A small fire broke out at the Signature apartments in Reston Town Center this afternoon.
Local fire and rescue crews put out the fire, which started on a stovetop around 4 p.m. today (Tuesday).
No injuries were reported.
Units on scene of building fire in the 11800 block of Freedom Drive in the Reston area. Small fire on stove top. Fire sprinkler has extinguished the fire. Crews checking for extension. #FCFRD #FairfaxCounty pic.twitter.com/iYj9gZP2hY
— Fairfax Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) January 21, 2020
A solo exhibition featured the world of Maryland-based Douglas Moulden is on display at the Greater Reston Arts Center’s satellite gallery at the Signature apartments (11850 Freedom Drive) through August 29.
The exhibit, “A Purposeful Manner Towards a Vague Destination,” features a series of large-scale acrylic paintings on panels. The work is inspired by Moulden’s memories of woods near his Frederick, Md. home and the outskirts of the DC area.
GRACE said the following about the exhibit:
Calling on his expertise as a sculptor he makes his plywood panels, often utilizing non-traditional shapes, and then applies his paint in a unique fashion. His approach to research could be referred to as coddiwomple (v.), an obscure English slang word that gained popularity with globetrotters, meaning to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination.Â
This is not the first time Greater Reston Arts Center has featured Moulden’s work. In the 2009 exhibition The Empty Landscape, curated by Joanne Bauer, Moulden presented a large body of paintings and sculptures, different from the ones seen here. Since then, he has lost the ability to use his signature technique of using a paint-filled syringe to draw, similar to pointillism, and build up the painting’s complex surface.
This set-back has affected the way in which Moulden creates his work but his deep appreciation for nature and the joy found in making beautifully crafted objects is still his driving force. In this exhibition, GRACE presents three new works,Things Are Looking Up, Puzzle, and Globe Thistle, the first of this artist’s transition from one method to another to capture the abstract and mysterious beauty in our area landscapes.
A curator’s talk is set for August 8 from noon to 1 p.m. The exhibit is free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Photo via GRACE
After closing its location in The Spectrum in 2005, Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market has officially returned to Reston. The gourmet food retailed opened today on the ground floor of The Signature, a 508-unit apartment building.
Seventy spaces in a garage primarily for residents of The Signature are set aside for Balducci’s customers. The first two hours of parking is free and no app is required.
The grand opening celebration kicked off at 11 a.m. today with a champagne sabering, live music and a ceremony led by Judy Spires, CEO of Balducci’s. During the weeklong celebration from Friday (June 22) through July 1, there will be a 10 percent discount on all purchase. Tastings and demonstration will also be held throughout the week. Today, around 400 additional parking spaces will be available for customers.
“We’ve combed the globe for the most exciting specialty foods–and of course that includes the very best of what’s local. Here you’ll find an incredible array of offerings from the freshest, sweetest day-boat sea scallops sourced right here in the Chesapeake Bay to Japanese Miyazaki A5 Wagyu beef,” said Spires in a statement. “We like to think that if Marco Polo had his dream pantry, this would be it.”
The company, which is headquartered in Germantown, Md., has other locations in Alexandria and McLean. The store in Reston is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Photos via Samantha Emmerling
Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market (11850 Freedom Drive) will hold its grand opening on June 22 at 11 a.m.
The opening weekend will include chef demonstrations, food tastings, a beer bar and member-only offers throughout the store.
Parking is free daily in the silver garage for two hours for customers. No app is required.
In 2005, Balducci’s former location in The Spectrum, closed because it was underperforming. The new location is on the ground floor of The Signature, a 508-unit apartment building.
Grocery deliveries will also be offered soon. The gourmet market has seven other locations, including one in New York, Connecticut and Maryland.
Photo by Fatimah Waseem
Boston Properties is ready to kickstart the first phase of Reston Gateway, 22-acre site next to the future Reston Town Center Metro Station, a company executive said.
During the company’s quarterly earnings conference call Wednesday, BXP Chief Executive Officer Owen Thomas lauded a recent lease signed with Fannie Mae for the mixed use project. Fannie Mae will anchor two office building in the project, which also includes 3.5 million square feet of development.
The new mixed use project is designed to complement “the amenity base and community environment of the highly successful Reston Town Center,” Thomas said.
Fannie Mae plans to occupy the building in the first quarter of 2022. A mid-sized hotel, more than 600,000 square feet of residential development and 90,000 square feet of ground floor retail is planned on the site.
BXP President Doug Linde said he was pleased by the strength of Reston Town Center, which he called “a magnet for private sector contractors and technology tenants.”
“We have recently signed two expansion and extension deals with technology tenants for 112,000 square feet. One tenant grew 30% and the other grew 40 percent. And we are negotiating a third expansion and extension this time growing 115,000 square feet tenant to a 160,000 square feet. We are also in early renewal discussions with tenants for more than 300,000 square feet of space,” Linde said.
The company opened the Signature, a residential high-rise in Reston Town Center, in January.
So far, 11 percent of residential units or 86 of the 508 units are leased, Linde said.
Overall, the real estate investment trust reported an income of $176 million, up from $97 million this time last year.
File rendering
The Signature, a new 508-unit apartment building in the heart of Reston Town Center, will welcome a new retail tenant this year.
Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market, a gourmet market that says it offers restaurant-quality foods, imported cheeses and meats roasted in the Old Tradition, is set to open in the spring.
For Balducci’s, the new location at 11850 Freedom Drive is a homecoming. The store’s previous site in The Spectrum, just down the street from the current location, closed in 2005.
Construction crews are currently working on the site. An exact date on the store’s opening hasn’t been set yet, according to a company representative. Balducci’s has six other stores in Maryland, Virginia, New York and Connecticut.
The store is hiring for all positions. To apply, email [email protected].Â
Photo by Fatimah Waseem
Date Announced for 2018 Polar Plunge — The 11th annual Virginia Polar Dip at Lake Anne will take place Saturday, Feb. 3. [Lake Anne Plaza/Facebook]
Boston Properties Residential Project Nears Completion — Designed as a gateway to Reston Town Center, The Signature apartments on Freedom Drive and New Dominion Drive are set to become available in January. The 508-unit project will include two towers, two six-story buildings, a specialty grocer and 4,600 square feet of retail. [Washington Business Journal]
Children Left in Car Rescued by Police — The Fairfax County Police Department says a 26-year-old Falls Church woman brought her three children (ages 5, 6 and 7) to work but left them in the car because she didn’t want to bring them inside. FCPD was called to the scene and got the kids out of the car. They were taken to the hospital for treatment of heat exhaustion, and their mother was hit with three counts of felony child abuse. [Fairfax County Police Department]
Fairfax County Promotes Domestic Violence Awareness Month — On a monthly basis, domestic violence hotlines in Fairfax County receive 200 calls and victims request 75 family abuse protective orders. The county is encouraging residents to help prevent and end domestic violence by volunteering with the county’s Office of Women and Domestic and Sexual Violence Services. Volunteers work on special events, help run a 24-hour hotline, among other duties. [Fairfax County Government/Facebook]
Fairfax County Worker Found Not Guilty in Fatal Stabbing — Kempton Bonds, 20, was found not guilty Wednesday of fatally stabbing 35-year-old Tyonne Johns, a caterer at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly. Bonds was working as a seasonal employee with the Fairfax County Park Authority when the incident occurred last year, according to officials. [FOX 5]
A future office tower at Reston Town Center may soon have a tenant in line, a Boston Properties executive said.
“We are now in dialogue with a tenant for 100 percent of our proposed new development in Reston Town Center, 17Fifty,” said Doug Linde, Boston Properties president, during the company’s quarterly earnings conference call Wednesday.
The 270,000-square foot, 17-story office building will be constructed at the corner of Presidents and Market streets. No further information was provided about the nature of the potential tenant.
Linde also said there are “multiple tenants competing” for a 38,000-square foot block of space at Reston Town Center.
Also during the conference call Wednesday, BXP CFO Michael LaBelle said the company is expecting big things from The Signature, currently under construction at Fountain Drive and New Dominion Parkway. The mixed-use development, which will be anchored by a Balducci’s grocery store, will have 508 residential units and nine levels of underground parking when it opens next year.
LaBelle called the development one of the “most significant projects in our pipeline.”
Site plan via CBRE/Reston Town Center
