Lapu Lapu, a Filipino eatery offering to-go breakfast sandwiches, is expected to open this spring in Crystal City, according to the National Landing BID.
The Gaithersburg-based shop hopes to make its Northern Virginia debut at 1417 S. Fern Street by April. Named after a national hero of the Philippines, Lapu Lapu combines Filipino cuisine with American breakfast sandwiches.
Valentine’s Day is nine days away. Have you made all of your plans for the big day yet?
Some people are V-Day go-getters who made restaurant reservations months ago. Others are Valentine’s Day procrastinators who will figure it out when they get a chance — maybe later this week?
Today we’re asking readers: which one are you?
Oh and in case you were wondering, previous Valentine’s Day-related ARLnow polls have determined that Arlingtonians prefer food to flowers as a present (70-30) and would much rather stay in than go out on Feb. 14 (85-15).
This regularly scheduled column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. If you would like to work with Eli and his team in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. Metro area, you can reach him directly at [email protected].
Fannie Mae sets the rules for (most) residential lending and just released new requirements for condo loans. Here’s a link to the full release and I’ll highlight a few changes that have the biggest implications for Arlington/Northern VA condos.
Thanks to the always-on it, Trey Reed of Cross Country Mortgage ([email protected], 703.297.9382), for the notice and helpful explanation on these changes.
Elimination of 50% Investor-Owned (rental) Unit Limits
This rule caused mass confusion for years for condo boards/owners and is now eliminated.
Effective Immediately: The 50%+ investor-owned limit is eliminated for ALL loan types.
Why it Matters: This should increase the buyer pool for investor-heavy buildings which is good for values, but may push rental percentages even higher, which most owner-occupants consider a negative.
What to Watch: Many condo buildings with rental caps set them at, or just below, 50% because of this rule (I’m generally opposed to rental caps) so it makes sense that some buildings will drop their rental caps. On the other hand, the elimination of this rule may increase the number of investor purchases and owner-occupants may play defense by adding a rental cap. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next 2-3 years.
Increased Reserve Allocation to 15%
What Changed: For loan applications dated after Jan 4 2027, condos must budget at least 15% of their total income from assessments (condo fees) toward Reserve contributions.
Background Context: Previously, the requirement was 10%. Reserves are a building’s savings account for the maintenance and replacement of common elements (e.g. HVAC, roof, carpet, paint, parking garage, etc).
Between the Lines: Underfunded Reserves are the biggest financial risks for a condo association; and thus for the banks that lend to its owners. The minimum contribution requirement is an effort by Fannie Mae to reduce this risk exposure.
Why it Matters: This is a nationwide rule, but Arlington/Northern VA condos tend to be in a better financial position, with stronger reserve balances, than many others across the country and do not need 15%+ annual reserve contribution to properly maintain their Reserves. As a result, this rule will force these buildings, that have been financially responsible for years/decades, to increase condo fees unnecessarily to meet the new requirement. This will result in an unnecessarily overfunded Reserve account and put downward pressure on market values because monthly fees are higher. (more…)
Deer culling efforts are unlikely to get off the ground in Falls Church any time soon, city leaders indicated this week.
“There’s no evidence that there’s an overpopulation of deer,” the city’s animal-control officer, James Overholt, told City Council members during a Monday night work session.
All Victims Found at Crash Site — “Crews are expected to remove the cockpit of the American Airlines jet from the Potomac River as they continue recovery efforts from last week’s fatal mid-air collision… Authorities recovered all 67 victims and have identified the remains of 66 of the people killed in the collision.” [NBC 4]
NTSB Provides Update — “The air traffic control tower display at DCA is fed by the Potomac TRACON. The TRACON fuses information from multiple radar sensors and ADS-B data, providing the best quality flight track data to air traffic control. This data showed the Black Hawk was at 300 feet on the air traffic control display at the time of the collision. This data is rounded to the nearest 100 feet.” [NTSB]
Police Chief Discusses Response — “Arlington County Police Chief Charles Penn spoke to 7News at noon about the department’s response to the recent midair plane crash near Reagan National Airport. He also talked about the latest crime trends and community initiatives.” [WJLA]
Black History Month Events — “This February (and all year long) there are countless ways to celebrate Black history and culture in Northern Virginia. Visit a historic site or museum, participate in a community conversation, take the kids on an educational scavenger hunt, watch a traditional ‘broom-jumping’ marriage ceremony and learn about the local Ethiopian community.” [Arlington Magazine]
Big Raise for Local Startup — “GenLogs, a rapidly growing Arlington freight logistics startup, has raised $14.6 million from investors as it looks to deploy more of its truck-tracking cameras across North America and expand into federal contracting work.” [WBJ]
Union Kitchen Settles Suit — “The owner of Union Kitchen, a chain of locally owned grocery stores in the District and Virginia, has agreed to pay its workers more than $133,000 for illegally withholding tips paid by customers, settling a lawsuit filed nearly two years ago that alleged Union Kitchen stopped accepting tips after workers pointed out the discrepancy on their paychecks.” [Washington Post]
Robbery in Rosslyn — “The male suspect entered the business, collected merchandise and bagged the items at the self-checkout before attempting to exit the store without payment. An employee confronted the suspect during which he shoved the employee and made threatening statements towards them. The suspect then exited the store and fled the scene on foot. No injuries were reported.” [ACPD]
Another Tysons Casino Milestone — “Legislation that would give Fairfax County the authority to ask voters to allow a casino is heading to the Virginia House of Delegates. After a passionate debate that split Fairfax County’s typically unified delegation, the contentious bill… passed the state Senate today (Tuesday) by a 24-16 vote.” [FFXnow]
It’s Wednesday — Brief periods of snow and sleet are possible throughout the day. The high temperature will be around 37°F, with a 30% chance of daytime precipitation. Tonight, expect sleet before 1am, transitioning to freezing rain and sleet until 4am, then either rain or freezing rain afterwards. The low will be near 32°F with a southeast wind at 6 mph. The chance of precipitation is 100%, with potential ice accumulation under 0.1 inches and sleet accumulation under 0.5 inches. [NWS]
Join us for a crown-worthy evening at Penrose Square as we celebrate Arlington’s own Sandra Bullock with a special outdoor screening of Miss Congeniality.
Before the movie, create your own tiara with our friends at MOCA Arlington, then settle in for a hilarious night under the stars with one of the most beloved comedies of the 2000s.
Good Tuesday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Feb 4, 2025.
Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Snow may occur briefly before noon, followed by possible sleet between noon and 1pm, and an increased chance of combined snow and sleet after 1pm. The high temperature will be around 37°F with a light, variable northeast wind. Precipitation likelihood stands at 30%. On Wednesday night, expect sleet before 1am, transitioning to freezing rain and sleet until 4am, then either rain or freezing rain afterwards. The low temperature will be near 32°F with a southeast wind at 6 mph. The chance of precipitation is 100%, with potential ice accumulation under 0.1 inches and sleet accumulation under 0.5 inches. See more from Weather.gov.
“Every moment is a fresh beginning.”
– T.S. Eliot
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.
An impending deadline for Arlington Independent Media’s broadcasting license is reinvigorating the nonprofit’s requests for county help.
AIM — which has been attempting to reboot after laying off its entire staff last March amid significant debt and a pending county audit — has until March 21 to resume broadcasting at WERA 96.7.
It could be an icy Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
The National Weather Service just issued a Winter Weather Advisory for Arlington, the District of Columbia and other D.C. area locales.
A road near Virginia Hospital Center was blocked Tuesday afternoon following an unusual crash.
The crash happened around noon on 16th Street N. near N. Abingdon Street, in the Waycroft-Woodlawn neighborhood.
The upcoming birth centennial of an Arlington civic icon may be an opportunity to reimagine “the Arlington Way” of community-based, consensus government.
County Board Chairman Takis Karantonis tells ARLnow he wants to use the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Board member Ellen Bozman in April both to honor her legacy and lead to the county into the future.
