Around Town

One of the oldest restaurants on Restaurant Row is celebrating its 55-year anniversary in Crystal City this summer.

The Portofino Restaurant will ring in its anniversary next month with a tomato-themed dinner on Sunday, Aug. 10. However, the restaurant has been celebrating 55 years in business since January, hosting monthly events like wine dinners, live music and raffles.


News

Four vehicles sustained damage Thursday after a car fire spread rapidly in a Crystal City area parking lot.

At approximately 10:50 a.m., firefighters were dispatched after two cars were reported to be on fire near the intersection of 33rd Street S and Crystal Drive, near Potomac Yard.


News

A County Board member has pledged that neither elected officials nor staff will try an end-around to raze the existing Melwood site for redevelopment until the historic-preservation process plays itself out.

“We have already implemented measures to ensure that no [demolition or use] permits are issued” before any decision by the County Board takes place, County Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., said at the July 16 meeting of the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB).


News

New conversion projects on three aging, mostly empty office buildings in Arlington have caused the county’s office vacancy rate to drop by more than a full percentage point.

County leaders hope that these adaptive reuse projects, combined with newly approved standards for signage on commercial buildings, contribute to making Arlington a more enticing place for developers and corporate tenants alike.


Around Town

The team behind a Vietnamese restaurant in a closing Annandale food hall is dropping hints about its upcoming project in Crystal City.

Balo Kitchen, which is closing this summer along with the rest of the vendors at The Block in Annandale, has teased a new “project” in Crystal City this fall. Its owners, Huy Nguyen and Long Lai, are slated to design the menu of the upcoming Scapegoat Beer Garden at 556 22nd Street S.


Events

A series of artisan pop-up markets is kicking off in Crystal City this weekend.

The Landing Local Artisan Market will spotlight at least 16 different vendors at Water Park, located at 1601 Crystal Drive. This week’s pop-up event will be the first of three this summer.


Around Town

A new cafe and bookstore is in the works where Mah-Ze-Dahr closed earlier this year in Crystal City.

Daydrift is a new cafe, market and bookstore by Water Park food hall operator Episcope Hospitality. The business is setting up shop across from the park at 1550 Crystal Drive, according to a message posted in the storefront.


News

Numerous large-scale redevelopment and conversion projects are scheduled to go before the Arlington County Board at upcoming meetings.

A full slate of projects would bring a total of 1,535 new residential units and 344 hotel rooms to Rosslyn, Ballston, Shirlington, Crystal City and Virginia Square. They include both teardowns and adaptive-reuse projects involving underused office buildings.


News

A new 355-unit apartment building has begun leasing in Crystal City, completing a pair of neighboring developments at the site of a former office building.

Valen, a 25-story tower at 2050 S. Bell Street, offers one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows and a rooftop pool. Its neighbor at 2051 S. Bell Street, The Zoe, began leasing last fall.


Around Town

Just in time for Bastille Day, a new bistro with Parisian-inspired offerings is set to open this Friday in Crystal City.

Bar Colline plans to offer French-American cuisine at 269 19th Court S. A sister to Cafe Colline on Langston Blvd, the bistro will join a growing mix of retail and dining at The Grace and Reva apartments.


News

A man is fighting for his life after being severely burned in an under-construction office building in Crystal City.

It happened around 2:15 p.m. at 2011 Crystal Drive, which is being renovated. Initial reports suggest that there was a “flash fire” of some kind on a basement level of the building, critically injuring a construction worker in his 20s and setting off the sprinkler system.


News

Amazon has received another three years to get started on the next phase of its Crystal City headquarters.

The Arlington County Board granted a three-year extension to plans to develop the PenPlace site at a meeting earlier this month.


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