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“Purple Ethiopian Restaurant & Lounge” will be opening at the location, according to a recent ABC license application. It’s the latest in a procession of eateries that double as nightlife spots to occupy the two-level restaurant space at 3111 Columbia Pike.

In the past, neighbors have been critical of excessive noise and crime at the location, which has at times hosted nighttime events. It didn’t help that a manager of Pines of Italy, one of the former establishments, apparently called Arlington County Board members “c-cksuckers” after a vote to revoke the restaurant’s live entertainment permit in 2014.


Around Town

Karantonis has held the post for the past five years. His accomplishments at CPRO included the establishment of summer movie nights, a wine and craft beer festival and the continuation of other popular events along the Pike.

Karantonis was an ardent supporter of the Columbia Pike streetcar project and was dealt a blow when the project was scuttled in 2014.


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That’s the message from County Manager Mark Schwartz, who spoke at a County Board meeting yesterday afternoon.

More than a year in the making, since the Nov. 2014 cancellation of the Columbia Pike streetcar project, the new transit plan for Columbia Pike will include bus service that’s “fast, frequent, reliable, easy to use, comfortable,” Schwartz said.


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The most hotly anticipated we’ve found, based on the nearly 630 people who have already responded on Facebook, will be near the Clarendon Metro station at noon on Jan. 24.

There will be another snowball fight less than a mile away in Virginia Square. That one begins at 1:00 p.m. in Quincy Park (1021 N. Quincy Street), and the organizer’s Facebook post claims the fun will keep going “until people have tired themselves out.” A similar Quincy Park snowball fight nearly two years ago attracted more than a hundred participants.


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A new Sugar Shack Donuts store may open next month on Columbia Pike.

“Now hiring” signs have been posted in the windows of the storefront along S. Glebe Road, in the new 3400 Pike apartment building. Owner and former state legislator Rob Krupicka says the store opening is “a few weeks away.”


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For now, the fitness club’s location at 2501 9th Road S., at Penrose Square, is in a “soft opening” period, announcing hours of operation on a week-by-week basis. It will be open from 4-9 p.m. through this Thursday and 4-8 p.m. on Friday.

According to 9Round partner Michael Agrillo, the location is offering specials for the opening and will host a grand opening party soon.


Sponsored

A new restaurant on Columbia Pike is ready to reintroduce Arlington to whiskey.

Marble & Rye opened last week at Penrose Square (2501 Columbia Pike), near the Giant and new Starbucks. Although the restaurant has served customers for only about two weeks, the restaurant is already making a name for itself when it comes to its whiskey and ribs, said spokeswoman Sarah Lakey.


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The Arlington County Board unanimously approved the redevelopment of Arlington Presbyterian Church into an apartment complex with 173 affordable housing units at its meeting on Saturday.

“For over 100 years, Arlington Presbyterian Church has been a place where people of vision, connected with the community, have heard and responded to the needs of our neighbors,” the church said in a release. “As a faith community, APC is committed to creating and nurturing a community of disciples, being a people and place of crossroads for the Columbia Pike neighborhood, and redeveloping their property to provide affordable housing for those in their community.”


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The Arlington County Board is scheduled to consider a project that would tear down Arlington Presbyterian Church along Columbia Pike and replace it with an affordable housing apartment building.

County staff is recommending approval of the project, which was approved by the church’s congregation in 2013. The church’s regional governing body gave the green light for its sale to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing earlier this year.


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