Around Town

Lost Dog Cafe’s owner is weighing his options as ongoing Columbia Pike construction and region-wide challenges for restaurants have him concerned about his bottom line.

The restaurant at 2920 Columbia Pike experienced a 10% drop in sales from 2023 to 2024, and if the current trend continues, owner James Barnes expects that number to dip another 8.75% by the end of this year.


Around Town

It’s the end of an era for the McDonald’s at 4834 Langston Blvd.

The fast food chain’s aging Langston Blvd location just closed and is now blocked off with fencing, ahead of its scheduled demolition to make way for a long-planned, modernized building.


Around Town

Preparations to demolish the shuttered Ballston Macy’s have begun as several hundred apartments and an as-yet-unnamed grocery store are expected in 2028.

Interior work began last month at 685 N. Glebe Road, where general contractor John Moriarty & Associates hopes to receive a demolition permit “any day now” and, if all goes as expected, complete demolition by August.


News

A sizeable portion of Reagan National Airport’s economy parking lot will be closed for construction starting next week.

Beginning Monday, about 850 of the parking lot’s 2,680 spaces will be unavailable, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said in a press release. Construction is expected to continue into 2026, and at its peak, up to 1,100 of the lot’s spaces will be displaced.


News

Plans for two new bridges over the Potomac River have moved “to the next level” with the announcement of a contractor to design and build the structures.

The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) last week named Long Bridge Rail Partners — a joint venture between three general contractors — as the organization responsible for finalizing designs and beginning construction on the “South Package” of the Long Bridge Project.


News

The Falls Church City Council has voted to pursue eminent domain in order to build the city’s first traffic circle.

Several Council members voiced unease at the idea of setting unwelcome precedent, but ultimately took the gloves off on Monday in an 18-month battle to obtain a key easement.


Schools

It’s been the practice for some years, but now peanuts and their derivatives are formally banished from food served in Arlington public-school cafeterias.

Cafeterias now must “provide exclusively peanut-free food,” an Arlington Public Schools policy implementation procedure (PIP) mandates.


News

Utility work at the planned second site for Amazon’s HQ2 has concluded.

“All construction operations have concluded,” contractor Clark Construction told local residents in an email Friday. “Your engagement and support has helped us to efficiently carry out these community enhancements. We appreciate your patience, understanding, and cooperation.”


News

A forthcoming senior living development with 215 apartments has broken ground in Falls Church.

The Reserve — part of the expansive West Falls development project — will offer both independent living and assisted living, as well as memory care, through operator Experience Senior Living.


News

Missing Middle construction projects that halted after a court decision last month received permission to move forward today.

Despite declaring Arlington’s Expanded Housing Options unlawful and preventing the county from issuing any more EHO permits last month — a decision the county now intends to appeal — Circuit Court Judge David Schell presented a path forward for some developers Friday morning.


News

A $650 million Falls Church development project is approaching some key milestones as 400 units of housing are slated to welcome their first tenants in coming months.

Phase One of the West Falls Development Project, which seeks to redevelop 10 acres of land at the former site of George Mason High School, is nearing completion, Mary Beth Avedesian, Senior Vice President of Development at Hoffman & Associates, shared at a public event Monday night.


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