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Morning Notes

Published June 14, 2013 at 8:30AM

Fish and Wildlife Office to Leave Arlington — On the heels of the decision to move the National Science Foundation from Arlington to Alexandria, the General Services Administration is expected to announce soon that the Fish and Wildlife Service is leaving, as well. The Dept. of the Interior agency, which occupies three office buildings in Ballston, is “seeking a less expensive space option outside Arlington.” [Washington Business Journal]

Restaurant Fire in Crystal City — A fire broke out in the kitchen of Cafe Manna in Crystal City around 5:30 last night. The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the office building at 2345 Crystal Drive. A sprinkler system helped to extinguish the flames before they spread, but the restaurant suffered smoke and water damage.

Around Town

Pier 1 Imports, 100 Montaditos Coming to Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com

Published June 11, 2013 at 2:50PM | Updated June 11, 2013 at 3:14PM

Pier 1 Imports and Spanish sandwich chain 100 Montaditos will be moving into the ground floor retail bays at 1776 Wilson Blvd, a new office building that opened last year. Pier 1 will take the retail space at the corner of Clarendon Blvd and N. Quinn Street, while 100 Montaditos will be on the corner of Wilson Blvd and N. Quinn Street.

Pier 1 Imports sells home furnishings, decor and furniture. The chain has more than 1,000 stores, including a location at Potomac Yard. The Rosslyn location will be more than 11,000 square feet.

News

National Science Foundation Moving to Alexandria

By ARLnow.com

Published June 7, 2013 at 2:55PM | Updated July 1, 2013 at 8:54AM

The former National Science Foundation headquarters (file photo)

NSF employs 2,237 people in Arlington, according to Arlington Economic Development data. It’s the county’s 12th largest overall employer and its 8th largest government employer. Located in the Stafford Place I and II buildings at 4121 and 4201 Wilson Blvd, the NSF is also central to Ballston’s science and technology economy.

In a memo (below), NSF Acting Director Cora B. Marrett told employees today that the General Services Administration has signed a lease for a “new state-of-the-art building” at Alexandria’s Hoffman Town Center development, adjacent to the Eisenhower Avenue Metro station.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 23, 2013 at 9:00AM

Man Shot By Arlington Sheriff Worked for TV Show — Julian Dawkins, the 22-year-old man shot and killed by an off-duty Arlington deputy sheriff in Alexandria early Wednesday, worked as a shuttle bus driver for the PBS Newshour in Shirlington. He was also the cousin of Washington Mystics player Tierra Ruffin-Pratt. [NBC Washington]

Chamber’s ‘Best Business’ Awards — The Arlington Chamber of Commerce has handed out its 2013 Arlington’s Best Business awards. The winners were: John Marshall Bank (Business of the Year), Dante Consulting (Business of the Year), InfoLock Technologies (Technology Small Business of the Year), Minuteman Press Crystal City (Service Small Business of the Year), House of Steep (Retail Small Business of the Year), AHC Inc. (Non-Profit Small Business of the Year), BbG Fitness (Home-Based Business of the Year Award). [Sun Gazette]

Around Town

Office Depot Closing Courthouse Store

By ARLnow.com

Published May 22, 2013 at 10:45AM

The Office Depot at 1515 N. Courthouse Road is closing next month.

Signs and flyers inside the Courthouse store say it will close its doors on June 29. Customers are being encouraged to instead shop at the Alexandria store at 6211 N. Kings Highway or the Falls Church store at 3536 S. Jefferson Drive.

News

Arlington’s Envirocab Service to Be Sold

By ARLnow.com

Published May 17, 2013 at 11:45AM

Owners Hans Hess and Cord Thomas, Hess’ nephew, are planning to sell the 50-cab fleet to Veolia Transportation, which operates more than 2,400 taxicabs around the country. Among Veolia’s local holdings are the SuperShuttle airport transportation service and a third of the Washington Flyer cab fleet. Hess also owns the Ballston-based Elevation Burger restaurant chain.

The Arlington County Board must first approve the ownership transfer, per a condition of Envirocab’s taxi licenses. County staff is recommending that the Board approve the sale at its meeting on Tuesday.

News

Board to Consider Measure to Allow Year-Round Outdoor Cafes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 16, 2013 at 1:15PM

Westover Beer Garden

The Arlington County Board is considering an amendment to its zoning ordinance to allow outdoor cafes on private property to stay open year-round. The county was previously enforcing an uncodified interpretation of the ordinance that requires all outdoor cafes to be seasonal in nature — typically only open from April to November.

Sidewalk cafes located on public property will still be regulated under the seasonality requirement, but will only be required to close for three months of the year.

Around Town

Shirt Pokes Fun at North/South Arlington Rivalry

By ARLnow.com

Published May 7, 2013 at 4:35PM

The t-shirt was created by PikeBuzz.com, a new website that offers deals and events at Columbia Pike “town center” businesses, and will be given away at the site’s launch party Wednesday night. The first 100 attendees at the event will receive the shirt for free.

(Disclosure: PikeBuzz is an ARLnow.com advertiser.)

Around Town

Crystal City Wine Shop to Open Second Location

By ARLnow.com

Published May 7, 2013 at 2:00PM

Crystal City Wine Shop — a for-profit business owned by the nonprofit Washington Wine Academy — will open a 1,500 square foot store at 220 20th Street S., in the former Revolution Cycles CityHub space. The store will carry 300 different wines and 150 types of beer, according to Washington Wine Academy president Jim Barker.

In addition to selling wine and beer, the store will “focus on educating people through tastings and events,” Barker said. Like the current store at 401 12th Street S., the new location will hold wine and beer tastings on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Around Town

New Hotel Opening Today in Ballston

By ARLnow.com

Published May 3, 2013 at 1:30PM

The new Residence Inn by Marriott hotel in Ballston (650 N. Quincy Street) is welcoming its first guests this afternoon.

The hotel, which is part of the Founder’s Square development, has 183 hotel suites, 1,880 square feet of retail space, 110 underground parking spaces, an indoor pool, fitness center and a landscaped terrace. It was built to LEED Gold sustainability standards with features like a green roof and reduced water use and energy consumption.

Opinion

The Right Note: Is Arlington Open for Business?

By Mark Kelly

Published May 2, 2013 at 1:45PM | Updated May 4, 2013 at 12:20AM

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column by published on Thursdays. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

It’s hard to argue with this perspective.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 2, 2013 at 9:55AM | Updated May 2, 2013 at 10:31AM

WJLA and NewsChannel 8 for Sale — Rosslyn-based TV station WJLA (ABC 7) has been offered for sale by Allbritton Communications. The company is seeking to sell WJLA and its companion cable channel NewsChannel 8 in order to continue investing in new media, like its Politico website and newspaper. Disney, owner of the ABC television network, is thought to be a likely buyer. [WBJ, Washington Post, Politico]

Brink, Lopez Announce Reelection Bids — Dels. Bob Brink and Alfonso Lopez announced their bids for reelection to the Virginia House of Delegates at last night’s Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting. As part of his speech, Lopez made fun of a Republican effort in the state legislature to study the creation of a Virginia-based currency. Lopez joked that he wanted his face on the Virginia $5 bill and Brink’s on the $10 bill, so that “in Virginia it would cost a Brink and a Lopez to buy a pizza.” [Blue Virginia]