At a ceremony in Arlington Thursday evening, ten students graduated from La Cocina, a bilingual culinary school for the unemployed or underemployed.
The culinary job training program holds classes for 12 weeks. The students then complete a four week paid internship at different hotels and restaurants.
(Updated at 2:40 p.m.) The County Board is set to vote this Saturday (February 24) on a contested residential development in Ballston.
The development is planned around the intersection of N. Vermont and 11th streets, about four blocks from the Ballston Metro station. Developer NVR Inc. intends to build a 72-unit multifamily building with both condos and townhouse-style units on the southern block and 12 townhouse units on the northern parcel of land.
Updated at 3:21 p.m. with additional details.
Updated at 9:41 a.m. with additional photos: A high rise AC unit caught fire this morning (Thursday) in Ballston, shutting down the 800 block of N. Quincy Street.
A new Indian restaurant, Urban Tandoor, is one step closer to opening its doors as it hangs it sign at the Ballston space.
There still isn’t a posted opening date, though construction has been ongoing since at least September 2017. The restaurant, at 801 N. Quincy Street, will replace a series of eateries, like Republic Kitchen & Bar and Leek American Bistro, which have closed in recent years.
Crystal City Could Be Big Budget Winner — Commercial real estate analysts expect Crystal City and the Dulles Toll Road corridor to be the big winners from the new spending bill that was signed into law last week, boosting domestic and military budgets. Crystal City is also among the Northern Virginia locales under consideration for Amazon’s HQ2. [Bisnow]
Park Police Chief Cancels Meeting with Beyer — Updated at 12:30 p.m. — The chief of the U.S. Park Police cancelled a scheduled meeting yesterday with Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. Beyer and Norton are seeking answers in the fatal Park Police shooting of Bijan Ghaisar, who fled from a reported crash and then from officers before being shot in Fairfax County. USPP later released a statement explaining the chief’s decision. [WUSA 9, PDF]
OpenWater, a company that develops a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution for award ceremonies such as the TONY and James Beard awards, has move its headquarters from the District to the Ballston neighborhood.
The 35-person company signed a seven year lease at 4401 Fairfax Drive and moved in earlier this year, according to a press release by the company. OpenWater previously resided in D.C. for 8 years and was able to expand its footprint by 120 percent as a result of the move.
by Karyn Ewart, PhD., Founder & Head of School, The Sycamore School
“He used to love school,” is a common refrain I hear from parents.
With the addition of new experience-oriented tenants, Ballston Quarter is billing itself as “one of the largest experiential and entertainment hubs in the D.C. area.”
The center is bucking its identity as a mall as construction continues on what was once the Ballston Common Mall. Set to open this fall, Ballston Quarter has already announced hip food options in its 18-restaurant food hall and a marquee entertainment tenant in the planned 25,000 square foot Punch Bowl Social.
After the 2016 presidential election, Tori Phillips said she felt “helpless” and thought there was a community divide in Arlington.
To address that, Phillips reached out to multiple churches in 2017 with the idea of launching a “Little Community Pantry.” The idea is similar to that of a “Little Free Library,” from which people can give and take books as they please, except with Phillips’ pantry people can donate non-perishable food items and other items such as foot and hand warmers, packaged toothbrushes and tampons.
Local bicycling retailer and bike ride organizer Freshbikes has closed.
The store’s Ballston location, at 3924 Wilson Blvd, is shuttered. The Freshbikes location in Bethesda has also reportedly closed. Its Mosaic District store in Fairfax County closed last year.
The Sycamore School will add 4,225 square feet of space at its current location at The Arlington Center (4600 Fairfax Drive, Suite 300) in Ballston, the school said in a press release. That extra space will include a math and science suite, black box theater, an engineering room and an additional electives room.
In addition, the school will expand to include students from fifth to 10th grade next school year. It opened in September 2017 with an inaugural class of students from sixth to eighth grade.
Arlington County is one final step away from controlling sections of Fairfax Drive and 10th Street N. along the Orange Line corridor.
The Arlington County Board will vote on Saturday (January 27) to approve a deal that would give the county control of the road between its intersections with N. Glebe Road and N. Barton Street, from roughly the Ballston to Courthouse neighborhoods. The roadway is currently controlled by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
