The small storefront that used to house Lady of America Fitness Center at Hunters Woods Village Center has been vacant since October.
The space, at 2254 Hunters Woods Plaza, is next to the Reston Conservatory Ballet and across from the Reston Community Center. It is somewhat hidden from the rest of the center’s retail since it does not face the parking lot.
The gym had been located at Hunters Woods for 13 years. It closed when it could not reach lease terms with Edens, which owns the village center.
What do you think should go into this spot? Tell us in the comments.
Hunters Woods Elementary School sixth grader Jae Canetti was eliminated from the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday.
Canetti was bounced in the fifth of six rounds on the word parseval (a nongrid airship usually having a car suspended beneath a gas envelope).
Canetti, 12, was making his third consecutive appearance in the bee. He won the Fairfax County competition earlier this spring to become one of 14 Virginia contestants in the 2014 national bee at National Harbor. Twelve spellers advanced to Thursday night’s finals.
If you see a police presence near Wiehle Avenue and Sunset Hills Road Sunday morning, don’t be alarmed. It’s only a test.
Metro Transit Police and other law enforcement agencies are holding a security exercise at Wiehle-Reston East Station Sunday at 8 a.m.
Metro officials said earlier this week they would be conducting two emergency scenarios on the new Silver Line.
Said Metro:
“The goal of the exercise is to build coordination and provide an opportunity to practice unified command in preparation for the opening of the Silver Line, which includes a number of jurisdictions who share responsibility for the areas surrounding the five new Metrorail stations.
In addition to Metro Transit Police, participants in the exercise will include the Fairfax County Police Department, Virginia State Police, and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police. The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department will provide support.”
The exercise, which is closed to media and public, will take several hours.
Later in the month, public safety groups will conduct an emergency drill on one of the aerial Metro platforms near the Spring Hill station.
The Silver Line reached operational readiness on Tuesday, transferring from Metropolitan Washington Transit Authority’s control to Metro’s control. Metro is now in a 90-day testing and training period, which puts the $2.9 billion, five-station extension on pace to open in August.
Metro General Manager Rob Troup said this week there is still no official projected opening day.
“We feel we are in a very good position,” Troup said in response to a question about opening this summer. “We are working closely with MWAA, and they have allowed us to get our personnel in there early and we have done training for station managers [and other personnel]. I don’t want to give anything definitive. We may have to push [the opening] beyond if we find something of concern to us.”
All 2.1 million square feet of office space at Reston Town Center is leased, with more being planned to accommodate prospective tenants. And with Metro’s Silver Line slated to open this summer, business around here is going to transform, Rep. Gerry Connolly said.
That was the takeaway from the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce’s annual Virtual Realty Tour at the Hyatt Regency Reston on Wednesday. The event brings together local developers and commercial real estate representatives for a look at what’s happening in the Dulles corridor.
“You look at Clarendon-Ballston,” Connolly (D-Va. 11th) said of the transit-oriented Arlington business hub. “That is three-miles long. The Dulles corridor is 23 miles long. When we are finished it is going to be a hub of employment.”
Gerald Gordon, President and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, said Reston has 20 million square feet of office space, and another 8.5 million square feet can still be built under the blueprint of the Reston Master Plan.
But that has an impact on the rest of the county, where there is 18 million square feet of vacant space, said Gordon. Businesses want to be on the Silver Line, which will have five stops from Tysons to Reston when Phase 1 opens.
“All laws of supply-and-demand have been suspended for the next few years,” said Gordon. “Businesses want to be on the Metro line. Tysons/Reston are healthy and drive the economy of the rest of the county.”
Pete Otteni, Vice President of Development for Boston Properties, which owns most of the space at town center, gave an update on what’s happening there:
- 100 percent of the retail space at Reston Town Center is leased.
- The Avant, Boston Properties new luxury residential building that opened last fall, is 40 percent leased.
- World of Beer, located in The Avant’s ground floor, will open Monday. Other Avant ground-level retail spaces on the way are CVS, which will open in mid-June, and Barcelona and Bar Taco, which will open in late summer.
- The plan for redevelopment of the Reston Town Center’s surface lot will go before the Fairfax County Planning Commission June 11. The plan calls for 250,000 square feet of office space, 500 new luxury residences and 25,000 square feet of retail. Included in the plan is removing the two-story space where FedEx/Kinkos now stands and building a 17-story office tower.
- Boston Properties also has plans for Reston Gateway. That development will be on the 22 acres between the future Reston Parkway Metro Station (slated to open as part of Phase 2 in 2018) and Reston Town Center. Gateway will feature 3-4 million square feet of mixed use space, said Otteni.
- Future development is also expected to happen at Town Center North, the adjacent area around the Fairfax County Police Reston District Station.
Photo: The Avant and office buildings at Reston Town Center
Lakeside Pharmacy at Lake Anne Plaza will remain open at least through late July, real estate sources and store employees said.
The sale of the pharmacy, the last original store at Lake Anne, was completed last week.
Previous owner Larry Cohn — who had been trying to sell the property for years so he could retire — will stay on as pharmacist at least through the end of July.
The new owners of the space are investors. They are looking for an independent pharmacy to rent the space, so there is a good chance the location on Washington Plaza will continue as a pharmacy. However, if a new lease is not signed, the space could become vacant.
Cafe Lakeside, the breakfast and lunch counter located in the pharmacy, closed in February. Owners Alfredo and Rocio Melendez, who had operated the space since 2011, said they wanted to retire since the future of the space was unknown.
The lunch counter space is being marketed for sale or lease separately, so a prospective tenant would not necessarily have to run the business inside another business.
The waterfront space that houses Lakeside Pharmacy is not slated for redevelopment as part of Lake Anne Development Partners’ (Republic Development) plan for the area.
Because the pharmacy is in the historic part of Lake Anne, it cannot undergo big changes. Nearby areas such as the current parking lot at Lake Anne Plaza, a grove of trees owned by Reston Association and Crescent Apartments are included in the plan, which includes 60,000 square feet of new retail space, up to 82,500 square feet of office space, and 1,037 residential units.
Meanwhile, other longtime Lake Anne businesses are changing hands. Jasmine Cafe, a locally owned restaurant on the plaza, closed last month. The Lake Anne Coffee House is also for sale.
New Alerts Coming Soon — Fairfax County will soon have a new emergency alert system. It will replace the current Community Emergency Alert Network (CEAN). The new system will launch next month. [Fairfax County]
Kudos To SLHS Girls Soccer — Several Seahawks earned All-Liberty Conference honors. [South Lakes Athletics]
Former South Lakes Principal Dies — George Felton, principal at South Lakes High School in the 1980s, died earlier this month in Gainesville, Va. [Legacy.com]
DC (Area) Strong — The Washington, D.C., area has been ranked the fittest in the nation. [DCist]
Spelling Into the Semis — Hunters Woods ES sixth grader Jae Canetti made it out of the preliminaries and into today’s semifinals at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. [Scripps National Spelling Bee]
Classic Reston is a biweekly feature sponsored by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce that highlights businesses, places and people with deep roots in Reston.
Back when Reston was a new place to live, there was the spirit of “if you want something here, start it yourself.” So nearly 40 years ago, economist Henry Ware founded the Reston Useful Services Exchange (USE).
Long before there was Craigslist, Lyft and other high-tech people-and-service connectors, USE was formed to bring “back the neighbor-to-neighbor relationship that modern technology and city living have all but finished off,” Ware said in a 1977 article.
Decades — and countless technological innovations later — USE is still organizing help. Though it was dormant for a few years, USE now has 135 members who trade babysitting, lawn care, tutoring, tax prep, rides, household chores and any number of talents. Dues are $10 a year ($20 for a household).
Reston resident Joanne Norton has been a member for about three years and serves as the groups treasurer. She said she has used and given her time to USE for a variety of things, including babysitting.
“We offer rides, and they are great,” she said. “These are to the airports, and to doctors, physical therapy. [Reston founder] Bob Simon has been known to call us at the spur of the moment and ask for a ride. We also hem pants, do alterations, sew buttons. We have been known to bake cakes, help organize parties, files. Mike Hedrick is our handyman who goes out and does fantastic things, like help build little buildings.”
Norton, a senior citizen, says she has seen a recent influx of younger members, which has added some new enthusiasm and intergenerational spirit to the group. The younger members have introduced the older ones to Facebook, Google Docs and other technology to make life — as well as connecting with the USE members — easier. One younger member recently went to teach an older one how to use Facebook — and the younger discovered the elder used to be her teacher.
Other members post on the group’s message boards of appreciating the help they received and also making a new friend in the process.
Norton says she wonders what the future holds for USE. As the baby boomers get older and need more help, there may be a wave of wider networks and expensive service providers. However, many members would like to keep USE as it is — inexpensive and local.
“A time bank will be our salvation as we enter our aging years,” says Norton. “Reston is a perfect place for it to grow. With people being so transient, it affords more interactions and goodwill toward people.”
Learn more about USE by visiting www.Restonuse.org.
Fairfax County Public Schools officials were at South Lakes High School Tuesday to discuss with the community plans for changing high school start times.
What they found there was mostly enthusiastic support, with some criticism. Most in attendance welcome the changes.
“We are unanimously for the later start times.” said Jennifer Boysko, whose daughters have gone through Herndon High. “We all have high schoolers who have suffered. I believe getting sleep is most important.”
After a 2012 decision committing to changing high school start times, FCPS paid experts at Children’s National Medical Center more than $100,000 to study the impact on lack of sleep among teens and formulate scenarios for bell changes.
FCPS high schools currently begin at 7:20 a.m. The proposals all have high school starting between 8 and 9:15 a.m., with various bell changes to elementary and middle schools as well. See all four proposals in detail on the FCPS website.
The proposals will cost between $2.7 million and $7.6 million to implement, mostly to purchase new buses. Last week, the FCPS school board approved the 2015 budget, but received less than expected from the county board of supervisors, had to make $97 million in cuts, and will offer employees delayed step raises.
Some parents at the SLHS meeting said they fear that existing programs will be cut in order to pay for the new arrangement.
“Money is being wasted,” said one mother of two high schoolers. “Teachers are not being paid. Classes are getting bigger. And these proposals will cost more money.” Read More
A Reston man has been arrested after Fairfax County Police said he was manipulating a mentally incapacitated woman into performing sex acts for money.
Robert Moore, 31, was charged with promoting prostitution, receiving earnings from prostitution and unauthorized use of a vehicle, police said.
Detectives from Fairfax County’s Human Trafficking Unit received information last week that a man was reportedly manipulating the 22-year-old woman into performing prostitution.
The investigation revealed that Moore has been using online advertising for the young woman’s commercial sex acts, transporting her to meet clients, and then keeping all money exchanged in the transactions, FCPD said in a news release.
FCPD has been trying to raise awareness of sex trafficking. Since January, FCPD has been conducting a public awareness campaign called “Just Ask.” The police have teamed with Fairfax County Public Schools and the county Office for Women & Domestic and Sexual Violence Services to tackle the issue, particularly as many teenage girls are targeted.
Police define trafficking as “the act of manipulating or forcing anyone to engage in a sex act in exchange for anything of value (money, drugs, shelter, food, clothes, etc.). FCPD says it identifies an average of two new potential victims per week.
Photo: Robert Moore of Reston/Credit: FCPD
Fairfax County Police are investigating two burglaries that took place in Reston in the last week.
The first was May 18 in the 2400 block of Southgate Square. The second was reported Sunday in the 11600 block of Ivystone Court.
In both cases, someone entered the residence and took property, police said. Police did not specify what was taken.
In other crime reported by FCPD’s Reston District Station for the week ending May 27:
LARCENIES
11100 block of Barrel Cooper Court, bicycles from residence
1500 block of Cameron Crescent Drive, laptop computer from vehicle
12900 block of Centre Park, jewelry from residence
3800 block of Highland Oaks Drive, wallets and passport from vehicle
11700 block of Karbon Hill Court, GPS from vehicle
2300 block of Ridgehampton Court, bicycle from residence
1600 block of Washington Plaza, property from residence
1800 block of Discovery Street, pictures from business
Market Street/Discovery Street, property from business
1000 block of Monroe Street, cell phone from location
1800 block of Cameron Crescent Drive, jewelry from residence
1500 block of Cameron Crescent Drive, cash from vehicle
3800 block of Highland Oaks Drive, wallet from vehicle
2000 block of Lakewinds Drive, purse from location
2100 block of Centreville Road, keys from business
700 block of Grant Street, cell phone from business
STOLEN VEHICLES:
Middle Creek Lane/Mossy Creek Lane, Honda Civic
DIRECTED PATROL, May 25. Officers from the Reston District Station patrolled the county searching for drunk drivers. No drivers were charged with DWI. Eight summonses and seven warnings were issued.
Hunters Woods Elementary School sixth grader Jae Canetti will be making his third appearance at the Scripps National Spelling Bee Wednesday at the Gaylord Resort and Conference Center in Maryland.
Jae, who earned the trip to the national bee by winning the Fairfax County Bee, was ousted in the 2013 semifinals after he tripped up on the word “grundriss,” a word of German origin defined as a comprehensive outline of a science.
In 2012, as a fourth grader, Jae also made it to the semifinal round, tying for 22nd place. He was the youngest speller in the bee that year.
Jae is one of 13 three-time contestants at this year’s national bee, which will feature 281 spellers. Preliminary rounds begin at 8 a.m. Wednesday and will be broadcast on ESPN3. The semifinals and finals are on Thursday, also on ESPN3.
When not practicing bee-worthy words, Jae is a huge baseball fan. The 12-year-old plays Little League and travels with this father to see minor league baseball games. He has also participated in the gifted programs at the Davidson Institute Young Scholar program and the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth.
Jae is one of 14 contestants from Virginia in the national bee.
Reston Now will keep you updated on Jae’s results at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Photo: Jae Canetti at 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee/File photo
So Long To A Lake Anne Staple — Friends and colleagues of Lakeside Pharmacy owner Larry Cohn held a goodbye party after the store’s sale to an investor closed last week. Cohn is retiring. [Restonian]
Saving A Satellite — Reston space enthusiast Keith Cowing is part of a group that crowdfunded more than $150,000 to take control of a satellite no longer needed by NASA. The money will pay for programming, hardware, and use of radio telescopes. All the new data would be open to anyone so they can make their own discoveries about solar weather patterns or how a spacecraft ages. [WUSA9]
Virginia Sees Sharp Rise in Children in Poverty — A new University of Virginia study says nearly one-third of children in Virginia are living in poverty. [Cooper Center]
Register Now, Swim Later — Goldfish Swim School, slated to open in Reston later this year, is now taking pre-registration. [Goldfish Swim School]
Herndon High School will send more than 350 of the 529 members of the Class of 2014 to college next fall.
More than half of the college-bound students will attend colleges and universities in Virginia, according to statistics from the Herndon High counseling office.
HHS’ Class of 2014 will hold commencement on June 23 at 2 p.m. at George Mason University’s Patriot Center.
Click through to see the college list for the entire Class of 2014.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) officially took possession of the Silver Line Tuesday morning, marking a significant milestone in the rail extension’s timeline towards opening this summer.
The handoff took place at 5:30 a.m., said Metro deputy general manager Rob Troup.
The opening of Phase 1, which will run from East Falls Church to Reston’s Wiehle Avenue, is more than six months behind its projected opening schedule, though neither Metro nor the Metropolitan Washington Transit Authority (MWAA) announced a firm opening date.
Operational readiness (ORD) means that MWAA, which built the $2.9 billion extension, is finished with its part and Metro can now begin a 90-day training and inspection period.
“We are very, very pleased to get to ORD,” Troup said in a conference call with reporters. “Service is going to be significant to the people in Northern Virginia.”
There was no announcement about when the line will be open for service, however.
“We feel we are in a very good position,” Troup said in response to a question about opening this summer. “We are working closely with MWAA, and they have allowed us to get our personnel in there early and we have done training for station managers [and other personnel]. I don’t want to give anything definitive. We may have to push [the opening] beyond if we find something of concern to us.
“But we are testing, hiring and training and feel we are in a very good position.”
Troup said there are a few small items that MWAA contractor Dulles Transit Services needs to address in the coming days. Among them: contract progress and paperwork; drainage systems in stations; and fencing work that needs to be finished.
The bobbing track issue and faulty station speakers have been fixed, Troup said.
Other news of note:
About a week prior to opening, there will be simulated rail service, where trains will run on their regular schedule. The simulated service will not include passengers. When the line opens, trains will run every six minutes during rush hour and every 12 to 20 minutes at other times.
Metro security has been working with local law enforcement (Fairfax County Police, Virginia State Police and Airport Authority Police) for a year, said Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik. Eight hundred first responders have been trained.
There will be two full-scale emergency exercises with law enforcement agencies, Fairfax County Fire Rescue, Virginia Department of Transportation and D.C. Department of Transportation, Pavlik said.
One will be a drill simulating a “real life scenario,” he said. The other will simulate an emergency on the aerial tracks near the Spring Hill station. The drills will likely occur on a weekend, but no date has been announced.
The Fairfax County Public Schools school board has approved its Fiscal Year 2015 budget of $2.5 billion, but it did not get there without cost cutting and reconfiguring.
The board voted 7-3 to pass the budget on Friday. The FY 2015 plan is an increase of $39 million (1.6 percent) over 2014, but it also includes reductions of more than $97 million and eliminates 720 positions.
Among the cost-saving changes:
- Reductions to school clerical and custodial staffing that were adopted from the State School Efficiency Review, presented to the Board in September 2013.
- Class size was increased by .05 students in elementary and middle schools and 1.0 students at the high school level.
- Including the FY 2015 budget, more than 2,100 positions have been eliminated since FY 2009, FCPS says.
The school system will continue to pay for test fees for Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB), something FCPS considered eliminating as it costs the system $4 million annually. Each FCPS high school will also add a position to provide in-school suspension support to students.
The transfer from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors was increased by 3 percent (to $51 million), but was far less than the 5.6 percent new schools superintendent Karen Garza had requested. The supervisors provide nearly 70 percent of funding for the schools, which are projected to see an increase of more than 2,000 students (and $19.5 million in spending on them) next school year. FCPS is also expected to receive additional state funding.
Fairfax County, with more than 186,000 students, is one of the country’s largest school systems.
The budget, which takes effect July 1, includes a delayed salary step increase for all eligible employees. Increases in retirement rate costs are estimated to be $38.9 million, and increases in health insurance rates are estimated to be $19.9 million, FCPS said.
School Board Chair Ilryong Moon said the board was committed to giving a salary increase to employees this year.
“We realize the importance of fairly compensating our school-based and support staff members and of staying competitive in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area,” he said. “We appreciate the Board of Supervisors’ efforts to increase the transfer this year, although we remain disappointed that the board did not fully fund our transfer request. We are committed to continuing the cooperative, collaborative process that was established during this budget cycle in future years.”
In appealing to the supervisors at budget talks in April, Moon said the school system has “reached a tipping point where the underfunding of our schools at both the county and state levels for the past several years has led us to where we now face a distressing reality — one that suggests there is very real and troubling evidence that our great school system is beginning to show signs of decline.”
Among the reasons, according to Moon: continually growing class sizes; 12 schools that are no longer accredited by the state of Virginia; higher Standards of Learning test measures/lower pass rates; and the need for extra support for growing totals of English as a Second Language and students living in poverty.
To see more budget information, visit the FCPS website.
