Another tenant plans to shutter its doors by the end of the year at  The Spectrum, a master-planned retail complex at Reston Town Center.

Office Depot, which is located at 11816 Spectrum Center, will close on Nov. 13, a company representative told Reston Now.

The company has been closing stores throughout the country after first quarter sales in 2019 fell by two percent. The losses came from the company’s IT and consulting services arm, known as CompuCom. The retail division is composed of Office Depot and OfficeMax stores.

Earlier this year, Starbucks also announced plans to leave the retail center. In 2020, Best Buy also left a major vacancy in the area.

Lerner Enterprises, a Maryland-based company, plans to redevelop the plaza into a mixed-use project. But a timeline for the proposal has not yet been determined.

Another business in The Spectrum at Reston Town Center has permanently closed its doors.

Starbucks, previously located at 1857 Fountain Drive, officially closed in late February. The last official day of business was Feb. 28.

A company spokesperson said that the decision was made for ‘the sake of Starbucks’ long-term growth. ‘

‘We look forward to continuing to serve the Reston community and encourage our customers to visit us at our other stores in the area,’ the spokesperson told Reston Now in a statement.

In October of last year, Best Buy’s departure left a major vacancy in the plaza.

Lerner Enterprises, a Maryland-based company, plans to transform the plaza into a mixed-use development with 700,000 square feet of commercial and retail space along with 1,400 residential units. A timeline for the project has not yet been determined.

Image via Google Maps

Herndon officially has one less Starbucks location.

As of Dec. 27, the location at 13035A Worldgate Drive in Worldgate Centre shuttered its doors.

A spokesperson for Starbucks told Reston Now that the location was closed as part of a “standard course of business” that aims to ensure a “health store portfolio.”

“We look forward to continuing to serve the Herndon community and encourage our customers to visit us at our other stores in the area,” the spokesperson wrote.

Coffee lovers can still enjoy coffee at Weird Brothers, which has a location at 12825 Worldgate Drive in the Worldgate Metro Office Park. Starbucks also has other nearby locations at Village Center and on Elden Street.

Updated at 9:45 a.m. — Includes information from Starbucks and Virginia ABC.

Four businesses closed up shop in Woodland Park Crossing in Herndon last year, adding to its list of retail vacancies.

The mixed-use development, which includes a Harris Teeter and UFC Gym, currently has nine vacant retail spaces, according to a list from Rosenthal Properties.

Marion Myers, a spokeswoman for Rosenthal Properties, told Reston Now that some of the closures were not surprising. “It’s normal in the retail cycle when leases come up for renewal for there to be churn,” she said.

While the development saw several closures in 2018, it has upgrades in store for this year.

“We are working to improve the customer experience at Woodland Park Crossing,” according to Rosenthal Properties, adding that upgrades include LED lighting along with more parking and a new green space that will get added in the first quarter of 2019.

The Starbucks closed last year at 2309 Woodland Crossing Drive, which Myers said was a part of Starbucks’ larger plan to shutter 150 stores in fiscal year 2019.

A spokeswoman for Starbucks told Reston Now that the Woodland Park Crossing location, which closed on Nov. 30, was “special to our customers and our partners.” Now, those customers can go to the nearby store at 2465 Centreville Road, and the partners have been relocated to other nearby stores, she wrote in an email.

“As part of Starbucks standard course of business, we continually evaluate our business to ensure a healthy store portfolio,” the spokeswoman said. “After careful consideration, we determined it was best to close the store at [Woodland Crossing Drive].” She added that Starbucks expects to grow its store numbers by 3 to 4 percent in the U.S. at a rate of 550 new stores per year.

Cleaners located at 2310 Woodland Crossing Drive, Suite 1 closed at some point last summer, according to employees at businesses near the former cleaners.

Next Day Blinds at (2976 Highland Crossing Drive, Suite A) closed its doors on Nov. 21 and now services Herndon customers out of the Sterling, Va. location, according to its website.

“We are still here for you, for life. We look forward to seeing you in Sterling,” the website says.

The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority relocated its store at 12950 Highland Crossing Drive, Suite B to the Village Center at Dulles (2435 Centreville Road) on Aug. 22, Dawn Eischen, a spokeswoman for the Virginia ABC Authority, told Reston Now. “We chose the new location because of potential profitability and better parking,” she wrote in an email.

Next to the parking lot, an existing building that used to house a Capital One bank branch that closed in 2016 is currently getting torn down, Myers said. The demolition started last fall and is slated to wrap up this quarter, she said.

Between 1,135-square-foot to 6,512-sqaure-foot retail spaces are cuurently available for lease, along with 2,589-square-foot and 4,641-square-foot office/retail spaces.

“We are currently looking for the right mix of retail and restaurants and feel it’s worth being strategic, even if it takes some time,” according to the commercial real estate company. “There are new leases in the pipeline, but they cannot be discussed until finalized.”

Image and map via Rosenthal Properties

This story has been updated

To the dismay of some area residents, a series of upgrades — including an amphitheater, fire pit and ping pong tables — are being considered for South Lakes Village Center (11120 South Lakes Drive).

The project by village center owner Chevy Chase Land Company is intended to activate space at the edge of Lake Thoreau between Cafesano and Red’s Table.

But residents near the center and merchants worry the new space will become a magnet for youth from Langston Hughes Middle School and South Lakes High School. The project would also increase noise — a concern that already rattles some residents as sound travels down the lake.

Reston Association’s Design Review Board deferred a decision on the project Tuesday night to allow the development team, which includes engineering firm Kimley-Horn, to revise the plan. The DRB could consider updated plans at its next meeting.

Mary Sapp, president of the Lakeport Cluster Association, said the project would increase noise levels, raise safety concerns due to unsupervised teens, and increase the chance of vandalism of the plaza’s “very attractive features.” Sapp said three of the cluster’s 11 bollard lights were destroyed, three were knocked over and two Safeway carts were thrown into the lake from the dock over the last 15 months.

“We assure you that Lakeport Cluster is not ‘anti-students’; a number of our residents have children (or grandchildren who visit often), and several are actively involved with South Lakes High School,” Sapp wrote in a statement to the DRB.

Charles Foster, a Lakeport Cluster resident, called the project an “unprecedented experiment in Reston” that would attract 3,400 young adults within walking distance, creating an environment that “ allows anyone at any time to engage in any type of activity.”

Upgrades include an amphitheater, new lighting, a chalkboard wall, outdoor ping pong, lounge and plaza seating area and outdoor ping pong. A new, back-lit sign is also proposed for the center.

Gil Blankespoor, a resident in the Lakeport Cluster, questioned how the property owner will maintain the upgraded site.

“We know Chevy Chase Land’s heart is in the right place. They did a fabulous job last year with the new landscaping, and their plan is to build community activities. But what they propose is in the wrong place — far too close to residential developments,” Blankespoor said.

The development team said they were open to removing the gaming features of the site, including ping pong tables, in order to allay community concerns. DRB members also suggested removing outdoor cushions, which could end up in the lake, and adding more shaded trees.

In response to concerns about attracting area teens, Michael Casey of Kimley-Horn said the plaza was open to “all generations” and should not exclude any demographic. By design, the commercial plaza is placed next to residential development, he said.

“This is what community is,” he said.

Given the “brutal reality” of the retail world, activating the space is necessary to ensure the long-term viability of the center, said Tom Regnell, president of Chevy Chase Land Company.

“We are interested in that very long-term view,” Regnell said.

Photos via handout

UPDATE: The Starbucks location opened Monday, Oct. 9.

—

Another new Starbucks will soon open in Reston.

Signs inside the future coffee shop at 12130A Sunset Hills Road, within the RTC West development, indicate that the new Starbucks will be ready soon. The storefront is attached to Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant, which opened in August.

A spokesperson for RTC West developer JBG Smith said she could not provide an exact opening date for the Starbucks. An “opening soon” sign hangs inside, visible through the front windows. Several “Now Open” sandwich boards are also stacked inside, ready for deployment.

This will be the ninth Starbucks in Reston, joining locations at North Point Village Center, South Lakes Village Center, Hunters Woods Village Center, Reston Town Center, the Spectrum shopping plaza, Plaza America, Reston Station and inside Target.

Six additional restaurants are also planned for the development. Significant work has been done at the sites of the future Nando’s and Mezeh restaurants, which have been in the plans since April 2016. Other coming restaurants, which were announced earlier this year, include BGR The Burger Joint, Punjabi by Nature, The Black Squirrel and Honeygrow.

Reston has a new coffee spot and Reston Station has its first full-time retailer.

The Reston Station Starbucks opened on Friday in the ground floor of Comstock’s BLVD apartments.

While Reston Station has Urban Pop, a series of pop-up shops along the plaza at Wiehle-Reston East, this is the first permanent retailer there.

This Starbucks location (there are seven in Reston, not counting inside Target and Safeway) is quite large, with counter seating overlooking the plaza, a meeting nook, couch space and other work areas.

Founding Farmers is still on track to open a restaurant in the space in the next building. Founding Farmers signed a lease last fall, and the sign in the window says “coming late 2016.” However, no interior work has started, so it likely won’t meet that deadline.

Meanwhile, there will be validated parking for Starbucks customers. Visitors who park in the ParkX Garage (first left off of Reston Station Boulevard), then park in retail spaces (take a right up the ramp, take parking ticket and go straight ahead) will get two hours free, Comstock says.

Reston Town Center’s Starbucks closed more than a week ago, but officials say it is just temporary as the store does some remodeling.

Town Center reps said in a tweet Monday that the store — one of a half-dozen in Reston — will remain closed through Sept. 26.

Sorry folks… @Starbucks is still closed for renovations in RTC. New opening date is 9/26, but check back for updates!

— Reston Town Center (@RestonTwnCenter) September 19, 2016

There is no shortage of places to get coffee at RTC. Among other nearby spots: Panera, Community Canteen, Pitango Gelato and Cosi, as well as the many full service restaurants.

Meanwhile, Reston’s newest Starbucks store is slated to open at Reston Station by the end of September.

Several Virginia Starbucks locations recently began serving beer, wine and savory snacks as part of the new “Starbucks Evenings” program, but two Reston stores slated for the rollout are not yet participating.

Starbucks stores at South Lakes and North Point Village Centers in Reston have had Alcoholic Beverage (beer and wine) license applications with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board that are still listed as “pending.”

Starbucks announced last summer it would add the Evenings program, which was tested in New York City, for a nationwide audience. The two Reston stores, along with one in Great Falls, have been in the works since then, but a Starbucks spokeswoman said the addition is a “long and thoughtful process.”

The first DC-area stores started serving wine and beer a few weeks ago. Among them — stores at Tysons (Pike 7 Shopping Center), Chantilly (Chantilly Crossing) and Fairfax (Fairfax Boulevard).

Some of the highlights of the Evenings menu:

A secletion of craft beer

About a dozen wine selections (by the glass or bottle), including Alamos Malbec (Argentina), Erath Pinot Gris (Oregon), Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet Sauvignon (Washington),  and Villia Sandi Orisecco (Italy).

Small plates include truffle mac and cheese; spinach and artichoke dip; chicken skewers; truffle popcorn; and a cheese plate.

South Lakes Starbucks/file photo

The South Lakes Village Center Starbucks may soon become a place for a glass of wine and small plates in the evenings.

The South Lakes location, at 11170 South Lakes Dr., is one of several Virginia locations seeking a license to sell wine and beer. The application was filed last week, according to Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control permit records. Other Northern Virginia Starbucks also seeking to add beer and wine service are in Arlington, Purcellville, Chantilly, Sterling and Great Falls.

The effort is part of the Starbucks Evenings program, which rolled out in August. The company began testing it in New York City, Denver, Miami, Orlando and Northern California. It has filed alcohol license applications for several hundred locations nationwide.

“We learned resoundingly that our customers want to come to Starbucks and have a glass of wine or a craft beer,” Rachel Antalek, Starbucks vice president of concept innovations, told USA Today in August. “There aren’t that many places to go in the evening where you can go very relaxed, very casual. It’s not loud. You can actually have a small group and hear yourself talk.”

On the Evenings menu: cheese plates, bacon-wrapped dates, spinach and artichoke dip, and truffle popcorn. There are about 10 wines on the wine list (available by the glass or bottle), as well as craft beer.

The coffee menu is also available during evening hours, Starbucks said.