Author: ARLnow.com

Launched in January 2010, ARLnow.com is the place for the latest news, views and things to do around Arlington, Virginia. Started by a Pentagon City resident who has spent the past several years working in local TV news, ARLnow.com seeks to distinguish itself with original, enterprising, up-to-the-minute local coverage.

Your Favorite Local Spot May Be Among These Businesses for Sale

By ARLnow.com

The pandemic has brought tough times for many local business owners. In some cases, it’s driving them to try to sell their businesses.

Listing aggregator BizBuySell generally doesn’t name the business that’s for sale, but the descriptions in each listing provide some clues.

With the pandemic causing financial hardship for many small businesses, while prompting older owners to contemplate retirement, the list of businesses for sale has remained relatively long since the two times we checked in last year.

Below are some businesses that are currently listed in Arlington. Note that some listings may be for businesses that already closed and thus no longer active.

  1. Restaurant & Carry Out Fits Most Menus — $120,000 — “Fast casual Japanese restaurant for sale in Arlington VA. This restaurant currently serves Japanese food and sushi but can be converted to fit most menus/concepts. Located in a shopping center on a very busy road. The current owner is ready to retire. This can be a great opportunity for a new owner/operator to take this restaurant to the next level. PRICED TO SELL!!”
  2. Independent and Profitable Optician in NoVA — $685,000 — “Very well established optician in dynamic Arlington VA with decades of satisfied customers and an excellent reputation for providing professional service and high quality eyewear. Valuable referral network. Fully turnkey operation with Virginia Licensed Opticians on staff and a full finishing laboratory. Extensive frame inventory featuring dozens of luxury lines and classic brands to suit all needs.”
  3. Nails Salon-Arlington — $279,000 — “Nice, modern, contemporary designed nails salon available for sale in great area of Arlington. Located in right in the heart of retail district, restaurants, offices and residential apartments. Fronting and highly visible on major thoroughfare with heavy traffic and foot traffic. Walk to metro subway. Large database of customers exceeding 6,500. Room to grow. Low employee turn-over. Easy to attract nail artists due to location. Cost to build $450,000. Free garage parking.”
  4. Beer,Wine Mart with Gourmet Deli — $120,000 — “Fast growing prime Location. Currently under Poor Management. It has High potential if under right Management. Rent only $25.50/sqft.”
  5. Northern VA’s #1 Creamery and Dessert Shop! — $89,000 — “A unique, one of a kind, creamery and dessert shop. Located in a first class, shopping center in the Arlington, VA area. This award-winning, establishment, specializes in a unique, wonderful, hand-crafted ice cream from Thailand! Opened in 2017, in a first-class build-out, it could be an ideal concept to develop into franchising in the DC metro area.”
  6. Two Upscale & Modern Group Fitness Centers in Northern Virginia — $399,995 — “Great opportunity to own two top-rated and innovative group fitness centers that provide a proprietary group exercise program, personal training, and open gym services. The Arlington location was opened in 2017 and has established a large loyal client base, and the Alexandria location opened in October of 2020 in a new upscale mixed-use plaza. Each facility is outfitted with the latest cardio, strength training, and functional fitness equipment as well as wearable heart rate technology that can display on screens throughout the facility.”
  7. Ice Cream business in a high income area — $37,500 — “Unique and Very well established Ice Cream business in a very nice area surrounded by businesses and residentials. VERY high-income area with limited dessert choice. Seller’s initial investment was more than $350K about 2 years ago. High End Establishment. Great Reputation. Seller is looking for a experienced and passionate buyer who can utilize this business and location to make a very profitable business.”
  8. Asian Fusion-Carry Out Restaurant for Sale — $ 49,000 — “On the main road of Arlington county Asian Fusion Carry-Out for sale. Easy to change the menu to Pizza, Rotisserie, or Sushi Restaurant. 1500 sf. 16 seat capacity. 8 parking spaces. (4 in front,4 in the back) Big basement. Decent size kitchen. Walk-in cooler.12 feet hood in place. Pandemic forced to close this business but a great opportunity for other concepts. 5 years lease remaining and 1-5 year option. Low rent and good location is the key to success.”
  9. $3M Allstate Agency in Arlington, VA — $899,000 — “Established 20 plus year agency is located in a very desirable location. This $3M plus earned premium agency consistent of a preferred auto/homeowner customer base with excellent opportunity for growth in cross sales as well as life/financial services. Good potential to increase revenues through new & renewal commissions as well as performance bonus based on growth, retention, etc. Customer retention and loss ratio is great. This area has a heavy transfer in business which bodes well for this location.”

NEW: Arlington County Considering Vaccine Mandate for Employees

By ARLnow.com

Following the lead of the state and the federal government, Arlington County is considering a mandate for its employees and contractors to be vaccinated.

Last week President Biden announced that federal employees must either sign forms attesting to be vaccinated or submit to mandatory masking, weekly testing and distancing. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced a similar policy for more than 100,000 state employees yesterday.

Now Arlington — like neighboring Fairfax County — is also considering a vaccine mandate, amid a continued rise in local Covid cases fueled by the delta variant of the virus. The proposal was revealed to county employees during an online town hall with County Manager Mark Schwartz, we’re told.

“During an online employee town hall the county manager informed staff it is his intention to require vaccination or submit to weekly testing,” a tipster tells ARLnow.

In a statement, below, Arlington County confirmed that such a policy is indeed under consideration. A final decision is expected later this month.

“The health and wellbeing of our residents and our employees is our top priority. Arlington County has offered vaccines to all employees, and continues to follow Virginia Department of Health guidance regarding vaccination. The County continues to assess its COVID-19 policies and practices as new guidance emerges from Centers for Disease Control and Virginia Department of Health. The County Manager has asked staff to prepare, for review, a program that would mandate vaccination and testing for County employees and contractors. A final decision on whether to pursue such a program will be made during August. In the meantime, we encourage Arlington employees and residents to access no-cost, no-appointment testing and vaccination opportunities.”

Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Mistargeted Alert Wakes Up Arlingtonians — Numerous Arlington residents from around the county erroneously received an emergency phone alert about a boil water advisory in Northeast D.C. around 2 a.m. Thursday morning. [Twitter]

Huske Talks About Olympic Experience — “By coming so close to winning an individual medal, then earning a second-place silver on a relay team, Torri Huske’s rated her recent swimming experience at the Summer Olympic Games as a success for the 2021 Yorktown High School graduate. ‘It was all a really good learning experience, and I took a lot away from the Games, like needing to work on the little things,’ Huske said. ‘The swimming was different that anything I had been to before because it was spread out over nine or 10 days. I’m very thankful for what I got to do.'” [Sun Gazette]

Amazon Pushes Back Office Return — “Amazon.com Inc. revised its back-to-office timeline again and told employees it wouldn’t resume regular in-person work until Jan. 3, according to an internal message viewed by the Business Journal. The company had set Sept. 7 as the official return date, after announcing it expected employees to be in the office at least three days per week.” [Washington Business Journal]

Youth Baseball Team in Nat’l Championship — “I write to congratulate our 9YO Arlington Storm Black team on finishing runner-up in the Cal Ripken World Series! No team in [Arlington Babe Ruth’s] 36-year history has had as successful a season… We could not be prouder.” [Twitter]

Crash Disrupts Traffic, Show on the Pike — “Crash in front of Arlington Cinema n Drafthouse. It’s delayed the start of tonight’s film.” [Twitter, Twitter]

ACPD Again Holding Community Police Academy — “The Arlington County Police Department is now accepting applications for the 25th Community Police Academy (CPA), formerly the Citizen’s Police Academy. The CPA is an educational program designed to create better understanding and communication between police and the community they serve.” [ACPD]

More Car Break-ins and Thefts Reported

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:25 p.m.) Two more overnight car break-in sprees have been reported, this time in the Courthouse and Douglas Park areas.

Following some 18 cars being broken into in the Arlington Forest neighborhood early Monday morning, a thief of thieves struck early Tuesday morning along several blocks in the Courthouse area, just blocks from police headquarters.

Police say nine vehicles “were found to have had their door handles removed and the air bags stolen.”

More from the Arlington County Police Department:

LARCENY FROM AUTO (SERIES), 2021-08030034/08030041/08030057, 1800 block of N. Scott Street/1200 block of N. Scott Street/1300 block of N. Scott Street/1200 block of N. Taft Street. At approximately 5:30 a.m. on August 3, police were dispatched to the late report of a larceny from auto. The investigation revealed that in total, nine victim vehicles were found to have had their door handles removed and the air bags stolen. There is no suspect(s) description. The investigation is ongoing.

On Monday morning, another series of thefts was reported along S. Four Mile Run Drive near the Dept. of Motor Vehicles office.

Three cars were broken into, including one from which a cell phone and credit cards were stolen. A Honda Civic was also stolen from the area.

From ACPD:

LARCENY FROM AUTO/GRAND LARCENY AUTO (SERIES), 2021-08030065, 4100 block of S. Four Mile Run Drive. At approximately 8:33 a.m. on August 3, police were dispatched to the late report of a larceny. Upon arrival, it was determined that between 11:00 p.m. on August 2 and 8:00 a.m. on August 3, the unknown suspect(s) entered into and rummaged through approximately three vehicles and stole a cellphone, wallet and credit cards from one victim vehicle. During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that another victim vehicle was stolen from the area. The vehicle is described as a 2014 Honda Civic bearing VA license plate VXK8836. There is no suspect(s) description. The investigation is ongoing.

A New County Website Is In the Works

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County has launched a beta version of new website.

The updated county government website is intended to be easier to navigate than the current version, which was last updated 7 years ago. That update was also focused on improving navigation.

The new version is expected to officially launch this fall. Before then, the county is collecting online feedback about the new site, asking about ease of use, among other questions.

More from an Arlington County press release:

Arlington County Government today unveiled its beta website, a preview of the new upgraded website set to launch later this year. The beta site features a small selection of webpages that will allow users to experience some of the upcoming site changes in the areas of design, content, navigation and more.

Users can access the beta site from the banner at the top of the current Arlington County website or by visiting it directly using the temporary address: https://arlington.prelive.opencities.com/Beta. Users will be directed to a “page not found” page if attempting to access content not included in the Beta.

The beta version launch paves the way for the completion of the new upgraded public website, which will bring the first major refresh of the County’s online presence in more than seven years. The yearlong effort is focused on delivering needed improvements to the website’s stability, security and performance. Work is also being done in the areas of design, information architecture, and content strategy, to create an enhanced user experience that better serves the community’s information needs.

Arlington residents are encouraged to try out the beta site and share feedback using an online form. This form and a link to the beta are accessible on the main website in a banner at the top of the page. Comments are welcome through Sunday, August 15.

The new website is slated to go live in fall of this year.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Pentagon Metro Station Reopening — “Metro will reopen the Pentagon Station and Pentagon Transit Center to customers beginning with the start of bus and rail service Thursday morning. The station and transit center has been closed since early Tuesday, due to the law enforcement response and investigation following a fatal incident that occurred in the bus bays.” [WMATA]

Chamber Supports Langston Blvd Plan — “The Arlington Chamber of Commerce broadly supports the Plan Lee Highway Scenario Analysis, providing for additional commercial and residential density in an established, aging, yet vibrant and critical transit corridor. Moreover, the Chamber encourages creating flexible land use policies and regulations so as to attract investment to the Langston Boulevard corridor.” [Arlington Chamber of Commerce]

ACPD Celebrates ‘National Night Out’ — “Across the nation and throughout the region, neighbors and police mingled Tuesday night in the National Night Out — an annual effort to fight crime by building relationships between communities and police. In Drew Park, nestled in Arlington County, Virginia’s historic Green Valley neighborhood, a DJ played music and children petted a yellow Lab K-9, while their parents huddled together with police officers including Chief Charles ‘Andy’ Penn.” [WTOP]

New Community Center Profiled — “This is a story about a building, but it’s also a story about a park, which flows into the building, driving the structure’s design to an unusually high degree. Located in Arlington, Virginia’s Lubber Run Park–a public recreation area with walking trails and a gentle stream winding through a forest–the Lubber Run Community Center replaces an outdated building from the 1950s that was torn down in 2018.” [Metropolis]

Mini Earthquake Shook Area Yesterday — “A small earthquake shook parts of Central Maryland in the overnight hours of Wednesday morning. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 2.1 earthquake was centered in Clarksville, Maryland, at 2:11 a.m. with a depth of about 1.8 miles.” [WTOP]

Most Expensive Arlington Homes Sold in July

By ARLnow.com
Turnberry Tower (via Google Maps)

(Updated at 10:40 a.m.) In July, we highlighted a number of recently sold properties in Arlington, ranging from “budget buys” to homes that sold for well over asking price.

As a quick recap, more than 330 homes were recently sold in Arlington, according to Homesnap. On the flip side, 176 new listings hit the market in the past four weeks. In total, more than 654 homes are the market — 423 condos, 191 detached homes and 30 townhomes.

Now, let’s take a look at a few of the most expensive homes sold in July:

As pointed out by a reader, the Somerset Street property, in the Williamsburg neighborhood, was formerly owned by Washington Capitals star Nicklas Backstrom, who bought the house in 2010. It was featured in this video published by the Caps early last year, after Backstrom signed a new five-year, $46 million contract extension. The property was sold on July 13 to a local dentist.

In the market? See properties that have been Just Listed and Just Reduced.

3534 N. Somerset Street in 2014 (via Google Maps)

Images via Google Maps

Did We Mention the Cartoons?

By ARLnow.com

The new ARLnow Press Club has a number of features we always wanted to bring readers — and now can with your support.

One that we haven’t advertised as widely is local editorial cartoons.

The topical, single-panel toons are the work of Mike Mount, an Arlington resident and news junkie who has taken his love of New Yorker and Far Side-style cartoons, blended it with ARLnow’s local reporting, and created something that’s uniquely Arlington.

 

Cartoon by Mike Mount

We asked Mike to tell us a bit more about himself and his interest in Arlington goings-on as a humorous subject.

“I’m a former network journalist and news junkie that follows it from the local to international level religiously,” Mount said. “I’ve lived in Arlington for more than 20 years and have always found the Arlington news ranges from big city-type issues to hilariously funny small town ‘hijinks.'”

“My favorite cartoons have always been the Far Side, New Yorker cartoons and political cartoons, and one day I decided to give it a shot for my own entertainment,” he continued. “I eventually got up the nerve and started sending some to the New Yorker, and that resulted in a great collection I called, ‘Rejected by the New Yorker.’ I eventually realized ARLnow stories offered some good material to work with and started making Arlington-focused cartoons to push out on social media for fun.”

“My cartoons don’t always hit a home run, and one of these days, I’m sure I’ll have a great collection of, ‘Rejected by ARLnow,'” he said. “In the meantime, I hope people have fun with them.”

Mount’s cartoons appear weekly in the ARLnow Press Club’s Weekend Edition newsletter, which also features an episodic deep deep into important local stories and topics, as well as a “this week in ARLnow history” look back at stories from 5-10 years ago.

If you’re not yet a member, join today to save time, get informed and support local news. Thank you!

Join Now

Arlington Pet of the Week: Guinan

By ARLnow.com

1/4

Meet Guinan, Arlington’s latest Pet of the Week. Guinan is mostly a homebody, but sometimes she catches the travel bug. She’s explored plenty of parks near and far on her harness or in her backpack.

Here’s what else you need to know about Guinan:

Guinan, like her “Star Trek” namesake, is wise, playful and adventurous. When she senses that her humans have spent too much time working, she will insist they get up, stretch and rub her belly. Like clockwork at noon and 5 p.m., she’ll awake from a nap, descend from her cat tower, and enter the living room and announce herself to make sure everyone is OK.

Although mostly a homebody, Guinan does enjoy exploring the great outdoors, either in her backpack or on her harness. She’s ventured to local parks, like Roosevelt Island and Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, as well as places farther away, like Shenandoah National Park, Vermont’s Green Mountains and even Washington State.

Born in Georgia, Guinan moved to Arlington with her human companions a few years ago. Since then, she’s become much more sociable. She loves entertaining guests, modeling for portraits, playing with new toys, and watching birds out the window or on TV.

Want your pet to be considered for the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Please don’t send vertical photos — they don’t fit in our photo galleries!

We are also looking for local pets who look like their owners or like celebrities. Email us photos of your pet and their doppelgänger, explaining the resemblance and whether it has been noticed in your neighborhood.

Numerous Cars Broken Into in Arlington Forest

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington Forest neighborhood woke up Monday morning to find numerous cars were broken into overnight.

Cars on at least three blocks of the neighborhood near Route 50 were targeted by thieves, who opened doors and rummaged through the belongings inside, stealing cash. In all, around 18 vehicles were entered, according to the Arlington County Police Department.

Police are now searching for two suspects in the case. From an ACPD crime report:

LARCENY FROM AUTO/GRAND LARCENY AUTO (SERIES), 2021-08020041, 200 block of N. Edison Street / 5100 block of 1st Street N. / 200 block of N. Emerson Street. At approximately 5:02 a.m. on August 2, police were dispatched to the report of suspicious persons. Upon arrival, it was determined that the reporting party observed two unknown male suspects looking into parked vehicles. Arriving officers located a vehicle with open doors and items that had been rummaged through. A canvass of the area located approximately 18 vehicles which has been entered and rummaged through. Several victims reported an undisclosed amount of cash was stolen from their vehicles, as well as personal items displaced. During the course of the investigation, one victim vehicle was reported stolen but was subsequently located in the area and recovered. Suspect One is described as a Black male, approximately 5’10” tall with short hair and a long beard, wearing a white t-shirt. There is no description for Suspect Two. The investigation is ongoing.

Arlington experienced a rash of vehicle break-ins and thefts during the pandemic last year, though some arrests have since been made and — anecdotally, at least — such reports have become less frequent.

Also in Tuesday’s crime report, the police department noted a theft of a half-dozen motorized scooters from a scooter and motorcycle dealership in the Clarendon area.

GRAND LARCENY AUTO (SIGNIFICANT), 2021-08010105, 3200 block of 10th Street N. At approximately 10:19 a.m. on August 1, police were dispatched to the report of a grand larceny auto. Upon arrival, it was determined that between 11:20 p.m. on July 31 and 5:42 a.m. on August 1, three unknown suspects forced entry into the business and stole 6 motorized scooters. No other items were reported stolen or damaged. There are no suspect descriptions. The investigation is ongoing.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Health Directors Urge Mask Wearing —  “Today, all five Northern Virginia Health Directors issued a joint letter of interim recommendations for mask wearing in Northern Virginia. The letter was issued by Health Directors from the City of Alexandria, as well as Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties to Northern Virginia Mayors, Chairs and Chief Administrative Officers with the recommendation that individuals wear masks while indoors in government and other public settings, regardless of vaccination status.” [City of Alexandria, PDF]

Flags at Half-Staff to Honor Fallen Officer — From NBC 4’s Jackie Bensen: “Secretary of Defense orders Pentagon flags flown at half-mast to honor Pentagon Force Protection Agency officer killed in the line of duty this morning.” [Twitter]

Metro Changes for Pentagon Investigation — From WMATA: “Pentagon update for tomorrow (Aug 4): Pentagon Station expected to remain closed all day. Yellow & Blue line trains will bypass the station. All Metrobus service to/from Pentagon Transit Center will operate from Pentagon City (S Hayes near 12th St).” [Twitter, Twitter]

Delayed Request for Assistance at Pentagon — From local public safety watchdog Dave Statter: “Heard shots at approx 10:37 am. This video was at 10:38 am. I’d love to know why Pentagon Protection Force Agency waited until 10:50 to request @ArlingtonVaPD & @ArlingtonVaFD for an active shooter?” [Twitter, Twitter]

Training Exercise Today at Fort Myer — “Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall will hold a routine training event for its first responders Wednesday, Aug. 4, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Myer side of the base. Wright Gate, located at N. Meade Street and Marshall Drive in Arlington, will be closed from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m… Arlington County first responders will also participate in the training, so expect to see an increase in emergency response vehicles near the base.  Neighboring communities may hear the base’s external ‘giant voice’ loudspeaker during the training.” [Press Release]

Former Red Top Cab Exec Dies — From the Washington Regional Alcohol Program: “Today, WRAP mourns the passing of former, longtime WRAP Director George Pakidis. The former VP of Red Top Cab in Arlington, George was a beloved member of WRAP’s Board for 14 years 12 of which he ably served as the nonprofit’s #SoberRide Committee Chair.” [Twitter]

Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf

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