The company still hasn’t signed a lease, we learned; it’s waiting for the Arlington County board to approve a site plan amendment for the space it wants to occupy in the Clarendon Center development. That approval is expected next Tuesday, with county staff recommending the changes laid out in the amendment.
With the lease signed, Trader Joe’s expects to be able to open in late spring or early summer. No specific dates were discussed.
It was July when we first learned that the upscale Greek eatery would be opening up in a 4,000 square foot space on Clarendon Boulevard. Despite questions about whether the restaurant might have scrapped its plans, we’re hearing that owner Ted Xenohristos is still very much moving forward with the Clarendon Cava.
According to a tipster, Xenohristos is telling people that the restaurant is 4-5 months away from opening. A banner will soon be posted outside the boarded-up storefront, and Facebook and Twitter announcements will soon follow, we’re told.
Friend of the site @NewsCat_in_DC has organized a happy hour Tweetup tonight, and @ARLnowDOTcom will be there.
The event starts at 6:00 p.m. at Eventide Restaurant in Clarendon (3165 Wilson Blvd).
A happy hour and a cocktail party are on tap in Clarendon and Bluemont tonight.
The Reading Connection, a group that helps improve literacy for at-risk youth, is holding a happy hour at Mister Days (3100 Clarendon Blvd) from 5:00 to 9:00 tonight. A $5 donation gets you great happy hour specials and a raffle ticket for prizes like an Amazon Kindle 3G or gift cards to local stores.
That is, unless the park bond fails in November.
All but $350,000 of the park’s funding relies on voters passing a $5.975 million park bond next month. If the bond fails, a new, piecemeal construction plan will likely need to be conceived.
ARLnow.com first reported last month that Trader Joe’s was prepared to sign a lease in the Clarendon Center project if it could get some regulatory issues ironed out. Among them: the retailer wanted permission to have dedicated parking, wanted to display its products outside the store, and wanted a loading dock provision modified.
“I think we managed to work through all three issues,” Arlington County Planning Division Chief Robert Brosnan told us last night. “We do have a policy for shared parking, but we also have a policy for grocery stores, and it really is in the name of encouraging a grocery store that we will modify those requirements in this case.”
Northside Social will be smoking not one but two pigs on its patio tomorrow, part of the cafe’s inaugural “Pigtoberfest.” The pork will be accompanied by side dishes and several rare Octoberfest beers and pumpkin ales.
The event starts at 6:30 p.m. and costs $35 per person plus tax and tip. Weather-permitting, outdoor seating will be available.
Clarendon’s Restaurant 3 reported on its Twitter feed today that an NBC Sports camera crew was filming b-roll around the restaurant this afternoon. The footage is expected to air during Sunday night’s game between the ‘Skins and the Indianapolis Colts.
The game will include a tribute to the late “Grandpa Hogette” Ralph Campbell, one of the co-founders of the Washington Redskins Hogettes, who was buried at Arlington National Cemetery last week.
If the election results go their way, the Tea Party will be partying in Arlington on Nov. 2.
The Clarendon-based Leadership Institute, a sort of conservative political training camp, will host “an election night victory party for 350 conservative and Tea Party activists.”
Views at Clarendon Could Be Model for Other Churches — Could more cash-strapped urban churches follow the Views at Clarendon model, selling land rights and allowing mixed-use development on church grounds? One of the architects of the affordable housing project says he’s getting calls from interested parishes around the country. A neighbor’s lawsuit challenging the project is currently on appeal. More from the Washington Examiner.
Marine Rape Trial Goes to Jury — The jury in the rape and abduction trial of 21-year-old Henderson Hall Marine Jorge “George” Torrez will resume deliberations at 9:00 this morning. Torrez faces 17 charges stemming from two separate attacks in Arlington in February. More from ABC7.
Today is the beginning of Bacon Week at 3 Restaurant in Clarendon, and the eatery has a ramped up the creativity to generate a three-course bacon menu. There’s also a bacon happy hour from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., and a bacon-making class at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 16.
The restaurant’s affinity for all things bacon has even earned it a segment on an upcoming Travel Channel special called “Bacon Paradise.”
The event will feature local 80’s rock tribute band Toxic Mouse. No word on a set time, but the band will likely take the stage at some point between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m.
HiBall Events is handling promotion for the bash.
