| ARLnow.com - Part 5

Making Government Smarter Fuels Rapid Growth for Clarendon Startup

Published May 4, 2015 at 12:30PM

Editor’s Note: Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

Ahmad Ishaq immigrated to the United States when he was little, fleeing Afghanistan with his parents for political asylum from the Soviet Union. He grew up in Southern California, developed an American accent and a laid-back, West Coast disposition.

Now, he’s leading one of Arlington’s fastest growing companies, going from five employees just a few years ago to close to 100 by the end of 2015. Ishaq is the founder and CEO of ByteCubed, a government contractor and consulting business focused on ensuring the best decisions possible for its clients.

“I came from a very poor family, lived a really modest lifestyle,” he said from ByteCubed’s space in Carr Workplaces in Clarendon. “That helped mold me into being very driven. I’ve always been thinking what I can do bigger.”

Ishaq moved the area for an internship with the Defense Intelligence Agency. That internship turned into a full-time job, where he continued to push up the ladder. He left the government to work as a director at Mantech International, but after a year there he struck out on his own.

“I wanted to solve the Big Data problem,” he said. “I wanted to figure out how to take information out of classified documents, analyze it and feed it back to the government so they can make better decisions.”

In 2010, he started to “build the infrastructure” of his fledgling company, holding off on growth while he did so. He took a subcontract with the Computer Sciences Corporation for data analytics. That contract allowed him to hire a handful of employees and get ready to land the big deal.

In 2014, after years of working on his proposal, Ishaq secured a $325 million contract with Department of Defense in October. Since then, he’s hired 30 people and plans to hire as many as 50 by the time the year is over. ByteCubed is already the biggest tenant in Carr Workplaces, occupying several different offices in the coworking space.

Soon, they will move to Crystal City, after Ishaq was personally courted by Vornado/Charles E. Smith President Mitchell Schear. Their new, 6,000-square-foot space is along Crystal Drive, and ByteCubed will have plenty of opportunities to grow.

Other than the $325 million contract, ByteCubed also works with a handful of private companies. He also secured the contract to help administer $1 billion a year through the DoD’s Small Business Innovation Research fund, which gives grants to private companies to develop new technologies.

“We’re helping the government make better, smarter purchases by aggregating the data and automating the processes,” he said.

It’s a simple enough concept, but one the government has had problems with in the past. That’s a big issue, Ishaq said, considering the government spends as much as $70 billion a year for research and development.

“A lot of times, people get a problem, come up with a quick, fast solution and it ends up being terrible,” he said. “Our solution is addressing the bigger problem of the government looking for a quick fix.”

ByteCubed is chasing 10 different government contracts that will be awarded over the next 12 months. If the company lands just one of them, “we will double in size,” Ishaq said. Those contracts will all focus on the niche Ishaq has targeted for his company: “increasing innovation or reducing inefficiencies.”

That, he said, is the way he’s found to give back to the country that gave his family a safe place to live when he was a boy.

“A lot of people in similar situations appreciate the fact that we were given a second chance, and feel very invested in giving something back,” he said. “It’s why I’ve always been focused on solving government needs and problems.”

#Startup Monday

The Italian Store in Westover to Open In Two Weeks

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 4, 2015 at 11:20AM | Updated May 4, 2015 at 12:40PM

Despite a weekend where neighbors came by and were served free pizza, The Italian Store isn’t opening in Westover for another two weeks.

Owner Robert Tramonte said the two soft openings were meant as a “thank you” to the neighborhood– and a chance to break in the new pizza ovens — but the store, at 5837 Washington Blvd, is far from fully stocked. Many of the shelves are still bare, waiting for deliveries from Italy.

“People were so excited this weekend, I don’t want to say I couldn’t believe it, but I almost couldn’t believe it,” Tramonte told ARLnow.com this morning. “The sidewalk was like a boardwalk, there were so many people out there.”

The second location of the popular Lyon Village shop has been in the works since December 2013, when Tramonte announced he was taking over the former 7-Eleven space and turning it into an “Italian Store on steroids.” The wait has been long because of construction and permitting delays, but Tramonte said it was all positive responses this weekend.

“The thing I surprised me was a lot of people were thanking me,” he said. “I said, ‘What are you thanking me for?’ Maybe I’m hitting Westover at the perfect time. They felt this was maybe the little push they needed. They felt like the Italian Store kind of raised the neighborhood up a notch.”

The interior of the new store is warmly lit, with wood shelving and brick walls. There are three separate stations where customers can get sandwiches and individual pizza slices, pizza pies and Illy espresso. Construction project manager Leon MacMullen, giving a reporter a tour this morning, said everything was designed to keep people moving freely throughout the store, which is 6,000 square feet.

“When people come in, you want them to know it’s the Italian Store,” MacMullen said.

The artwork on the wall is vintage Barilla advertisements from Italy. A refurbished, antique meat slicer is by the checkout counter, ready to slice prosciutto and other high-end, cured meats “as thin as paper.” In the back, there’s a separate room for wine tastings, outfitted with a “secret enclave” that can be used to store wine.

Tramonte’s son Michael, freshly graduated from Gonzaga University — the alma mater of NBA legend John Stockton, Robert’s brother-in-law — will manage the front, market part of the store, while restaurant veteran John Koltisko will be running the back of the house. Michael Tramonte spent his last semester in college living in Florence, and is hoping to use that experience to give the store an even more authentic feel.

Tramonte is still hiring, and applicants can stop by the location to inquire about positions. When the store opens, it will allow for seating on the patio, with the potential for more outside seating along Washington Blvd.

100 Montaditos in Rosslyn Closes

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 1, 2015 at 3:45PM

Just over 13 months after opening with a mini-sandwich giveaway, 100 Montaditos in Rosslyn is now closed.

The Spanish-style restaurant at 1776 Wilson Blvd specialized in serving all different kinds of mini sandwiches, with a variety of ingredients like pulled park, Iberican ham, brie and chocolate. Its parent company declared bankruptcy back in March, which appears to have been the Rosslyn location’s death knell.

An anonymous tipster tells us that 100 Montaditos packed up the interior overnight last night, coinciding with the end of the month. The interior is bare and the door is now locked — there are splotches of missing paint on the walls where artwork used to hang.

County: Rent in Arlington Dropped Five Percent in 2014

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 1, 2015 at 1:55PM

The average apartment in Arlington was 5 percent cheaper in 2014 than in 2013, according to the county.

Last year, the average rent in Arlington was $1,834 per month, according to the Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development.

That’s a dropoff from $1,934 in 2013 and $1,999 in 2012. It’s the cheapest average apartment rent since 2011, when the price was $1,768 per month, according to county records.

The average rent has declined for two years in a row after consistent, steep increases. A decade ago, in 2005, the average rent in Arlington was $1,270 per month, and the average three-bedroom apartment cost $1,803. Today, the average three-bedroom costs $2,671.

This drop in average rent comes at the same time as soaring assessments for residential properties — the average assessment in the county went up 4.9 percent, with some areas increasing by an average of 11 percent year over year. That jump, concentrated in some of the poorest areas in the county, cost homeowners an additional $400 in tax bills this year compared to last.

The higher assessments also hit the apartment market — existing apartment assessments jumped by 4.7 percent in 2015, but it appears that price bump has not yet been passed on to apartment renters.

It’s unclear if the two-year decline in rents is a trend or a blip. Arlington’s rental vacancy rate is at 3.8 percent — its office vacancy is at 20.4 percent, by comparison — and there are currently 2,055 net new apartment units under construction in the Metro corridors, per planning staff. Some of those units — like the Central Place development in Rosslyn — won’t come online until after 2016.

Since 2000, Arlington has added more than 23,000 residential units in the Metro corridors, many of them upscale rental apartment buildings. Metro ridership continually increased over that time, until recently. From 2010 to 2014, Arlington lost several thousand weekday Metro riders in both of its Metro corridors.

So far, developers aren’t showing signs of being scared off. Arlington still projects its Rosslyn-Ballston and Jefferson Davis Highway corridors will add a combined 35,000 apartment units by 2040.

Housing Homeless Vets in the Shadow of the Pentagon

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 1, 2015 at 12:15PM

Former Army Cpl. Alvin Hill just renewed his lease on an apartment on 8th Road S. in Arlington, almost a year after he originally moved into his home.

For 20 years before that, Hill, who served in New Mexico, Italy and Nuremburg, Germany, was chronically homeless. He had lived on family’s couches and floors, and when he could no longer do that, he slept on the streets of D.C., in shelters in Alexandria and in 24-hour laundromats along Columbia Pike. There were nights he slept in Reagan National Airport, he said; anywhere with a roof and unlocked doors.

Last June, the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network, after working with Hill for months getting his finances and documentation in order, found Hill an apartment, secured housing subsidies and provided support to make sure he sustained himself there.

“Housing is the key to ending homelessness,” A-SPAN Executive Director Kathy Sibert told ARLnow.com from her office yesterday. “A lot of the things people take for granted, but just getting up, getting a meal, having clean clothes, maintaining your hygiene, that can take an hour when you’re in a home. When you live on the streets, it could take all day.”

Now, Hill has a place to live and a place to take care of his infant son, who suffers from cerebral palsy and requires round-the-clock attention.

Hill’s plight was far from unique in Arlington and around the country. January’s point-in-time homeless count revealed there are 239 homeless individuals and family in the county, 19 of whom are veterans. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), 12 percent of all homeless people in the U.S. are veterans, about 50,000 total on any given night.

“You come out [of the military] and you’re lost,” Hill said. “In the Army, everyone did everything for you. You didn’t develop skills you need to make your own decisions.”

Homlessness becomes the new normal, he said. Waking up, finding the places that are giving out food, panhandling for money to buy drinks, and finding a safe sleeping spot; all of it becomes a routine that is increasingly difficult to break.

“You can try to change, but for veterans will mental issues, it just takes one incident of something not happening for you, and you go right back into that mode,” he said. Even for homeless people with jobs, finding a place to live is not as easy as it sounds.

To get an apartment, you need valid ID, and proof of income. Hill, who had no need for a car and no place to store files, needed to get a valid ID. For that, he needed a birth certificate, another piece of documentation lost with his home. He needed to apply for a copy of the birth certificate and a copy of his social security cards. All of the ID applications cost money — money he did not have.

That, he said, is how he wound up on the streets for the better part of two decades. Once he relocated himself to Arlington, he immediately found A-SPAN, and the nonprofit immediately got to work finding him a home.

“Veterans don’t broadcast to each other ‘this is where you find the help you need,'” Hill said. “But when I came to Arlington, everyone knew A-SPAN.”

Last year, Arlington completed its successful 100 Homes campaign, housing more than 100 of its chronically homeless. It was part of a nationwide 100,000 homes campaign, which, when it concluded last June, wound up housing 108,000 people. Hill was honored with a ceremony in D.C. — he was the 100,000th person housed in the campaign.

(more…)

Open Houses in Arlington This Weekend

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 1, 2015 at 11:00AM

The real estate market isn’t cooling off anytime soon, and with the calendar turning to May, neither is the weather. Clear skies, full market inventory, can’t lose.

See our real estate section for a full listing of open houses. Here are a few highlights:

2905 16th Road S.*
2 BD / 1 BA condominium
Agent: Grant Doe, Long & Foster Real Estate
Listed: $259,500
Open: Saturday, May 2, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

4401 1st Place S.
3 BD / 2 BA single family detached
Agent: Ernest Miller, Better Homes Realty
Listed: $640,000
Open: Sunday, May 3, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

1176 N. Vernon Street*
3 BD / 2 1/2 BA townhouse
Agent: Conor Sullivan, Re/Max Distinctive Real Estate
Listed: $849,900
Open: Sunday, May 3, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

1511 N. Rolfe Street*
2 BD / 2 1/2 BA condominium
Agent: Daniel Lesniak, Optime Realty
Listed: $949,900
Open: Saturday, May 2, 2:00-4:00 p.m.; Sunday, May 3, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

4108 Lee Highway*
4 BD / 4 1/2 BA single family detached
Agent: John Mentis, Long & Foster Real Estate
Listed: $1,399,000
Open: Sunday, May 3, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

6506 36th Street N.*
6 BD / 6 1/2 BA single family detached
Agent: Robert Ferguson, Re/Max Allegiance
Listed: $1,599,900
Open: Sunday, May 3, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

6320 Washington Blvd*
6 BD / 4 1/2 BA single family detached
Agent: Keri Shull, Optime Realty
Listed: $1,625,000
Open: Sunday, May 3, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

*Denotes featured (sponsored) listing

#open house

Where to Watch the Fight and the Derby in Arlington

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 1, 2015 at 10:10AM | Updated May 1, 2015 at 10:52AM

(Updated at 10:50 a.m.) One of the biggest sports days of the year is tomorrow, with two major events sure to fill up bars across the county: the Kentucky Derby and the “Fight of the Century.”

The 141st running of the Kentucky Derby will start around 6:30 p.m., and Circa at Clarendon (3010 Clarendon Blvd) is hosting Arlington’s watch party. Fancy hats are encouraged and mint juleps will be served for $7.

Welterweight champions Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao — long considered the two biggest names in boxing, but who have never fought before — will face off later that night (sometime around midnight, in all likelihood). The pay-per-view cost to view the fight is $99, which means bars in the area will ask viewers for cover charges to watch the most anticipated fight in years in their businesses.

Mad Rose Tavern (3100 Clarendon Blvd) is holding its own watch party, with women admitted free and men charged $20, with the price to escalate closer and closer to the opening bell. Just a few blocks away, Bracket Room (1210 N. Garfield Street) is charging a $30 cover to watch on their dozens of big-screen TVs.

In Courthouse, the freshly reopened Summers Restaurant (1520 N. Courthouse Road) is also showing the fight, expecting to charge between $25 and $30, depending on capacity. Nearby Courthaus Social is also showing the fight, with a cover charge of $5 for women and $10 for men.

As if the fight and the race weren’t enough, the Washington Capitals will face the New York Rangers for game two of their playoff series tomorrow. Numerous local bars are expected to show the 12:30 p.m. game.

Know anywhere else to watch the fight and the Kentucky Derby in Arlington tomorrow? Let us know in the comments.

Artisphere: Most Shows in Final Months Sold Out

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 30, 2015 at 5:00PM

In precisely two months, Artisphere will end its five-year run, but it appears to be going out with a bang.

According to Artisphere Director of Marketing and Communications Barry Halvorson, most of Artisphere’s shows this spring have sold out. But then, he said, that’s not altogether a new phenomenon for the almost-five-year-old arts center.

“Over the last three years or so, we have really been hitting our stride,” Halvorson said. “We’re on track to come ahead slightly of last year. We’ve been performing to an average of 75 percent capacity. That’s above industry average.”

Despite the fact that Artisphere has consistently lost money every year of existence, Halvorson it’s been by all accounts a successful arts venture. He challenges the notion that the Artisphere is a $2.2-million-a-year sunk investment.

“You wouldn’t refer to the Kennedy Center as the ‘money-losing Kennedy Center’ when in fact it is the money-losing Kennedy Center,” Halvorson said. “Every arts organization in town is a money-losing venture… It’s almost a minor miracle that we’ve been able to really run it as well as we’ve been running it.”

Acting Artisphere Director Josh Stoltzfus said the venue has been able to achieve that by targeting international musicians and artists, catering to the D.C. area’s global diversity of heritage.

“In a lot of ways, international music has had a very strong track record in this market,” he said. “The larger Metro area, we have people from all over the world that live and work in this area, people either from all those countries or who were stationed there. We’re trying to reflect the community we serve.”

Artisphere has hosted acts like a controversial Ugandan play, Yiddish punk music, an eight-hour endurance performance and more than 100 belly-dancers. Its 62,000-square-foot space has caused sky-high utilities bills, but the unique venue has allowed performance-goers to see art installations before taking in the eclectic, international performers.

“We’ve really tried to become sort of the go-to presenter of international music in this market,” Halvorson said. “We’ve been largely successful in doing that.”

In the final two months, the venue’s remaining staff is not planning a big grand finale, but rather they will continue to put on shows most weeks; Halvorson said May will one of the busiest months they’ve ever had. Next Saturday, they will be screening a “live documentary” called the Measure of All Things in the Dome Theatre.

That documentary will be cued up and narrated on stage by its Academy Award-Nominated Director Sam Green, and will be accompanied by a live band. The documentary will focus on the lives of people in the Guinness Book of World Records, like the world’s tallest man and the world’s longest hair.

“That’s a great example of programs that is sort of representative of what Artisphere presents,” Halvorson said. “It’s difficult to describe and boil down, but that’s what we’re doing.”

Linda Hesh, the artist who installed a piece of art when Artisphere opened, called “Art Every Day” will return for another installation this spring that will take pieces of art tied to the venue and spread them across the community. After that, the doors will lock and the county will decide what comes next for the space.

“While it’s true that they physical building is closing,” Stoltzfus said, “the ideas that Artisphere has put forth in the community will last for the years to come.”

File photo courtesy Artisphere

ACPD to Conduct DUI Checkpoint Tomorrow

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 30, 2015 at 3:45PM | Updated April 30, 2015 at 4:31PM

Drivers, beware: the Arlington County Police Department is conducting a sobriety checkpoint somewhere in the county tomorrow night.

ACPD will team with the Virginia State Police, Fairfax County police and the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office to conduct the checkpoint.

Wherever it is, every driver will have his or her license checked and will be asked to take sobriety tests if the officers suspect alcohol consumption.

From the police press release:

On Friday, May 1, 2015 the Arlington County Police Department will conduct a joint sobriety checkpoint with assistance from the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police, and the Fairfax County Police Department across two jurisdictions. These enforcement efforts are in support of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) National crackdown program on drunk driving that focuses on combining high-visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness through advertising and publicity.

Officers will stop all vehicles passing through the checkpoint and ask to see the licenses of drivers. Any driver suspected of operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol will be directed to a safe area off the roadway for further observation and possible testing for intoxication.

The maximum penalty in Virginia for the first conviction for driving under the influence is 12 months in jail, a $2,500 fine and a 12-month suspension of driving privileges.

#DUI
#police

Arlington Chamber Holds ‘Shark Tank’ for Students

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 29, 2015 at 3:30PM | Updated April 29, 2015 at 4:08PM

Students and a mentor at the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (photo courtesy Arlington Chamber of Commerce)

(Updated at 4:00 p.m.) Some of Arlington’s most ambitious teenagers will go before a panel of judges, “Shark Tank”-style, to present business ideas they have cultivated for weeks.

The event is called the Young Entrepreneurs Academy Investor Panel, is May 7 at Marymount University’s Reinsch Library (2807 N. Glebe Road), from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. It’s hosted by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, which has taken a dozen students from ages 12 to 18 from Arlington schools and taught them the fundamentals of starting a business, every Wednesday evening since Jan. 7.

“It’s important for them to see how the process of starting a business works,” Chamber Communications Manager Meredith Smith said. Each business group will go through the process of applying for business licenses. “It’s been really good seeing these kids develop their businesses.”

The 12 students have split into seven different businesses, and each startup will have six minutes to present to a panel of eight members of the Arlington business community, including from Vornado, Graham Holdings Company and the Ballston BID. Those judges will ask questions, debate and “invest,” just like on the ABC reality show “Shark Tank.”

Among the businesses the kids have come up with are custom-denim shorts, mobile apps and an e-commerce marketplace for “local streetwear/lifestyle brands,” according to the Chamber. They have been instructed by Charlie Sibbald, an entrepreneur and adjunct business professory at MU.

“[The academy] helps the Chamber build the next generation of business leaders by introducing young people early to entrepreneurship and its rewards and challenges,” Chamber President and CEO Kate Roche said in an email. “The program also provides a significant number of meaningful ways for our members to engage with the students. Business leaders are instrumental to the curriculum and the program, serving as mentors, guest speakers, graphic designers, and business plan reviewers.”

Tickets for the event are $10, and it is open to the public. The winning team will be entered into a national scholarship competition and could present its idea to the Americas Small Business Summit in D.C. this June.

Iwo Jima Memorial to Receive a $5.3 Million Facelift

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 29, 2015 at 1:30PM

One of D.C.’s most prominent philanthropists has turned his eyes — and his wallet — to Rosslyn’s U.S Marine Corps War Memorial.

The Iwo Jima memorial is in line to receive a $5.37 million donation from David Rubenstein, who just last year gave $12.35 million to the Arlington House Robert E. Lee museum in Arlington National Cemetery. Rubenstein co-founded the private equity firm The Carlyle Group and has also used some of his billions of dollars to fund the Washington Monument’s post-earthquake repairs and enrich the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ endowment.

Today, the National Parks Service announced that Rubenstein’s gift will go to “re-gild the engravings on the sculpture’s pedestal, wax the sculpture, and improve lighting, landscaping, and infrastructure.” The NPS will also improve the signage and educational materials on the memorial, sandwiched between the Netherlands Carillon, N. Meade Street, Route 50 and Route 110.

“It is a privilege to honor our fellow Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice to attain and preserve the freedoms we enjoy,” Rubenstein said in a press release. “I hope this gift enables visitors to the Iwo Jima Memorial to better appreciate the beauty and significance of this iconic sculpture, and inspires other Americans to support critical needs facing our national park system.”

The memorial was dedicated Nov. 10, 1954, by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Since then, it has attracted millions in visitors. According to Arlington Economic Development, it attracted 1.4 million visitors in 2007.

“The Marine Corps War Memorial stands as a symbol of this grateful Nation’s esteem for the honored dead of the U.S. Marine Corps,” Marines Major General Michael R. Regner said in the release. “We are grateful for Mr. Rubenstein’s patriotism and generous donation to the National Park Foundation that will ensure this significant memorial continues to honor our fallen and inform public understanding of the cost and nature of their nation’s expeditionary force in readiness.”