Searching for a new home? Start here.
12020 Canter Lane
$839,900
4 BR, 4 BA SFH
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.
1645 Bennington Hollow
3 BR, 3.5 BA SFH
$624,900
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.
1656 Parkcrest Circle
1 BR, 1 BA Condo
$219,000
Open Sunday, 12 to 3 p.m.
12190 Abington Hall Place
2 BR, 2 BA Condo
$437,500
Open Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.
2140 Glencourse Lane
3 BR, 2.5 BA TH
$433,900
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.
2103 Cabots Point Lane
4 BR, 3 BA TH
$599,900
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.
1398 Park Garden Lane
3 BR, 3.5 BA TH
$595,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.
For more Open Houses and complete real estate information, visit Reston Now’s Real Estate section.
There has been much outcry recently over Reston Association’s plans to build a bocce court at Cabots Point Recreation Area off South Lakes Drive.
The RA Board approved the proposed 60-by-12-foot project last December. Residents of nearby clusters started notifying RA of their disapproval last spring.
Residents have several concerns. Among them: that they were not notified before the project was OKed (the process has since been improved); that the park will take away green space and other recreational opportunities for families and that non-members will use the park, causing parking issues, an increase in trash and a liability issue.
RA has vowed to push forward. Should it? Take our poll.
The Fellowship Square Foundation will regroup this fall to figure out a way forward without rebuilding the aging Lake Anne Fellowship House.
The foundation, which owns and operates the affordable senior housing across North Shore Road from Lake Anne Plaza, had worked for about a year on a plan to tear down the existing building and rebuild it on the same site, as well as build an additional building with 285 market-rate units.
But early last month, Fellowship Square notified the Fairfax County zoning officials that it was deferring the application indefinitely “due to our inability to advance our land use proposal in a manner that will produce the best possible outcome for our residents.”
Faye Codding, Fellowship Square’s Director of Community Outreach, says the group “remains committed to our mission” of providing affordable senior housing.
“We don’t have anything [to report] at this time,” she said Thursday. “The board meets in November and in January, and the board is exploring all possibilities.”
Lake Anne Fellowship House currently has 240 units for seniors, 114 of which are subsidized. The building, which was built in the early 1970s and does not meet all Americans With Disability Act standards, also has a 20 percent vacancy rate.
Former board member John Thillman pointed out some of the building’s issues in a presentation to Reston’s Planning and Zoning Committee last November. He said the two Lake Anne buildings lose about $10,000 a month.
“We’re bleeding red ink,” he said. “The main reason the rent is low is the buildings were built in 1971 and ’74. The standards used are not the same as today.” Read More
Even though the man with the first confirmed case of Ebola in the United States spent three hours at Dulles International Airport nearly two weeks ago, Fairfax County Health Department officials say local residents do not need to take action.
“Even though there has been a confirmed case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States, an outbreak of Ebola — like the one currently occurring in West Africa — is highly unlikely in the United States,” health department officials said in a statement.
The two main factors fueling the epidemic in West Africa are not present in the United States: a lack of infection control practices; and African burial rituals, such as washing the body of the deceased, the health department said.
The man, who flew from Liberia to Brussels, then Brussels to Dulles and then Dallas, was not ill during the flight so he was not contagious, the Centers for Disease Control said.
“The ill person did not exhibit symptoms of Ebola during the flights from West Africa and the CDC does not recommend that people on the same commercial airline flights undergo monitoring, as Ebola is contagious only if the person is experiencing active symptoms,” the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said in a statement on Wednesday.
Fairfax County Health adds:
To prevent the spread of infectious diseases, the United States has a public health system that on a daily basis rapidly identifies/isolates people suspected of being sick and finds/contacts people who have been potentially exposed to the sick person. Public health systems like this do not exist in the African countries currently affected by the Ebola outbreak.
Coming into contact with people who do not have symptoms of Ebola poses no risk, even if they have recently traveled to affected countries in Africa
There is no action that people who live in the Fairfax community need to take as a result of the Ebola case recently identified in Dallas, Texas or the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Reston Museum Goes Digital — Reston Museum and Historic Trust has moved all its records into a searchable, online database. Looking for old Reston photos and documents? You can probably find it here. [Reston Museum]
“Lockup” Q & A — Have you been checking out the Fairfax County Jail on MSNBC’s Lockup: Extended Stay Series? Now is the time to ask any behind-the-scenes questions. Join Lt. Steve Elbert with the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office in an online chat Monday at 10:30 a.m. [Fairfax County]
Car Wash For a Cause — The Omicron Kappa Kappa organization will hold a car wash Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sunoco at 12191 Sunset Hills Rd. Funds will benefit the group’s Turkey Basket Charity. Washes are $10 (basic) or $15 (deluxe).
Infant Loss Service Sunday — Reston Hospital Center is holding a memorial service Sunday from 4 to 6 p.m. for anyone who has been touched by pregnancy or infant loss. The theme of this year’s non-denominational memorial service is “Angel’s Wings.” There is no cost to attend this memorial service but call (703) 689-9060 to RSVP.
On Fridays we take a moment to thank Reston Now’s advertisers and sponsors.
Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, the business community for the vibrant region.
Reston Station, Comstock’s mixed-use development and parking garage at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro stop.
The Avant, new luxury rentals in the heart of Reston Town Center.
The Harrison, brand-new apartments now leasing at Reston Town Center.
Berry & Berry, PLLC, Reston law firm specializing in federal employment, retirement, labor union, and security clearance matters.
Just Cats Clinic, Reston’s first cats-only vet practice.
Reston Real Estate, Eve Thompson of Long & Foster Real Estate specializes in Reston homes.
Reston Community Center, Serving Reston’s recreational and cultural needs.
Realtors Valerie Kappler and Debra Granato of Long & Foster.
Cindy L. Beyer Design, Reston-based interior design firm with creative ideas for residential and commercial clients.
Van Metre Homes, handcrafted homes since 1955.
D.R. Horton Builders, America’s largest home builders.
Apartment Showcase, your guide to apartments for rent in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Crossfit North Reston, Reston’s newest place to train Crossfit style.
Greater Reston Arts Center, sponsor of the first GRACE Race on Oct. 25.
The Anthem Great Pumpkin 5K, a staple of the Oktoberfest Reston lineup the last few years, will not happen in 2014, says Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce CEO Mark Ingrao.
The race, which featured costumed runners, a kids’ pumpkin dash and one of the best logos around, was organized by the Greater Washington Sports Alliance, which has since disbanded, said Ingrao.
Ingrao said the Chamber, which organizes Oktoberfest Reston, plans on bringing back the race themselves in 2015. This year’s Oktoberfest will take place at Reston Town Center Oct. 11-12.
Runners, take note: There will be several new races in Reston this fall to fill any racing void.
GRACE Race, Oct. 25, 8:30 a.m., Reston Town Center
Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) will present its inaugural 5K GRACE Race Art-inspired costumes are encouraged. There will also be a Kids Dash and free family art activities in the Reston Town Center Pavilion. Proceeds will benefit GRACE.
Mustache Mile, Nov. 8, 2 p.m., Reston Town Center
November is Movember, when men grow mustaches to raise awareness of men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer. Movember aims to increase early cancer detection, diagnosis and effective treatments. Runners are invited to sport a mustache for the run. There will be five, one-mile courses depending on your goals and abilities. Proceeds will benefit men’s health organizations.
Turkey Day 5K, Nov. 27, 8 a.m., South Lakes High School
Start out Thanksgiving Day with a 5K, a one-mile fun run or a tot trot. Proceeds will benefit Reston’s Embry Rucker Community Shelter.
Thrillist, a travel and restaurant site, issued its first DC Metro Restaurant Map on Wednesday. The map picks a restaurant “within a couple of miles, but often much closer,” for every Metro stop on D.C.’s entire Metrorail system.
The restaurant pick for Wiehle-Reston East: The newly named Mandoohouse, which Reston Now wrote about last week.
Late last week, we gave Mandoohouse a try. We liked it, with some caveats, as its former self, Myknonos. As Mandoohouse, a Greek/Korean mashup? Not so much. At 7 p.m. on a Friday night we were the only customers, and they still were not ready for us. They were out of one menu item we ordered, and the rest of the meal was just OK.
Mandhoohouse, at 1810 Michael Faraday Dr., is most likely the closest restaurant to the station, not counting McTaco Hut, which was also pretty snarkily touted in City Paper last summer.
So, should Mandoohouse be the pick to ride alongside Tysons Corner’s Nostos and America East Tavern and DC’s Little Serow and Central Michel Richard?
Is there somewhere else in the vicinity of South Reston that is more deserving to represent? Tell us in the comments.
There are two more days to vote in Reston Community Center’s Preference Poll, which selects representatives to RCC’s Board of Governors.
If your home is located in Small Tax District 5, then you are eligible to vote.
A common question in Reston: what exactly is Small Tax District 5 and why am I paying?
In March 1975, Small District 5 was created to pay for the construction and ongoing operation and maintenance of the Reston Community Center.
In 1977, $2.6 million in construction bonds were issued. RCC opened in 1979. Final payment was made in August 1999.
Nearly 40 years later, residents of Small Tax District 5 are still paying for RCC. The tax district map encompasses all of Reston (homes both in and out of Reston Association) and some nearby streets.
The special tax rate levied on all residential and commercial property in the tax district is 4.7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
That means if your house is valued at $500,000, you pay about $235 annually for the community center operations (personnel and programs) and maintenance (repair and replacement). Read More
The man who was diagnosed with Ebola at a Dallas-area hospital this week traveled through Dulles International Airport on his way back from Liberia, officials said.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said late Wednesday that the Centers for Disease Control has assured them that the man was not ill during his flight on Sept. 20 so there is no chance of transmission.
“The ill person did not exhibit symptoms of Ebola during the flights from West Africa and the CDC does not recommend that people on the same commercial airline flights undergo monitoring, as Ebola is contagious only if the person is experiencing active symptoms,” MWAA said in a statement.
United Airlines officials said they believe that the man traveled on the following flights: Brussels to Washington Dulles on Flight 951, and Washington Dulles to Dallas-Fort Worth on Flight 822.
The CDC said in a statement there is “zero risk of transmission on any flight on which the patient flew because he was not symptomatic until several days after his trip and could not have been contagious on the dates he traveled.”
The CDC added that while they feel it is unnecessary “for it or the airline to contact others who were on the patient’s flights, United is providing information about the flights United believes the patient took, based on information provided by the CDC. We are ensuring our employees have this information and suggest that any customers who have concerns contact the experts at the CDC for further information.”
A Texas television station says the man spent three hours on the ground at Dulles. The planes in which he traveled have since flown to 27 cities, reports ABC 13 Houston.
The man, identified by the Associated Press as Thomas Eric Duncan, remains hospitalized in Dallas. Family members, including children, he came in contact with since showing symptoms late last week, are under a 21-day quarantine.
Ebola has killed more than 2,900 people since the outbreak began in March, according to the CDC..
Meanwhile, Reston has been mentioned in many reports this week as a place where Ebola was previously found in the United States. That infection, which began in monkeys imported from the Philippines to a Reston lab in 1989, was transmitted through the air.
While hundreds of monkeys either contracted or were exposed to what is now called Ebola Reston, one of five strains of the deadly disease, Ebola Reston did not infect humans.
Read more about Ebola Reston in this Reston Now article.
Libraries Closed Today — Reston Regional Library, along with all Fairfax County Public Libraries, is closed today for training.
Nysmith School Celebrates 30 — Reston resident Carole Nysmith reflects on the 30th anniversary of the private school that she founded. [Fairfax Times]
Herndon Field Hockey Undefeated — Herndon High’s field hockey team defeated McLean 7-1 Tuesday to improve to 13-0. Can they go undefeated? The team has three regular-season games remaining.
Football Tonight — The Jewish holiday Yom Kippur starts at sundown on Friday, so Fairfax County Public School football games will instead be played Thursday. South Lakes has a bye week. Herndon is at McLean at 7:30 p.m.
Reston Home Expo Oct. 11 — Save the Date for all things home related. The Reston Home and Garden Expo is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Reston Association HQ. [Reston Association]
As stores at Tall Oaks Village Center have shut their doors one after another, it has been hard to predict the future for the plaza.
Will any tenants sign leases there? Will the property eventually be rezoned so homes or a community center can be built there? Or will it just remain a near-ghost town for years?
It is speculation that took hold nearly three years ago, when Compare Foods closed in the center’s large anchor spot. Compare Foods was the second international supermarket in five years to occupy the space after longtime tenant Giant Foods left in 2007.
Since then, it has been one closure after another. Even some new tenants that signed in that time have since closed. Among the departures: 7-Eleven, El Manantial restaurant, Curves, Burger King, Total Rehab Chiropractic and Dominoes Pizza.
Some mainstays remain. Paradise Nails, Vocelli Pizza, Paisano’s Pizza, Mama Wok and Pho 75, all of which have a loyal customer base.
The vacancies are still there despite active marketing by Lincoln Property Management.
“Tall Oaks Village Center is located in Fairfax County, one of the fastest growing suburban locations in the Washington, D.C. metro area,” reads the Tall Oaks listing on Lincoln’s website. “The county enjoys one of the most affluent and educated consumer bases in the country.”
Lincoln reps did not return requests for an interview and asking prices for the spaces were not available.
Lincoln’s site shows more than 46,000 square feet of space in four storefronts up for rent. That includes the anchor site, which is more than 38,000 square feet. The anchor site is listed as “will not divide,” meaning it will take a big tenant such as a grocery store to seek the space.
Meanwhile, Lincoln’s somewhat dated marketing brochure for Tall Oaks shows the demographics of the area (“Excellent demographics with 87,181 people with an average household income of $160,145 within 3 miles”).
Reston-based actor Ralph Cosham died on Tuesday after an illness. He was 78.
Cosham, a British-born former journalist, was a regular for many years in productions at Washington’s Arena Stage and Shakespeare Theatre.
Since 1992, Cosham’s distinctive voice had been used for more than 100 audiobook recordings, some using the pseudonym Geoffrey Howard.
He won an Audio Publisher’s Audie Award for best mystery and AudioFile Earphones and Library Journal awards for best audiobook.
Some of the classics Cosham recorded in recent years: The Time Machine, Heart of Darkness, Frankenstein, Around the World in Eighty Days, Alice in Wonderland, and Watership Down.
His best-known audiobooks were as the voice of Armand Gamache in Candadian author Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache mystery series.
He recorded many of the books in his home studio in Reston.
“For me, if you don’t get Gamache, the series is lost to you, Penny told the Washington Post earlier this year. “Ralph brings him alive, I think, because he understands Gamache.”
Cosham also appeared in several movies. Among his film credits: Supreme Court Justice Jensen in The Pelican Brief (1993); a driver in Shadow Conspiracy (1997); Judge Assel Steward in Suspect (1987); a Marine Lieutenant in Starman (1984).
Cosham is the husband of Beverly Cosham, accomplished actress and singer. Beverly Cosham is the Chair of the Reston Community Center Board of Governors and a 2011 “Best of Reston” Honoree.
Service information is pending.
Photo of Ralph Cosham/Credit: AudioFile magazine
Development-watcher group Reston 2020 says it is concerned about planned improvements for connectivity in Reston — at the expense of motorists.
In a letter to Richard Lambert of Fairfax County’s Department of Planning and Zoning, Reston 2020 says that autos will still rule in Reston. So whether we are transit-oriented in the future, we still need to accommodate more cars on the road.
The county should start by ensuring that developer proffers should help pay for widening of Reston Parkway to ease future traffic flow, Reston 2020 says.
The lengthy letter comes in response to the Reston Master Plan Phase II “Strawman Draft” released by the county a few weeks ago. The county is taking feedback from citizens and citizen groups as it organized the comprehensive plan for Reston’s village centers and neighborhoods.
Says Reston 2020:
We are enthusiastic about improved connectivity in Reston, especially for pedestrians and bicyclists, but not at the expense of vehicular traffic.
Automobiles will remain the predominant mode of transportation in Reston, especially in its suburban areas, and even the plans for expanded bus service will mean the greater use of Reston’s roadways.
Moreover, the planned addition of some 50,000 people to the TSAs [transit station areas] and the potential addition of several thousand new residents to the village centers means there will be more vehicular traffic.
We would put special emphasis on key north-south roadways that, in our view, received short shrift in the Phase 1 effort. Much of the traffic generated in Reston, including some commuting traffic, involves people moving from the north to south or vice versa suburban (Phase 2) areas of our community.
In particular, as part of the proffer process,we would ask again that Reston Parkway (including the corridor overpass) be expanded to three through lanes all the way north to Baron Cameron Avenue and south to Glade, about one-mile from the Town Center Metro station in each direction, to facilitate the movement of traffic to, from, and through the Town Center TSA.
The standing County approvals for the 23-story Town Center Office Building and the 10-12-story mixed-use Spectrum Center, both outside the half-mile walkability circle, highlight the relatively urgent need for the road’s expansion north of the corridor.
The choking of suburban traffic will only hurt the development of both the TSA and suburban Reston. In addition to ensuring that connectivity does not come at the expense of vehicular traffic, we have proposed stronger language to help ensure that any traffic impacts caused by redevelopment are mitigated by developers.
The plan must at least sustain the existing level of service (LOS) for Restoniansin the Phase 2 study area, including accommodations for TSA residents to drive in the suburban areas of Reston to a school, park, preferred supermarket or other retail outlet, and even their place of work beyond suburban Reston.
See the entire letter and markup of the Master Plan draft text on Reston 2020’s website.
Photo: Traffic on Reston Parkway/File photo
Pay Car Taxes Soon — Residents have five more days to pay this year’s car taxes. Fairfax County is ready for you online. [Fairfax County]
Race for GRACE — Sign up soon for the 2014 GRACE Race, a 5K to benefit the first Greater Reston Arts Center. The course begins at the Pavilion in Reston Town Center, continues on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, and finishes back at the Pavilion. The 5K will be followed by a Kids’ Dash in Reston Town Center at 9:30 a.m. [Potomac River Running]
The Battle for The Nearby 10th — Frank Wolf’s seat in the 10th Congressional District is up for grabs and candidates Barbara Comstock (R) and John Foust (D) are raising lots of money and spending lots of money as the November election nears. [Fairfax Times]
Vote in RCC Preference Poll — Three seats on the Reston Community Center Board of Governors are up for re-election, and the deadline to cast your vote is Friday. [RCC]
Photo: Reston boat ride/Credit: Brendan Ross via Flickr
