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Morning Notes

Published December 21, 2010 at 5:30AM

R&B Songstress Mya Spotted in Clarendon — Mya Harrison, of hip hop, R&B and acting fame, was spotted getting her hair and makeup done at Kavenchy Spa Salon (1025 North Fillmore Street) in Clarendon yesterday. Mya was getting ready to shoot a music video in the District, reports Yeas & Neas.

Real Estate Predictions For 2011 — Local Realtor Laura Rubinchuk has released her predictions for the Arlington real estate market in 2011. Expect flat prices, sluggish sales, fewer foreclosures and more groundbreakings, says Rubinchuk.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published December 6, 2010 at 6:15AM

Most Elaborate Christmas Display in Arlington? — Blue Virginia has a video of what may be the most elaborate Christmas display in Arlington. It’s located on North Quebec Street, between Lee Highway and 17th Street, in Cherrydale. Let us know if you’ve seen anything better.

Pentagon Row Sold — The collection of stores and apartments known as Pentagon Row has been sold for a relatively low $14.9 million. Vornado Realty Trust sold the complex to Federal Realty Investment Trust, which also owns the Shirlington Village shopping center. More from the Washington Business Journal.

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Contractor Vacates County-Owned Four Mile Run Drive Property

By ARLnow.com

Published November 22, 2010 at 3:58PM

Believe it or not, this run-down building at 3600 South Four Mile Run Drive has only been vacant for a couple of weeks.

Alberici Constructors, which recently wrapped up its work on the expansion of Arlington’s Water Pollution Control Plant, had occupied the building and the surrounding lot and the for nearly four years. Although the property is now vacant, it’s still leased through early next year, when the plant’s final construction phase is expected to conclude.

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Arlington Is Big Winner at N. Va. Developer Awards

By ARLnow.com

Published November 19, 2010 at 9:32AM

Seven out of 17 awards went to Arlington properties.

The big winners included Courthouse’s new Fire Works Pizza restaurant and the county’s new Dept. of Human Services office, which both won awards for best interior.

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Lease Your Very Own Cherrydale Storefront

By ARLnow.com

Published October 26, 2010 at 8:52AM

The retail space formerly occupied by Cherrydale Clockworks is up for lease.

Anyone interested in opening up shop on Lee Highway can lease the 1,600 square foot space for a relatively cheap $1,995 per month (good luck finding a 1,600 square foot apartment with a monthly rent below $2,000). Plus, the lease comes with two parking spaces in the rear of the building.

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Renovations Coming to Ballston Common Mall

By ARLnow.com

Published October 21, 2010 at 10:53AM | Updated October 21, 2010 at 12:59PM

The plan may also involve the building of office space above or in place of the current Macy’s department store.

No timeline was given for the renovations. Ohio-based Forest City Enterprises owns the 580,000 square foot mall, which attracts 1,000,000 visitors per year.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 11, 2010 at 8:41AM | Updated October 11, 2010 at 9:02AM

Happy Columbus Day — Normally-clogged commuter routes are clear as government employees and many private sector workers have the day off to celebrate Columbus’ discovery of the New World. Arlington government offices are closed, as are all library branches. It’s expected to be the hottest Oct. 11 on record in the DC area, so if you have the day off, get outside and enjoy it.

Blue and Orange Line Cut in Two, No Major Problems — Commutepocalypse didn’t quite go the way some media outlets expected. More from TBD.

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Board to Hear Grocery Store-Related Proposal for Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Published September 22, 2010 at 12:38PM | Updated September 22, 2010 at 12:56PM

The firm that operates the underground shops at 2100 Crystal Drive wants to take 5,661 square feet of open retail space and convert it to office and storage use. But that would come at the expense of a vacant 17,919 square foot space that, until 2005, housed a Safeway store. The landlord has been trying to find another grocery tenant, but has been fighting a strong headwind caused by the weak national economy and the imminent departure of 13,000 jobs from the Crystal City area.

Essentially, the request to convert vacant space to an office use is a white flag — an admission that after five years of trying to market the space to grocery stores, leasing agents have come to the conclusion that no one wants to run a 17,919 square foot grocery store in the Crystal City underground at this time. While keeping open the possibility of a smaller, Trader Joe’s-sized market, the landlord is trying to find a way — any way — to productively fill some of the excess space.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 21, 2010 at 6:57AM | Updated September 21, 2010 at 9:20AM

Crystal City Serves Up Latin Flare — On Sunday, food and wine lovers flocked to Crystal City for the consumption bonanza known as Vintage Crystal. Now in its fourth year, Vintage Crystal continued last year’s Latin theme. There were South American wines, tequila tastings, salsa dancers and lots and lots of food. See more photos on Flickr.

Capital Bikeshare Gets New York Times Write-up — The Old Gray Lady spent some time in Arlington recently to preview the Capital Bikeshare system, which officially launched yesterday. Not content to give Arlington and DC all the spotlight for hosting the largest bike share system in the country, the Times noted that New York is studying a possible bike sharing program of its own: 30,000 bikes, nearly 30 times as many as Washington’s modest collection of 1,100 custom-designed Capital Bikeshare cycles. More from the New York Times.

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County Panel to Consider Colonial Village Renovations

By ARLnow.com

Published September 7, 2010 at 3:46PM

The Arlington Tenant-Landlord Commission is scheduled to hear arguments for a plan to renovate the 162 Colonial Village apartment units owned by Wesley Housing Development Corporation. The hearing will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Azalea Room (lobby level) of 2100 Clarendon Boulevard.

The plan calls for major upgrades and configuration changes, including new windows, kitchens, bathrooms and insulation. The grounds will also be improved, with new walkways and lighting.

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Rent on the Rise in Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

Published August 25, 2010 at 1:58PM | Updated August 25, 2010 at 4:00PM

The rise in residential rent comes at a time when a number of Pentagon City apartment complexes have sold at sky-high valuations. The Hampton Apartments at 1425 South Eads Street recently sold for $33.5 million, and the Metropolitan at Pentagon City luxury high-rise at 901 South 15th Street just sold for $125 million, according to the GlobeSt.com article.

RED’s report states that between the first quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010, Pentagon City posted the fastest rate of multifamily rent growth of any Northern Virginia submarket. The 4.9 percent year-over-year growth in Pentagon City compares to 2.4 percent growth along Columbia Pike and -1.4 percent rent growth along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.

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Would-Be Restaurant Will Be Torn Down, Turned Into a Park

By ARLnow.com

Published July 20, 2010 at 2:02PM

The strange case of Haze Restaurant, Bar and Lounge is coming to a close.

Essentially an old house gussied up in goth black paint and gaudy decorations, Haze looks severely out of place between the Arlington Arts Center and a soon-to-be yoga studio (formerly Curves). It was apparently meant to be a lounge-y kind of a place, which could have brought some nightlife to the relatively dead section of Wilson Boulevard near the Virginia Square Metro, but it was brought down by some very poor planning.