areas.”

The suit was filed last week in the U.S. District Court’s Middle District of Florida.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports World of Beer filed a similar suit earlier this year against a restaurant there that recently left the franchise and rebranded.

Matz told the Washington Business Journal last week that his decision to leave the W0B franchise was due to the fact that he had been “‘butting heads’ with the company’s corporate office over ‘operational differences.'”

Two applicants have put their names in the hat for the position of Reston Association treasurer, and the Board of Directors will make its decision this week.

According to the packet for Thursday’s meeting, Sridhar Ganesan and Michael Werner have applied for the role. They are the only individuals who responded to a call for candidates that had a May 19 deadline. The board will vote by secret ballot Thursday.

Ganesan is president of the Reston Citizens Association and also heads the Mediaworld LLC group that sought to conduct the Tetra/Lake House review. He works as CFO of Planet 3, an exploration-based learning company. In his application letter to the RA Board, he said he believes he has “the technical skills and work experience, as well as commitment to public service in Reston to successfully perform [as treasurer] on the RA Board.”

Werner has been a member of the Reston Association Fiscal Committee since 2014. He is executive vice president of Impexium, a company that develops and sells software to associations. In his letter, he said his background has been in accounting and he believes “that getting involved in the fiscal matters best suits [his] abilities and temperament.”

Former board member Dannielle LaRosa had served as treasurer since 2015. She stepped down from the board effective April 11, and the board voted at its March 23 meeting to put out the call for treasurer applicants. At a meeting April 12, the board voted to retain LaRosa as treasurer until the call for candidates was completed.

LaRosa was eligible to reapply for the position but declined.

Other issues on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting of the Reston Association Board of Directors include:

• vote on adoption of the proposed Community Engagement Plan for Major Capital Projects
• a land-use update on Fairfax County’s proposed zoning ordinance amendment to increase the population density limit in Reston’s Planned Residential Community District
• action on a covenants complaint regarding Airbnb rentals at a home on Trails Edge Lane
• a lake-use request for the Lake Anne Cardboard Box Regatta, slated for August
• committee appointments

The Reston Association Board of Directors will meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at RA headquarters (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive). The meeting will also be streamed on Reston Association’s YouTube channel.

Ten graduating South Lakes High School seniors recently became the first honorees of a new scholarship fund that could give them up to $16,000 over a four-year college career.

The Reston Scholarship Fund of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia awarded $4,000 scholarships to each of the students during a ceremony Saturday at Reston Town Center. The Fund plans to award the same amount in each of three subsequent years the student remains in college and continues to demonstrate need and merit.

Twenty-nine students applied for the scholarship, said Elizabeth Blankespoor on behalf of the Fund.

“We hope that as word spreads and we get more donations, the number of scholarships will increase in future years,” she said. “It is our firm belief that money should not stand between our students and a good education.”

Students honored with the scholarship funding, and the schools they will attend in the fall, are:

• Daniel Ennis, University of Minnesota
• Omer Gorashi, University of Maryland
• Amna Kayani, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Dounia Lazreq, George Washington University
• Emmeline Mejia, Bridgewater College
• Joelle Nkwantchoa Toundji, Christopher Newport University
• Razan Salih, Virginia Tech University
• Rabiya Sharieff, New York University
• Aditya Sorot, University of Virginia
• Qianyi Yang, James Madison University

Speakers at Saturday’s award ceremony included Del. Ken Plum (D-Fairfax); Kim Retzer, SLHS principal; Cheryl Simon, widow of Robert Simon; and Gil Blankespoor on behalf of the Fund.

Students’ GPAs, financial need, essays and recommendations were all considered in the process of the six-member selection committee. The students will also be awarded certificates during South Lakes’ annual Seniors Award Ceremony on June 8.

Gil and Elizabeth Blankespoor founded RSF in 2016 when they received 501(c)(3) status. They joined forces with the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia this year.

The Fund relies entirely on donations to make the scholarships possible. Donations, which are tax-deductible and used fully for the scholarships, can be made online at CF for Nova’s website or by mail to Reston Scholarship Fund — CF of Nova, 2003 Lakeport Way, Reston, VA 20191.

For more information about the scholarship, email [email protected] or call 703-620-6061.

Photos by Elizabeth Blankespoor/Reston Scholarship Fund

No Charges Against Officer In Herndon Shooting — The Fairfax County police officer who shot and killed 32-year-old Mohammad Azim Doudzai, ending a chaotic hostage/barricade situation in January, will not face charges. The Fairfax County Police Department will conduct an internal investigation in accordance with its standard operating procedures. [Fairfax County]

Firm Invests in Breast Milk — Reston-based venture firm PROOF and its investors are putting $3.25 million into Prolacta Bioscience Inc., which uses breast milk to make products for premature, critically ill babies. PROOF has also invested in drone delivery company Zipline, legal research and publishing startup Casetext, and beauty products data and marketing company Memebox. [Washington Business Journal]

Local Students Honored at FBLA Conference — At the recent 2017 Virginia Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) State Leadership Conference, held in Reston, a number of local student took home accolades. Among the winners were South Lakes High School students Davi Meran (first place, securities and investments); Ian Hughes (third place, economics); Ayah Elnafe, Jennifer Alvarez and Rabia Mohamednur (third place, public service announcement); Juhi Chandrabhatha, Rachel Kessler and Jesse Lynch (third place, global business); Conor Gill, Jarius Johnson and Noah Goldstein (fourth place, business ethics); and Ahmed Rabani (fifth place, sales presentation). From Herndon High School, winners were Adam Asif (first place, advertising), Cyril Antoney (second place, organizational leadership) and Rahbar Chowdhury (second place, spreadsheet applications). [Fairfax County Public Schools]

Following a community meeting last month regarding the potential addition of bike lanes to Glade Drive, the Fairfax County Department of Transportation has decided not to go forward with that possibility.

“We obviously heard from the community along Glade about their preference for parking, and that helped to drive our decision,” said Adam Lind, FCDOT’s Bike Program manager, Friday morning. “We’re not going to take any parking; we’re sticking with just sharrows.”

A shared-lane marking, or sharrow, is painted in a travel lane to show where bicycles may be on the road and what direction they should be traveling. Lanes remain the same width, as does space for cars to park.

Some residents had expressed concern that if bike lanes were added to Glade Drive, the subsequent removal of street parking would cause problems with overflow parking at Glade Pool, Walker Nature Center, the Quartermaster Soccer Field and other locations along the road.

In another community meeting in March, Lind presented possibilities for bike lanes on Colts Neck Road, North Shore Drive and Twin Branches Road. In regard to those plans, Lind said:

• bike lanes will be added in both directions on Colts Neck Road, along with a road diet
• there will be a bike lane in one direction and sharrows in the other along North Shore Drive, with the location of each alternating “depending on the section of the street”
• bike lanes will be added in both directions on Twin Branches Road

“No major alterations [from what was presented],” Lind said. “Most of the tweaks have been local comments about specific items — [such as] where we’re looking to shift the double yellow to give more room for people to pass when there’s parking along a road.”

At March’s meeting, a number of residents were particularly concerned about the proposal for the road diet on Colts Neck Road, which will take the road from four lanes of vehicle traffic to two between Glade Drive and South Lakes Drive.

Bicycle riders responded by saying Colts Neck Road is particularly dangerous for them and for pedestrians as well. The road diet could also allow for the addition of a crosswalk. Lind also said it is not believed the diet will have a major adverse effect on vehicle traffic. In a presentation during the March meeting, Lind said roads with traffic less than 20,000 cars per day don’t require four travel lanes, and a traffic count showed less than half that on Colts Neck Road. Those cars will be slowed by the diet and safety will be increased, Lind said.

Residents argued, however, that the road is a major “cut-through” during rush-hour times when traffic is backed up on Fairfax County Parkway, and that the road diet would cause additional traffic delays specifically during those times. According to a recent study, less than 1/2 of 1 percent of Fairfax County commuters bike to work — an amount some residents said is not worth potentially causing daily bottlenecking of cars. Possible safety hazards that could be presented by a center left-turn lane were also raised by citizens.

Repaving and re-striping will be conducted by the Virginia Department of Transportation after school lets out for the summer, Lind said. Further details will be provided on VDOT’s paving program website.

Anyone seeking additional information can request it by emailing [email protected].

Let us know what you think below:

File photo at top from Glade Drive community meeting April 27. Map of Colts Neck Road redesign via Fairfax County Department of Transportation.

(This article was edited at 4:45 p.m. with comment from Wegmans.)

Upscale grocery store Wegmans is looking to expand into Reston, the Washington Business Journal reports.

According to the report, sources tell the WBJ that the Western New York-based chain is looking at a 23-acre property on Association Drive, near the intersection of Sunrise Valley Drive and Soapstone Drive. The several owners who own pieces of the property have banded together to offer the assemblage for sale, the WBJ previously reported.

That location is only about a half-mile west of the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, in an area that is seeing a huge amount of residential and retail development.

There are more than 90 Wegmans stores in six states, ranging from Massachusetts to Virginia. The nearest current locations are in Sterling (Dulles 28 Center) and Fairfax.

Among factors that may burden any deal for the property is the planned Soapstone Connector, which would cut through the property. The grocery chain is also considering property close to the future Herndon Metro station at Fairfax County Parkway, according to the report.

Wegmans requires a large footprint — approximately 15 acres — for one of its stores.

In response to an inquiry from Reston Now regarding the report, Wegmans media relations coordinator Valerie Fox said the following:

“On our website is a list of sites where we have announced plans to build a store. There are always many rumors about other new sites, but we don’t comment on rumors or speculation. We open just three or four stores each year and our new store growth is concentrated in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions.”

The site shows two future locations in Fairfax County:

• A Chantilly location, at Route 28 and Westfields Boulevard, is scheduled for a 2018 opening
• A Tysons location, near I-495 at Route 123, is listed as a “future site”

Organizers of the Reston pit stop for Bike to Work Day 2017, one of 85 such stops across the region, say their efforts this morning were a big success.

About 525 bicyclists had passed through the stop at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station plaza as of about 9 a.m., said Ashleigh Soloff, Reston Association’s special events coordinator. She said this is the third year the event has been held at the Metro plaza in coordination with Comstock Partners.

“[Riders] have been telling me that this is the best pit stop that they’ve come through today so far,” Soloff said of participants’ feedback on the event. “It’s very active and lively.”

Nineteen organizations participated in the event to share information and goodies with riders. Food was provided by Whole Foods and Einstein Bagels. A DJ was playing music and giveaway drawings were being held every half-hour.

Soloff said the concept of biking to work is important to Reston Association.

“We’re trying to get everybody out of their cars just for one day, but then they learn that ‘Hey, I can actually do this every day,'” she said.

Rod Colen, of Reston, was riding along with his daughter, Steph. He said increasing participation in bicycling to work is important for multiple reasons, including public health and improving commute times.

“There’s just so much pressure on everybody for productivity and hours and commute time,” he said. “As traffic gets worse, biking to work will actually be competitive.”

Colen said improved infrastructure and planning is needed to increase the number of bike commuters in Fairfax County. His daughter, who now lives in Arlington but works in Reston Town Center, said she doesn’t regularly ride to commute but she chose to today.

“I also have friends who live in Arlington and work in the Town Center who decided yesterday when they found out about [Bike to Work Day], they’re not big bikers, but they were just going to do it casually,” Steph said.

Adam Lind, Bike Program manager for the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, said the county seeks to expand participation in Bike to Work Day each year. He was providing visitors with information including copies of the county’s new bike map. In addition, he said, the county is running a 50 percent discount through the end of May on yearly memberships to Capital Bikeshare, which is expanding in Reston.

The regional Bike to Work Day event is organized by Commuter Connections, a program of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments that promotes bicycling to work, ridesharing and other alternatives to driving.

Board President Addresses Pool Schedule — Sherri Hebert, president of the Reston Association Board of Directors, says RA’s pool schedule is broken into six sessions this year in the effort to maximize association resources. She says the board will be looking at each line item in the 2017-18 budget “to identify ways to shift funds to meet the community’s requests as they apply to pools and other matters.” [Reston Association]

Television Interview at RTC Cut Short — When a local television crew came to Reston Town Center to do a story on the effects of paid parking, they had to move across the street after security told them “photography is no longer allowed on the Town Center’s site.” [WHAG]

Bojangles’ Coming to Northern Virginia — The restaurant chain has a multiunit development agreement with a new franchisee that will bring its Southern-style chicken joints to the area. No news yet on how many are coming or where they will be. [Washington Business Journal]

Registration Open for Women’s 5K — Reston Runners will put on the “Seize the Day” women’s 5K on Saturday, June 17. The course is on Reston Association pathways. [Reston Runners]

Reston businesses, services and events were the recipients of nearly two dozen honors in Virginia Living magazine’s 2017 Best of Virginia awards.

According to the Eden Stuart, the magazine’s assistant editor, the awards issue, which is on newsstands today, is a “statewide guide to all that is ‘best’ in Virginia — from dining to shopping to doing.” More than 50,000 ballots were cast in a reader survey to find the honorees in 106 categories, Stuart said.

Lake Anne Plaza was particularly honored, with five businesses selected as being among the best of the best in the Northern Virginia region. Those winners include Lake Anne Brew House (first place, Best Local Craft Brewery); Lake Anne Coffee House and Wine Bar (first place, Best Locally Owned Coffee Shop); Reston’s Used Book Shop (second place, Best Book Store); Small Change Consignments (first place, Best Children’s Clothing Store; second place, Best Consignment Shop); and Chesapeake Chocolates, Wine, Gifts and More (third place, Best Chocolatier).

“Please join us in saying congrats to these awesome Plaza merchants,” reads a post on Lake Anne Plaza’s Facebook page celebrating the honors.

In addition, the Reston Farmers Market at Lake Anne Plaza was honored with a second-place award for Best Farmers Market.

The full list of honorees from Reston in the 2017 Best of Virginia awards are:

FIRST-PLACE HONOREES

Taste of Reston
Best Food Festival

Edibles Incredible Desserts (11917 Freedom Drive)
Best Bakery
Best Chocolatier
Best Dessert Menu

Bacon N’ Ed’s
Best Food Truck

Lake Anne Brew House (11424 Washington Plaza W.)
Best Local Craft Brewery

Lake Anne Coffee House and Wine Bar (1612 Washington Plaza N.)
Best Locally Owned Coffee Shop

Life Time Fitness (1757 Business Center Drive)
Best Gym

CST Group (10740 Parkridge Blvd.)
Best Accounting Firm

Small Change Consignments (1629 Washington Plaza N.)
Best Children’s Clothing Store

Austin-Weston, The Center for Plastic Surgery (1825 Samuel Morse Drive)
Best Cosmetic Surgery Practice

The Eyewear Gallery at Reston Town Center (11900 Market St.)
Best Eye Care Provider

Miye Wire LLC (1818 Library St.)
Best Financial Planning Firm

AKG Design Studio
Best Kitchen Design Firm

Davelle Clothiers (11921 Freedom Drive)
Best Men’s Clothing Store

Virginia Therapy & Fitness Center (1831 Wiehle Ave.)
Best Physical Therapy Group

SECOND-PLACE HONOREES

Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival
Best Art Event

Cornerstones
Best Charity

Reston Farmers Market
Best Farmers Market

Small Change Consignments (1629 Washington Plaza N.)
Best Consignment Shop

Reston’s Used Book Shop (1623 Washington Plaza N.)
Best Book Store

THIRD-PLACE HONOREES

Chesapeake Chocolates, Wine, Gifts and More (11426 Washington Plaza W.)
Best Chocolatier

Trader Joe’s (11958 Killingsworth Ave.)
Best Grocery Store

The Wine Cabinet (1416 North Point Village Center)
Best Wine Shop

Image courtesy Virginia Living magazine

I really enjoyed spending time on #Mars yesterday with the kids from @AldrinEagles I was a kid once too! Still am. Gotta show off our socks! pic.twitter.com/0J313dksU8

— Dr. Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) May 12, 2017

Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon in July 1969.

Now, 48 years later, he again has walked the halls of a school bearing his name in Reston.

The 87-year-old visited Buzz Aldrin Elementary School last week while he was in the area to attend the annual Humans to Mars Summit. At the school, Aldrin presented for students his thoughts and hopes for future travel to the Red Planet. He also gave them a large map of the planet.

Aldrin last visited the school for its 20th anniversary in 2015. In the school’s early years, he visited each year. He now comes more sporadically, maybe every two or three years, school representative Lesley Aschenbach said.

“Hopefully, kids get to see him twice in their career here,” she said.

After the recent presentation, Aldrin gathered on the Mars map with representatives from each grade level while a videographer recorded testimonials from the students on their thoughts about space exploration and what travel to Mars would mean for mankind. The students’ discussion will be used as part of an emerging program for Aldrin’s ShareSpace Foundation.

In addition, Aldrin Elementary School STEAM resource teacher Jackie Wheeler, school-based technology specialist Eve Davies and Principal Shane Wolfe printed a special bracelet for Aldrin on a 3D printer during his visit.

I visited my namesake school in Reston, VA today and brought my son Andy along to help me inspire these #GenerationMars kids! pic.twitter.com/8rM4KycHdh

— Dr. Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) May 11, 2017

(This article was edited at 3:25 p.m. Thursday after additional information was released through a statement by the school principal.)

Students and staff at South Lakes High School were evacuated Thursday morning after a chemical scare that administration says may result in criminal charges.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, Principal Kim Retzer said the evacuation just after 10 a.m. was prompted after “some type of aerosol was apparently discharged in the hallway in the vicinity of the library.”

“As a precaution, five students and one teacher were taken to Reston Hospital for treatment. They have all been released. Others affected by the spray were treated at the scene. The fire department quickly responded and we were allowed to return to the building about 50 minutes later to resume normal operations. The fire department and hazmat team determined that the odor was not related to our on-going construction.”

Retzer said her office, with the assistance of a school resource officer and the Fairfax County Public Schools Office of Safety and Security, is conducting a “thorough investigation” of the incident to “identify the individual or individuals responsible.”

“Appropriate disciplinary consequences will be assigned in response to this very serious event and criminal charges are also a possibility.”

The principal also commended students and staff for their cooperation during the incident.

“The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority and we will continue to be diligent in our efforts to provide a safe learning environment.”

Hot Weather Continues Today — The DC area had weather hotter than nearly anywhere else in the country Wednesday, including a record high of 91 at Dulles International Airport. Temperatures are expected to be similar today and Friday. Fairfax County Fire and Rescue has issued information to help people avoid heat-related illness. [Washington Post]

Bicycle Commuting Up in DC, But Not Here — A report shows that the nation’s capital now has the third-highest percentage of bicycle commuters among major cities in the nation, 4 percent. The number has nearly doubled from 2010. However, in Fairfax County, only about 0.3 percent of commuters ride to work. The difference is in part due to lacking infrastructure, says the Fairfax Alliance for Better Biking. [WTOP]

Cicadas Making Early Entrance — Thousands of the bugs have already turned up in the region, four years ahead of their regular schedule. The 17-year cycle on Brood X means this is just a precursor of a major emergence in 2021. [WAMU]

SLHS Track Teams Tops Again — The boys and girls track teams at South Lakes High School have won their conference championships. It’s the seventh title in a row for the girls and the fourth for the boys. [Press Release]

Commentary: Increased Class Sizes Will Hurt — An advocate for Class Size Matters says Fairfax County Public Schools’ plan to increase average class size by half a student per room will have “a negative impact on students’ ability to learn and succeed, and on teachers’ ability to teach.” An online petition is opposing the increase. [Reston Connection]

Groundbreaking on redevelopment of the Tall Oaks Village Center is getting closer, but it is still at least half a year away.

According to information provided recently from the office of Fairfax County Supervisor Cathy Hudgins:

“Supervisor Hudgins received notice from the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services that the Site Plan for the Tall Oaks development has been accepted. The Plan number is 009550-SP-003-1. It generally takes about 3-4 months for review if all of the stars align and then bonding process begins for the project. At the earliest, it will probably be about at least six months before the groundbreaking would actually occur.”

The village center was bought in December 2014 by McLean-based developer Jefferson Apartment Group. Plans to redevelop the property into a mixed-use community were approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in July 2016.

The plan will redevelop 7.14 acres of the approximately 18-acre village center. It includes approximately 5,800 square feet of office, 8,500 square feet of retail and 156 residential units consisting of:

• 70 condos in two four-story buildings
• 42 apartments in units that are stacked two-over-two spread across four buildings that have exteriors designed to look like townhomes
• 44 four-story townhomes

Green or open space will make up 36 percent of the development. Jefferson has provided an animated virtual tour of the plan.

Located on a dead-end of North Shore Drive off Wiehle Avenue, Tall Oaks Village Center struggled for many years before the redevelopment proposal arose. Its longtime anchor tenant, Giant Foods, closed in 2007 and further vacancies followed quickly afterward.

The 70,000-square foot center was 86 percent empty by the time the redevelopment was approved. Jefferson had conducted a market study that showed attracting a new retail anchor was not an option.

Rendering courtesy Jefferson Apartment Group/Reston Association