Madewell is opening at Reston Town Center on April 27, but fans of the J Crew-owned jeans and accessories store can get a sneak peek at a special event on Tuesday, April 26.
The grand opening party is from 6 to 8 p.m. at the new store at 11928 Market Street at Reston Town Center.
There will be food and drinks, a DJ, and a complimentary Bien Fait tote with purchase (while supplies last), a store spokeswoman said.
RSVP online on Madewell’s Facebook event page.
Madewell is considered a younger, hipper version of J. Crew. Madewell specializes in jeans, leather jackets and totes, and other casual clothes.
Madewell recently opened a branch at the Mosiac District in Fairfax. It also has nearby locations at Tysons Corner Center and Georgetown in D.C.
The Executive Director of the Reston Town Center Association recently said the town center is “an elite destination.”
A new lunch special at Morton’s The Steakhouse reflects that. Morton’s is making a “Million Dollar Burger,” and you can get it through April 12.
For $39, patrons get a burger and a glass of wine. The Million Dollar Burger features Morton’s Prime Burger topped with foie gras, black truffle butter, and braised short ribs. It’s accompanied by a glass of Anatomy Cabernet Sauvignon.
Morton’s Reston location is located at 11956 Market St.
Ben & Jerry’s is getting closer to returning to Reston Town Center.
The previous store, a longtime Market Street tenant, closed its doors in September with the promise to return in a few months.
The store is moving down the street to 11916 Market St. Its former location is going to be a Madewell store, which should be opening soon.
No word on when Ben & Jerry’s is scheduled to open, but it is well through the permitting and build-out process — and a shiny, modernized sign has been installed.
That probably puts the opening sometime after ice cream weather returns but before paid parking comes to RTC in August.
Reston Now will keep you updated.
The AT&T store that was for years located at 11862 Market St. in Reston Town Center has relocated a few blocks away.
Visit the new location at 1810 Library St. for phone and wireless services.
The new location, which formerly housed The Dandelion Patch until the stationary store closed it Reston spot in early 2015, is a much larger store than the Market Street storefront.
Store hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Store phone number is (571) 203-9589.
The Market Street space is currently empty. Reston Now will let you know if it sees signs of a new tenant.
Paid parking at Reston Town Center is a done deal. Representatives of Boston Properties and the Reston Town Center Association explained why at a community meeting at the Hyatt Regency Reston on Thursday.
“We are an elite destination location,” RTCA Executive Director Robert Goudie said, reiterating that Boston Properties is “not a non profit location.”
As Reston Now has previously reported, Reston Town Center will go to a paid parking system this summer. Goudie and representatives of Boston Properties, which owns the town center, said the plan to install a paid system has been in the works since the town center opened 25 years ago.
Goudie told the crowd of merchants and citizens that in the original town center master plan, there was a proffer agreement that the developer would have to eventually do “transportation demand procedures.” Part of that control would be paid parking. That is a common element of transit-oriented design, he said. Read More
Reston residents can get more information about the planned paid parking system at Reston Town Center at a meeting Thursday at the Hyatt Regency Reston.
While the meeting is aimed at town center homeowners, residents and merchants, members of the public can also attend.
This is a venue change — the meeting was previously scheduled to be at The Avant but has been moved to accommodate more people. The meeting will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Reston Now reported two weeks ago that Boston Properties, which owns Reston Town Center, will phase in a paid parking system beginning Aug. 1. Read More
Get your young runners ready — the Mighty Mile is this Saturday at Reston Town Center.
The annual Mighty Mile is a race just for kids ages 6 to 14.
Race time for the oldest runners (ages 12 and up) is 8 a.m., with the rest of the age groups following every 15 minutes. Runners ages 4-5 will have a half mile course at 9 a.m., and there will be a Tot Trot (100 yards) at 9L15 a.m.
Packet pick up will be at the Reston Town Center PR Running store (11911 Democracy Dr.) on Friday April 1, 3 to 7 p.m., and Saturday before the race starting at 7 a.m.
All runners in the mile and half-mile will be timed and will receive a finisher medal (ribbon for the Tot Trot runners). No parents will be allowed on the course with their children; parents will only be allowed to run in the Tot Trot. The course will be blocked off to all traffic and lined with volunteers for monitoring and safety of all participants.
Entry fee is $20 ($15 for half mile; $10 for Tot Trot). Sign up on PR Race’s website.
Photo: 2015 Mighty Mile/Credit: PR Races
When Reston Town Center announced last week it would go to a paid parking system in August, many residents and merchants were shocked.
They should not have been.
There has been talk of instilling a paid system for at least five years — which was nearly 10 years out from a Metro station serving the town center. The Silver Line’s Reston Town Center station is expected to open in 2020.
But Reston Town Center officials say that the 7,000 spaces spread over seven garages are already seeing increased commuter parking as people leave their cars there all day, then jump on a bus to the Wiehle-Reston East station.
That’s why RTC says parking will be $2 an hour starting Aug. 1. Payments can be automatically made via an app, which will also help you locate your car and available parking spots. It is expected that merchants will validate to offset some of the costs. Employees will be able to purchase monthly passes.
Ray Ritchey, Executive Vice President of Boston Properties, which owns the town center, laid out the financial boost of paid parking in a 2011 shareholders call:
“We’ve still got 8,000 parking spaces out there that we have no value on. This is just free parking. So when Metro comes, guess what? We have to put in parking controls, so the commuters don’t come and take the parking spaces and use Metro. So if we just charge $4 a day per space, either in terms of the what that consumer pays directly to us or what we factor in on the renewal of these leases, because we now are going to pay parking. And on the 8,000 spaces, that’s $8 million a year.
And at a fixed cap rate, that’s $130 million of additional value just with paid parking. So you put the value we created in terms of the land and the value created just with the parking, that’s $300 million of value before we put a shovel in the ground and create value the way we normally do it, which is going vertical with office buildings. [It’s] $300 million of value for the Metro stop coming to Reston Town Center.
Another Boston Properties executive said in 2012 that paid parking would happen eventually.
“If you think about it logically, it really is an urban environment in a suburban setting, Peter Johnston, Boston Properties senior vice president and D.C. regional manager, said in 2012.
At least two petitions have been organized by Reston Town Center patrons in response to the news that the mixed-use area will go to a paid parking system this August.
There is a petition on Change.org, as well as on on StandUnited.org, reflecting the frustration of many RTC patrons. From the StandUnited petition:
To Boston Properties: Your paid parking plan is going to kill the Town Center, not help it. Instead of making RTC appealing to people who want to grab a bite to eat or stop at a few shops, you are penalizing them.
Part time and full time hourly employees should not be penalized because commuters have been taking advantage of your parking structure. You are stealing money from people who are trying to better themselves by charging employees monthly fees to park where they work. What other retail places charge employees to park?
Please reconsider your paid parking plan. Tyson’s Corner was able to cut down on commuter abuse without penalizing the store patrons and employees. It’s not right to make businesses who are already paying an exorbitant amount in rent have to subsidize their employees’ and customers’ parking.
A RTC spokeswoman said last week that an app-based system that will go into place in August. The app, RTC Park, will also help patrons locate their car and pay the parking charges by credit card.
Parking will cost $2 an hour. Store and office employees will have to pay for parking as well, but monthly passes (up to $70 for office workers; $50 for retail workers) are being offered. Many stores also say they will offer validation, but that exact plan has not yet been worked out.
Parking will still be free on weekends, holidays and during major community events such as the holiday parade, Oktoberfest Reston or the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival. There will also be designated free parking for quick stops at stores such as FedEx, CVS and the dry cleaners.
There will be a community meeting on the topic at 6:30 p.m. on March 31 at The Avant (12025 Town Square St. at Reston Town Center).
“We have been discussing paid parking options since the Silver Line was approved,” said RTC spokeswoman Marion Myers. “Since last year’s opening of the Wiehle-Reston Metro Station, we have seen an increase in the already problematic use of RTC parking by commuters and non-patrons. The upcoming additional Reston station will only add to the problem.”
The Reston Town Center Metro station is scheduled to open in 2020.
Reston Town Center employees can expect to pay a monthly parking charge when the center goes to a pay parking system this summer.
The town center announced earlier this week it is in the process of installing a paid parking system for its seven garages. The system, which will be rolled out gradually, will likely go into effect late this summer, RTC officials said.
That has led to frustration by many merchants and outrage from many customers, who say they will no longer visit RTC if they have to pay to park.
“Horrible stupid idea,” said one commenter on Reston Now. “Penalize everyone for the misdeeds of a few. … What they don’t get is that the majority of those going to the restaurants during the week are usually business related and folks from out of town. Imagine trying to tell your business client that you have to download an app in order park, so that you can drink your $8 beer? We don’t need to get used to it because we have choices.”
Read More
Many Reston Town Center store owners and employees have serious concerns about a downturn in business and an effect on their bottom line when paid parking is instituted at town center garages this summer.
A town center spokeswoman said on Tuesday that an app-based paid parking system is going into place in all seven of Reston Town Center’s public garages. The system is being installed, in part, to deter from drivers who are parking at RTC all day and taking a bus over to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station.
It will cost $2 an hour to park during the day, with a daily maximum of $12, said spokeswoman Marion Myers. There will be validation, though, and parking will be free on weekends and during big community events like the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival. Read More
After years of talking about it, Reston Town Center will soon be going to a paid parking garage system.
Later this year — most likely by August — RTC garages will start using an app-based system called Park RTC, says RTC spokeswoman Marion Myers.
Myers says there is already evidence that people are parking at Town Center and taking shuttles to Dulles International Airport or Whiele-Reston East’s Metro station and leaving cars for hours or even overnight.
With a Reston Town Center Metro station coming in 2020, there needs to be a new system in place, she said.
“We are looking for some solutions to protect parking for office [employees] and store customers,” said Myers. Read More
St. Patrick’s Day starts early in Reston.
The annual Lucky Leprechaun 5K is Saturday, March 12 at Reston Town Center.
There is still time to register. Here is what you need to know:
The race begins at 8:30 a.m. at Reston Town Center.
Pre-registered runners receive a Lucky Leprechaun 5K technical T-shirt.
The race course loops around town center, but will also affect public streets Reston Parkway, Baron Cameron Avenue, Sunset Hills Road and Town Center Parkway. See the course map on the PR Races website. Roads will not be entirely closed, but lanes may be blocked.
Online registration is $35 through 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 9; $40 in-person at packet pickup (Thursday and Friday at Potomac River Running at town center) or at the race on Saturday morning.
There will be a free, short (about 100 yards) kids fun run at 9:30 a.m. Registration for the kids fun run will take place on race day morning near the finish line.
There will be a special St. Paddy’s Day refreshments at the post-race celebration following the race.
World of Beer is conducting a nationwide search for beer enthusiasts to take part in unique summer internship program.
The “Drink it Intern” program search kicks off nationwide on March 1 — and Reston’s World Of Beer will be the first place to hold in-person interviews.
The Reston in-tavern interviews interview will take place Wednesday, March 2 from at 4:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.
Candidates will be interviewed live on the WOB stage and judged by a panel including:
- Sam Calagione, CEO and Founder of Dogfish Head Brewery
- Mike Snider, USA Today
- Jeremy Sundheimer, WOB tavern general manager
World of Beer says interns will be paid to spend the summer traveling to breweries, talking to brewmasters, attending festivals and going abroad to try exclusive beers and have craft beer experiences unlike ever before. It’s a paid gig, but it is part-time, so interns can also have another job of internship, WOB says.
Here is what WOB says it is looking for:
Candidates should be ready to show us their true personality, wow us with their social media and creative prowess, impress us with their passion for beer and food, and own the stage in front of our panelists. We’re looking for social media gurus, aspiring photographers, wanderlust souls, published writers, everyday beer enthusiasts or those who simply always have their phone ready to capture awesome moments. For more information visit World of Beer’s website.
Reston Town Center’s newest store is opening soon, but not as soon as expected.
Madewell, the sister brand of J. Crew, was slated to open in the former Ben & Jerry’s space at 11928 Market St. in January.
Obviously, that date has come and gone, but at least construction has begun in earnest. The “coming soon” sign and construction fencing recently went up around the windows of the location.
The new opening time is “this spring,” according to the placared.
Madewell is considered a younger, hipper version of J. Crew. Madewell specializes in jeans, leather jackets and totes, and other casual clothes.
Madewell recently opened a branch at the Mosiac District in Fairfax. It also has nearby locations at Tysons Corner Center and Georgetown in D.C.
Madewell is currently hiring for the Reston store.
Ben & Jerry’s, meanwhile, is in the permitting and construction process to open a new store a couple of doors down on Market Street.
