Archive for the ‘Around Town’ Category

Dunkin’ Donuts wants to expand in Arlington and several other D.C.-area counties, and is looking to recruit franchise owners to help with that expansion.

Next week Dunkin’ Donuts will hold an information session in Tysons Corner to discuss franchise opportunities with interested local entrepreneurs. Among the localities where the company wants to expand are Arlington, Fairfax, Charles and Prince George’s counties.

Arlington is home to four Dunkin’ Donuts stores, excluding location in National Airport. Current locations include Crystal City, Pentagon City, Columbia Pike and Lee Highway — so far, none in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.

In a statement, Dunkin’ Donuts said it is looking to drive local expansion by recruiting quality franchise owners.

“Dunkin’ Donuts is looking for qualified candidates with foodservice, operations and real estate experience to join our team to help expand the brand’s footprint in Washington, D.C. and the surrounding areas,” a company executive said.

Thanks to generous donations, the 62 homeless youth served by Doorways for Women and Families were able to go back to school today with supply-filled backpacks.

The backpacks contained lunch bags, water bottles, pencils, crayons and even a gift card redeemable for donated clothing.

“The security of starting the school year well prepared will help these children to overcome some of the other uncertainties in their life right now,” Doorways services coordinator Kristen Barnes wrote on the organization’s blog.

Photo courtesy of Doorways.

Last year, Dominion upgraded the power substation at 3245 Wilson Boulevard to help provide additional power capacity to the ever-developing Clarendon area. As part of the upgrades, Dominion promised a new containment wall that would make the facility easier on the eyes. So far, though, it’s still just a fence.

That has some locals worried. One resident contacted us and pointed out that the Dominion web site lists the project as “complete.” Would the prominently-placed substation remain surrounded by the “ugly” chain link fence?

No, says Dominion spokesperson Le-Ha Anderson. The wall is coming.

“Dominion is working with Arlington County, community members and an art consultant to select a vendor to create the artwork for the façade around the… substation,” Anderson told ARLnow.com. “We expect to have a design proposal by late November – early December.”

Anderson said she expects the wall to be built by spring 2011.

Everybody knows that parking enforcement is strict in Arlington. So strict, apparently, that even this Crown Vic with an Arlington Police vest inside got ticketed on Clarendon Boulevard, near the Whole Foods.

We’ve also heard of federal government vehicles getting ticketed.

Unanswered question: If it was indeed a police vehicle, will Arlington use tax dollars to pay the fine to themselves?

It used to be a sleepy street full of warehouses and warehouse stores. Now the three blocks of Fern Street between 12th and 15th Streets are starting to come to life thanks to high-end apartments and a growing roster of ground-level retailers.

The block’s main attractions at this point are the Costco on the north side of the street and the Gramercy and Millennium at Metropolitan Park luxury apartment buildings on the south side. The relatively recent addition of a Dunkin’ Donuts has helped the block attract some more lunch and breakfast foot traffic — adding to the brave souls who patronize an old greasy spoon called Nell’s Carry Out, which resides in a trailer across from the old DHL warehouse.

Slowly but surely, though, more retail is arriving. A dry cleaner and a bank moved into retail bays at the Gramercy around the same time as Dunkin’ Donuts. A UPS Store is under construction down the block. And the U.S. Post Office that’s currently on Eads Street will eventually be moving to the ground floor of the Millennium.

There’s plenty more space to fill. One retail bay of special interest is a specially-designated restaurant space in the Millennium. The building’s leasing agent has been entertaining nibbles from some restaurateurs. We hear that Lost Dog Cafe has expressed interest, as has an Italian restaurant, identity unknown.

A half block off Fern Street is a privately-constructed park with lots of potential. The neatly-landscaped open space — courtesy of Kettler, the developer behind the Gramercy and the Millennium — is big enough to be much more than the defacto dog toilet that it currently serves as. In June, Kettler used it for a party that included “live music, local vendors, a tricycle race, food, drink and a variety of fun activities.” Next summer, management tells us, it will host a series of outdoor concerts.

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Signs for the new Crumbs Bake Shop are up next to Lululemon and Red Mango on Clarendon Boulevard. Clarendon Culture reports the store is expected to open in December.

The storefront has nearly 900 square feet of space for the popular New York-based cupcakery. According to county records, the store’s initial floorplan calls for 10 indoor seats and no sidewalk cafe.

The new location still hasn’t been listed on the Crumbs web site.

Update at 10:00 a.m. — A Crumbs rep confirms: Opening “by the end of the year.” It seems plausible that the store could open sooner — the company started applying for permits in July.

Update at 2:30 p.m. — Added photos of the exterior and interior. I’m becoming more and more convinced that we’ll see a pre-Thanksgiving opening date.

Update at 2:50 p.m. — Contrary to what Clarendon Culture and ARLnow.com is being told by the company, a Crumbs spokesperson is telling TBD that the Clarendon Crumbs is hoping for a late September or early October opening. This morning, a rep at Crumbs HQ told us it “definitely” would not be open within a month. Sigh.

“Rosslyn has seen a surge in residential and retail development,” the Washington Examiner opined over the weekend. “Nearly 600 new housing units have opened in the past year and more than 500 are under construction.”

According to the Examiner, Rosslyn has experienced a “transformation” over the past decade that has made it “cleaner and greener” and a more attractive place to live.

“Rosslyn is becoming much more mixed use,” Rosslyn BID finance director John Seal told the paper. “There are so many things to do here that people tend to overlook.”

Between the DC skyline views and the proximity to downtown, Rosslyn is the “the high-end living destination in Arlington,” one local real estate broker said.

Another selling point: Artisphere, the shiny new cultural center set to open in October in the old Newseum space. (The article incorrectly lists Busboys and Poets as a tenant — in fact, Busboys dropped out and the county is trying to find another restaurant to take over.)

Yes, there’s more housing in Rosslyn as of late, and yes, Artisphere will bring more culture to the area, but retail? The article’s case for a retail resurgence seems much more thin.

Rosslyn-ites, what do you think of your neighborhood’s development?

Pool photo by Patrcye.

If you caught a glimpse of this RV parked outside the Court Suites Hotel in Courthouse, you may have wondered what the heck it’s doing there. If you count yourself as a hockey fan or a video game nut, you may have also been tempted to go up and knock on the door.

The RV is on a tour of the U.S. and Canada to promote the “real hockey experience” of playing NHL 2K11 on the Nintendo Wii.

It’s here in Arlington in advance of two promotional appearances this weekend: Saturday at a GameStop in Rockville (14929 Shady Grove Road), and Sunday at a Best Buy in Alexandria (5901 Stevenson Ave). Both appareances will take place from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

DC is among a handful of hockey meccas on the east coast where the RV is making a stop. The two weekend appearances are the only items on the official schedule, but with the RV crew staying so close to the Caps training facility they have to be planning on going over there and witnessing a real real hockey experience, right?

ACDC Kicks Off Campaign Season — Last night, the Arlington County Democratic Committee officially launched its campaign to maintain electoral dominance in the county. But looking forward to November contests that include a challenge to incumbent county board member Chris Zimmerman, Democrats aren’t counting their chickens quite yet. “We are not going to take anything for granted [this] fall,” ACDC chair Mike Lieberman tells ARLnow.com. The Democrats’ campaign season will kick into high gear on Monday at the party’s annual Labor Day Chili Cookoff.

Dems, GOPers Swipe Each Other’s Swag — Stop us if this starts sounding like symbolism. In an effort to appease their respective constituencies, the local political parties decided to start stealing from one another. The petty political thievery took place at the recent Arlington County Fair. The Sun Gazette has the details.

Another Week of Chess – Shirlington’s Signature Theater has extended the rock musical Chess for an additional week. The show will now run through October 3. Tickets for the bonus week will go on sale Tuesday, according to Playbill.

The Pit of Hell Burger – Workers have dug up part of the parking lot in front of Ray’s Hell Burger in Rosslyn, but don’t worry, President Obama — your favorite diplomatic lunch spot is still open during the construction. Other affected businesses include Guallijo, Greenberry’s Coffee, and a Virginia ABC store. More from TBD.

Flickr pool photo by Chris Rief.

Update at 12:55 p.m. — We’re told development at the space at 2121 Crystal Drive, referenced here, is a long-range goal and not set in stone. Vornado’s current and on-going effort to attract a grocery store is focused on existing spaces in Crystal City.

Crystal City has been without a grocery store for more than five years. But now, as developer Vornado works to attract more residents to the area, it’s also working hard to attract a new grocery store.

The Safeway that had served as Crystal City’s lone grocery store closed its doors in March 2005. The store had been an anchor tenant of the Crystal City Underground for 38 years, but decided to close when surface parking was eliminated as part of the revitalization of Crystal City.

Now, we hear, Vornado is touting the success of Crystal City’s Freshfarm market in an effort to attract a new grocery store. We don’t know much about the closely-held discussions with retailers, but we do know a likely site for a future store — the park in front of 2121 Crystal Drive.

The park is actually owned by Vornado, which wants to liven up the block by replacing the open space with low-rise retail and, possibly, condos. In order to do so, however, Vornado would need to convince the county board that the open space being developed would be replaced by more open space elsewhere in Crystal City.

We talked to Crystal City Business Improvement District President Angela Fox and County Board Vice-Chairman Chris Zimmerman about the potential development earlier this summer. Check out the video from that lively discussion (don’t worry, it’s short) after the jump.

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