A new business has opened up shop in Woodland Park Crossing in Herndon.

US Taekwondo College is offering classes and programming at 12950 Highland Crossing Drive, Suite 8. A grand opening celebration took place last month.

Here’s more from Myers Public Relations, which represents Rosenthal Properties:

 The USTC instructors are champion Taekwondo practitioners with years of experience, offering classes and programs for adults, children, and families. USTC also has Spring and Summer Camps and an After School Program that offers pick-up at 15 elementary schools in Reston and Herndon. Children can enjoy martial arts classes and have time to read, play games, and/or do arts and crafts, all under the watchful eyes of highly qualified staff. 

The business is located above Visionworks in the mixed-use center, which is anchored by Harris Teeter.

In recent months, the retail mix in the center has been in flux. In 2018, four businesss left Woodland Park Crossing in Herndon.

Photo courtesy

US Taekwondo College

An upcoming walk aims to raise money to assist people with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Take Steps, a national organization, plans to host charity walk on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Woodland Park Crossing (12960 Highland Crossing Drive) starting at 10 a.m.

All of the funds will go toward research for cures, patient advocacy and community education, according to the website.

There will be food and music at the event, a press release said, adding that the walk is also dog and family-friendly.

Participants can register as a team, an individual or as a “free agent” to join another team. During registration, participants can donate money and start a sponsorship campaign so their friends can donate as well.

“Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract,” according to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Though similar, ulcerative colitis only affects the inner lining of the large intestine, according to the site.

Over three million men and women are affected by the illnesses around the United States, according to the foundation.

Photo via Take Steps

A plan to break up a previously approved 148-unit residential building into four condominiums near the future Herndon Metro Station is moving forward.

NVR, Inc. is seeking the county’s approval to change plans for Woodland Park Crossing, a mixed-use project with 1.6 million square feet of planned development.

The multi-family building, which had been approved for 210,715 square feet of development, would be divvied up into four, five-story condominiums with 185,000 square feet.

The plan was first approved in March 2017, calling for a total of 678 residential units, two office buildings — 16 stories ad 14 stories, and 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

The site borders the Dulles Toll Road to the north and Monroe Street to the east. It is owned by Tishman Speyer.

The county’s Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the project on Tuesday, July 16.

Map via handout/Fairfax County Government

Four proposed condominiums near Woodland Park Crossing are headed to the Fairfax County Planning Commission for a public hearing next Wednesday (June 12).

NVR, Inc. had received approval previously for the development of a 210,715-square-foot, multi-family building with 148 dwelling units on the site of a larger, 1.6 million-square-foot, mixed-use development.

Now, the developers want to covert the multifamily homes into four, five-story-tall condominiums totaling 185,000 square feet with 96 units for Block C.

The new plans for Block C in the Woodland Park East development would include three public open spaces and one private open space.

The rest of the development includes:

• Block A: residential townhomes
• Block B: residential townhomes and two-over-twos
• Block D: multi-family building
• Block E: offices and large urban park

Planning Commission staff recommend approval of the development, according to the staff report.

Development plans via Fairfax County, map via Google Maps 

Locals getting or staying in shape can expect new work out options like jiu-jitsu and boxing at Plaza America.

UFC Gym recently signed a lease for a 4,834 square-foot space at 11710 Plaza America Drive, Suite 40.

The fitness franchise has more than 70 locations spanning the country, along with a handful in Canada. The gyms offer a range of mixed martial arts, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and boxing classes for individuals and groups, along with standard gym equipment like ellipticals, bikes and treadmills.

Currently, there is a UFC Gym in Woodland Park Crossing at 12973 Highland Crossing Drive, Suite C.

Photos via UFC Gym Reston Herndon/Facebook

Whether you’re celebrating with friends or significant others, Reston Now has rounded up some Valentine’s Day events this week that don’t involve dinner plans.

With all of the chocolate and candy temptations, why not focus on self-care with physical activity set to love songs and break-up hits?

New Trail Cycling, which opened in December at Lake Anne Plaza, will have themed rides all about love.

The first one titled “Love vs. Break-Up Hits” is scheduled for the classes at 5:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14). On Saturday (Feb. 16), get ready for the “Battle of the Exes” at 11 a.m.

• Feb. 12 and 13 Valentine’s Day gift with purchase — Spend $100 at a Reston Town Center retailer or restaurant on Feb. 12 or 13 and receive a bouquet of flowers by bringing your receipt(s) to the flower cart located in front of the ice rink on Market Street.
• Feb. 14 Craf-Tea Thursday — Head to the Elden Streat Tea Shop to learn from Tess Rollins how to make two Valentine’s/Palentine’s Day paper cards while enjoying themed snacks and a pot of tea from 10-11 a.m.
• Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day Bingo — From 10:30 a.m. to noon, come to the Tall Oaks Assisted Living to play bingo.
• Feb. 14 Annual Valentine’s Day Horse Carriage Rides — The annual event at Reston Town Center takes place from 4-9 p.m. The proceeds will benefit Relay for Life. Rides cost $5 per person and kids under age 5 ride for free.
• Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day Painting — For $50 per person, you can enjoy painting and wine for two at Pinot’s Palette in Herndon from 7-9:30 p.m.
• Feb. 15 Valentine’s Gala — Food, dancing and more can be expected at Let’s Stay Together first annual Valentine’s Gala. The semi-formal gala will take place from 7-10 p.m. at the Embassy Suites on Woodland Park Road. Tickets start at $125.
• Feb. 17 Valentine’s Makesperience — Enjoy a couple’s dinner at 5:30 p.m. and sign up for a makers class at Nova Labs. Classes include jewelry-making, woodworking, t-shirt making, laser cutting and creating tea lights.
• Feb. 17 Galentine’s Day Party — Scrawl Books plans to host a post-Valentine’s “Galentine’s Party” to benefit Cornerstones and the Laurel Learning Program. Authors Orly Konig and Erika Marks will discuss books, writing and life while drinks and hors-d’oeuvres are served.

Woodland Park Crossing in Herndon may be facing some current turnover, but change is certainly nothing new for the area.

Fairfax County’s Historic Imagery Viewer shows aerial photography of the county dating back to 1937, and photography over the Woodland Park area shows the very familiar story of the area’s residential, then commercial, expansion over the last thirty years.

Even through the 1980s, there was very little new development in the Woodland Park area. Most of the area, aside from one residential development to the west, remained open fields. But by the 1990s, new residential development near the Stratton Woods Park began to grow further west.

By the early 2000s, residential developments had begun to completely fill the area south of Sunrise Valley Drive, accelerated by the growth of the McNair Farms community to the southwest. Throughout the 2000s, the new residential development spurred the creation of new retail and industrial spaces north of Sunrise Valley Drive.

And more changes are still ahead for the Woodland Park area, with the Herndon Silver Line Metro station under construction just to the northeast of the site, spurring new planned mixed-use development for an area that thirty years ago was mostly open fields.

For more Reston Then and Now stories, check out our coverage of:

• South Lakes
• Elden Street
• Reston Station
• Reston Town Center
• Lake Anne

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

The Reston Community Players’ 2017-18 season opens tonight as the curtain rises on their presentation of Elton John and Tim Rice’s musical “Aida.” The show, winner of four Tony Awards, will be performed through Nov. 11 at Reston Community Center’s CenterStage (2310 Colts Neck Road).

This weekend, the show is being performed at 8 p.m. both tonight and Saturday night. Tickets are $27, with student/senior tickets available for $23.

For more information about the show or about other upcoming events from the Reston Community Players, call 703-476-4500, ext. 3.

There is plenty else scheduled to take place this weekend in the area as well. Take a look at our list below.

(Editor’s Note: This is just a limited list of all the events taking place in the Reston area this weekend. If you have an event you would like to ensure is listed on the website, be sure to submit it to our Events Calendar.)

• A trail of illuminated hand-carved pumpkins is welcoming visitors to “THE GLOW: A Jack O’Lantern Experience,” now through Oct. 29 at Lake Fairfax Park (1400 Lake Fairfax Drive). Presented by Townsquare Live Events, the “enchanting Halloween wonderland” features a third-of-a-mile trail decorated with more than 5,000 pumpkins. Tickets, which are $16 for kids ages 3-12 and $22 for adults, are available online and must be purchased in advance.
• The South Lakes High School football team, 6-1 on the season and ranked No. 13 in the region by the Washington Post, return home tonight for a 7 p.m. game against McLean.
• “Sue Wrbican: Well Past the Echo” will be on view at Greater Reston Arts Center (12001 Market St.) through Nov. 18.
• The Woodland Park Crossing HarvestFest will take place from 1-4 p.m. Saturday in the plaza, located at 12960 Highland Crossing Drive in Herndon. The event will feature strolling performers, tenant giveaways, face painting and entertainment, and participating restaurants will offer specials and samples.
• A digital scavenger hunt is planned in downtown Herndon from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Participants will explore various businesses and areas in downtown Herndon to find what they seek. Prizes will be given to winners who discover all the hidden treasures. The event is open to all ages, but parents must accompany any children who play.
• The bluegrass series at Holy Cross Lutheran Church (1090 Sterling Road, Herndon) will present a performance by The Blue Moon Cowgirls at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $15, with children 12 and under admitted free.
• At 11 a.m. Saturday, kids ages 6-12 are invited to take part in the “Halloween Science Spectacular” at the Reston Regional Library (11925 Bowman Towne Drive). Kids will explore fun Halloween science experiments that are “gooey and foggy.”
• During “Giraffe-toberfest,” celebrate fall with animals at Roer’s Zoofari (1228 Hunter Mill Road) on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors can meet the zoo’s giraffe, “Waffles.” Tickets are $20 and all proceeds will support giraffe conservation.
• The Reston Farmers Market will take place from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at Lake Anne Village Center.
• Fashion illustrator Joanna Baker will be at Scout & Molly’s (11944 Market St.) from 2-6 p.m. Saturday. Her prints will be available for purchase and she will be on hand to answer questions.
• Many restaurants and bars in Reston will have live music this weekend. These include Crafthouse (1888 Explorer St.) every Friday and Saturday night from 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.; and Tavern64 (1800 Presidents St.) every Friday from 6-10 p.m; and Kalypso’s Sports Tavern (1617 Washington Plaza N.) every Saturday from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

(This article was updated at 12:10 p.m. Friday, June 30, with a statement from Rosenthal Properties.)

Customers looking for Panera Bread in the Woodland Park Crossing plaza in Herndon have been surprised recently to find it is no longer there.

The restaurant at 2328 Woodland Crossing Drive has had its outdoor signage stripped. All that is left is a sign posted on the door that reads simply: “Sorry for the inconvenience, We are Closed Permanently.” Nearby locations of the restaurant chain are listed on the sign, including the Worldgate Drive, Elden Street and Reston Town Center cafés.

A Yelp reviewer posted Monday that she “asked an employee at a nearby business [who] said it had something to do with issues with the landlord.”

Woodland Park Crossing is managed by Rosenthal Properties, who list the former Panera Bread’s 4,817-square foot space as available. According to a statement from Billy Orlove, Rosenthal director of leasing, sent to Reston Now on Friday:

Panera Bread’s lease expires today (6/30/2017), and Panera elected not to renew its lease with the landlord.

Rosenthal is actively working with an exciting new tenant to backfill the Panera Bread space, and we will happily share that news with you and the Reston/Herndon community as soon as we can.

A development project just west of the future Herndon Metro station has been given the go-ahead by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, who approved it at their meeting Tuesday.

The mixed-use Woodland Park East development will include 678 residential units: 74 single-family attached homes, 90 two-over-two stacked townhomes and 515 multifamily dwelling units within two buildings. Two office buildings — 16 stories and 14 stories — that will include 20,000 square feet of optional ground-floor retail are also part of the plan. The property will also include 6.1 acres of public parks and 2.8 acres of private open space.

The county Planning Commission recommended the project for approval in January.

The development is planned to provide affordable housing, with 12 percent of the total units (approximately 81) set aside as affordable or workforce housing.

“It really does reflect the opportunity of need, if you think about the development that has come forward with the workforce there and all of the housing,” said Supervisor Cathy Hudgins (Hunter Mill District). “How do we meet the needs of work and living throughout the tiers of incomes? I really do appreciate working on that. I think this is a very good project.”

The property, which borders the Dulles Toll Road to the north and Monroe Street to the east, is owned by Tishman Speyer. Development will be done by NVR Inc.

Illustration and map via Fairfax County

Concerns over the ties between real estate company Tishman Speyer and an anti-Muslim hate group dominated discussion during a recent public hearing about property development near the Herndon Metro.

Those concerns now appear to be a thing of the past, however, as the company has ended its business with The Clarion Project. The decision came last week following pressure from the interfaith community, some of which was seen during the Woodland Park hearing.

Tishman Speyer owns the property, located to the west of Monroe Street and south of the Dulles Toll Road, that is up for discussion. It also leased D.C. office space to The Clarion Project, a group that has created and distributed a number of anti-Muslim films and other materials, until it severed the contract last week.

The Clarion Project is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Speakers at the Jan. 11 public hearing included Colin Christopher, the deputy director of government affairs for Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church. Christopher said his mosque wanted the planning commission to delay the vote and take a stand against Tishman Speyer, who he said had to that point refused to address its relationship with The Clarion Project.

“If you don’t think this is a big deal, I’d like you to imagine hundreds of people and faith leaders — maybe from your church or synagogue or mosque — at the next meeting, standing in front of the bulldozers with the local news documenting what’s going on,” Christopher said. “We have that power and we will use it if we have to.”

Christopher said Islamophobia is gaining momentum in the United States and it is the responsibility of citizens and government officials to fight it. His words were echoed by Jeanne Trabulsi, a teacher from Arlington who followed him to the podium.

“Tishman Speyer has chosen to ignore clergy and other citizens who have reached out and who are concerned that allowing a hate group to exist and function in our midst is corrosive to our sense of well-being and to the well-being of others,” she said. “I ask that the board postpone approval of this project until Tishman Speyer becomes a good global citizen.”

Alison Glick, of the DC-Metro chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, also addressed the commission in support of the Muslim community. She said her group had protested at the Pennsylvania Avenue office building in December and 30 interfaith clergy had sent a letter to Tishman Speyer asking them to evict The Clarion Project.

“We want you to know that we understand how important this development project is,” Glick told the planning commission about the Woodland Park Parcel. “But the relationship that we have with the Muslim community… is also important.”

On Jan. 17, the Jewish Voice for Peace said the testimony at the Woodland Park Parcel public hearing was what forced Tishman Speyer’s hand to make its decision regarding The Clarion Group.

“The turning point in the campaign came when JVP DC-Metro partnered with leaders from the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia. The Islamic and Jewish organizations collaborated to challenge a major Tishman Speyer development project that was before the Fairfax County Planning Commission. Last week, the Commission was set to unanimously approve the project, until representatives from Dar Al-Hijrah and JVP testified about Tishman Speyer’s ties to the Clarion Project.”

All commissioners who voted on the project did recommend it for approval, but two commissioners — Karen Keys-Gamarra (Sully) and Janyce Hedetniemi (At-Large) — decided to abstain because of the testimony. Commissioner Frank de la Fe, of the Hunter Mill District, explained that what the speakers was asking was outside the purview of the commission.

“I sympathize and empathize with what I heard. Our nation is going through what I would call some difficult times,” de la Fe said. “But we are here to make land use decisions based on what is good for the county as far as the land use process. I think this application meets those requirements.”

The 31.69-acre property, proposed for residential/mixed-use development, is being planned to house 74 single-family attached homes, 90 two-over-two stacked townhomes, 515 multifamily dwelling units within two buildings, and two office buildings, including 580,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to hold a hearing on the project Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 3:30 p.m.

The Woodland Park area of Herndon may soon be getting even more crowded.

Currently vacant land to the west of Monroe Street, behind the Woodland Park Crossing Shopping Center, is being proposed for a future residential/mixed-use development. The proposal for the 31.59-acre lot is scheduled to be discussed in a public hearing next week with the Fairfax County Planning Commission.

The property borders the Dulles Toll Road to the north and is very near the planned Herndon Metro Station. On current streets, the drive to the station would be slightly less than 1 mile; on a new crossing with Monroe Street proposed in conjunction with project, it would be only about half a mile.

Developers hope the site will one day house:

• 74 single-family attached homes
• 90 two-over-two stacked townhomes
• 515 multifamily dwelling units within two buildings
• two office buildings, including 580,000 square feet of ground-floor retail

A similar project, the Woodland Park Waterview apartments, was approved last month by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission will meet Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 8:15 p.m. in the Board Auditorium of the Government Center (12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax).