Author: Jo DeVoe

Top 20 Arlington Stories of 2022: #1-5

By Jo DeVoe
1/5

The countdown to 2023 with our most-read stories of this year ends today, on the eve of New Year’s Eve.

Public safety-related breaking news dominated the top 5 stories and comprised a majority of our most-read articles. This year, we are grateful you turn to us for up-to-the-minute news in Arlington.

One of these stories — about a window-smashing spree — was the result of several tips from readers, so remember, our tip line is always open.

5. BREAKING: Teen charged with DUI after Rock Spring crash that killed another teen (Nov. 11 | 41,450 views)

A teenager was arrested in a drunk driving incident that killed Braylon Meade, a well-liked Washington-Liberty High School basketball player, in the Rock Spring neighborhood. A vigil for Meade drew hundreds to the high school.

4. NEW: Two arrested after incorrect order leads to violence at local McDonald’s (Jan. 25 | 42,989 views)

An employee at a local McDonald’s was hit by a thrown water bottle and then assaulted after serving an incorrect order. Police say they tried to pull over the vehicle involved in the dispute and the driver ran two red lights before stopping.

3. Two dozen vehicles have windows smashed during overnight vandalism spree (Oct. 24 | 44,265 views)

Over the course of a week, some 54 windows of vehicles parked across Arlington County were shot out with a BB gun. It was unclear if it was an individual or a group — with some commenters thinking it was teens — but in the end, a 37-year-old Maryland man was arrested for the crimes.

2. Bear spotted casually walking around Arlington today (June 6 | 76,341 views)

A bear spotting prompted a warning from animal control, which said the bear seemed healthy and was likely a male yearling moving through Arlington in his search for a new home habitat.

1. BREAKING: Multiple injuries after car crashes into Ireland’s Four Courts, catches on fire (Aug. 12 | 112,303 views)

Our most-read story of the year was our initial coverage of car crash that caused a blaze inside Ireland’s Four Courts and injured more than a dozen people. Fortunately, everyone who was hospitalized for serious injuries has since been discharged.

The driver, who police determined had a medical emergency prior to the crash, will not face charges. Meanwhile, the pub is rising from the ashes with help from the community, including fundraisers at nearby pubs and a GoFundMe that netted more than $95,000.

A look back at 2022, in photos and in Arlington’s biggest storylines

By Jo DeVoe
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ARLnow is ringing in the New Year with a look back at 2022 through our photo and story archives.

Our photographer, Jay Westcott, compiled a slideshow, above, to encapsulate the stories and moments that made 2022 memorable and remind us of the sights and seasonal shifts that make Arlington home.

After two years of living with Covid, the last 12 months held a continuing return to normalcy in tension with a deepening divide over how Arlington should look and function. On discussions of housing shortages, pedestrian fatalities and fluctuating crime rates, there is a sense that something needs to be done — exactly what remains the question.

The “Missing Middle” housing study and proposed zoning changes embodied this tension the most. While never cracking the Top 20 stories of 2022, the county’s incremental steps toward legalizing housing types such as duplexes, three-unit townhomes and buildings with up to six or eight units in districts zoned exclusively for single-family homes roiled the county.

Residents staged rallies for and against the proposed zoning changes, broke anecdotal Planning Commission meeting attendance records, booed and hollered in a County Board meeting, opined about the “Arlington Way” and ginned up more interest in the Arlington County Board race — one that ultimately went for incumbent Democrat Matt de Ferranti.

In response, the Arlington County Board added community engagement sessions and directed staff to make a number of changes to the proposal, which members later said address some community concerns.

High-profile crashes, including two pedestrian deaths, led residents and the County Board to demand more action on traffic safety. But with crash causes as diverse as alcohol, high speeds, unspecified medical emergencies and sun glare, could slower speeds, road treatments and education ever eliminate pedestrian deaths and serious injuries?

Questions also remain about how prosecutors and judges should serve criminal justice. We took a close look at competing assertions about whether reform efforts led by Arlington’s top prosecutor, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, are tackling or enabling crime rates.

Still, Arlingtonians came together to mourn the loss of a man and a teenager who each left an indelible mark on their community.

Activist Kent Carter, who died protecting his girlfriend during a shooting on the island chain of Turks and Caicos, was remembered as a family man who led efforts to reform and establish community oversight of the police department. Washington-Liberty high school senior Braylon Meade, who died in a car crash involving a drunk teen, was remembered for leading his basketball team by example.

As evidenced in this year’s gallery, construction hummed along, as Washington-Liberty High School expanded, apartments were built and the first phase of Amazon’s second headquarters prepares to open next year.

Amid all this, the pandemic receded farther into the rear view window for many. Masks became optional in schools, county facilities and on Metro and airplanes earlier this year. Arlington County permanently closed its public vaccine clinic a week before Christmas and has shuttered testing sites.

Yesterday (Thursday), many of you said 2022 was better than 2021. We at ARLnow wish you an even better 2023.

Top 20 Arlington Stories of 2022: #6-10

By Jo DeVoe
1/5

Our countdown to 2023 with the most-read stories of the past year continues today.

The penultimate round up includes more breaking news, heroism and an improbable infiltration.

10. NEW: Quick-thinking customers and first responders helped to save lives, Four Courts manager says (Aug. 13 | 30,219 views)

When an Uber driver plowed into Ireland’s Four Courts this summer, pub-goers sprang into action to help severely injured customers, the driver and at least one passenger of the car. We later featured one of the quick-thinking customers, Timo Klotz, a volunteer firefighter and EMT in Fairfax County.

9. A bunny has apparently infiltrated the Pentagon (Feb. 14 | 31,917 views)

The world’s fluffiest and most adorable secret agent, a bunny, was spotted within the courtyard at the center of the headquarters of the U.S. Dept. of Defense. Not that anyone’s counting (except us), but the tale of this bunny operative garnered more hits than the rogue chicken that received national media attention, a song by Jimmy Fallon and a t-shirt line for its perusal of Pentagon premises.

8. BREAKING: U.S. Marshal Service, ACPD on scene of fatal leap from building (March 25 | 32,293 views)

When the Marshal Service and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office attempted to serve an arrest warrant for someone suspected in a robbery in Loudoun County, the person tried to flee through the window of a Columbia Forest apartment, fell and died.

7. BREAKING: Shots fired as Arlington officers chase suspect into Fairfax County (Oct. 6 | 33,504 views)

A 27-year-old man fired a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine at police in Arlington, sparking a high-speed chase down Route 50 in which several cars were hit. After he was arrested in West Falls Church, the Fairfax County Police Chief said it was “an absolute miracle” no one was injured or killed.

6. Arlington teachers union press release gets national attention after local mom’s edits go viral (Jan. 3 | 34,269 views)

A local homeschooling mom tweeted pictures of grammar and style corrections she says she and her children made to a press release sent by the Arlington Education Association, the union for Arlington Public Schools teachers and staff. The incident happened just two months before AEA’s executive board, including the author of the press release, was ousted amid internal turmoil.

Check back tomorrow for the finale: the top 5 stories of 2022.

Curbside Christmas tree collection begins next week

By Jo DeVoe
Christmas tree set for curbside collection (via Arlington County)

If you bought a Christmas tree this year, don’t throw out it out just yet (unless it’s dangerously dry).

Starting Monday, Arlington County will begin its annual curbside Christmas tree collection. Tree pick-up for Arlington residential waste collection customers — primarily those in single-family homes — will go through Friday, Jan. 13.

“Place trees at [the] curb no later than 6 a.m. on your regular trash collection day after removing all decorations, nails [and] stands,” per the county website. “Do not place trees in plastic bags.”

After Jan. 13, county waste removal services will handle Christmas trees as part of Arlington’s year-round yard-waste collection.

“Make sure the tree is bare and ready for composting,” the announcement said. “Trees over 8 feet long will need to be dismantled.”

Residents of apartments, condos and townhomes can drop trees off at the county’s Earth Products Yard in Shirlington. Those who plan to go to the yard will need proof of residence in Arlington to drop off their trees.

Trees will ultimately be converted into mulch. Residents may pick up the mulch for free, or have it delivered for a fee, from county facilities in Shirlington and Yorktown.

Greenery aside, Arlington also has a guide for reducing trash during the holidays, including what can and cannot be recycled. Some things that don’t qualify for county recycling — including broken twinkle lights, electronics and batteries — can be dropped off at MOM’s Organic Market on N. Veitch Street.

This former SRO has kept coaching her middle school soccer teams

By Jo DeVoe
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As a Special Victims Unit detective with Arlington County police, and as a graduate student and a mom, Tiffanie McGuire does not have a lot of free time.

But she makes time for coaching the Dorothy Hamm Middle School girls and boys soccer teams, something she has been doing since 2019 when she was a School Resource Officer. Over the last three years, she has watched her players become leaders who understand personal responsibility and sportsmanship.

“I have seen many players come through and have watched them grow in both the game and in their personality,” she tells ARLnow. “My sixth graders often come in quiet, recently transitioning from elementary school, and are chosen because there is usually something in them that we see that can be developed with time. By 8th grade, they are the leaders of the team.”

As an SRO, she says consistency was key for forming relationships with middle schoolers, who can be a challenging bunch.

“Pre-teens are beginning to find themselves and push boundaries with adults,” she said. “Finding a way to connect with them took consistency and showing them that I was there to be an adult they can trust, not get them in trouble.”

She stuck it out as a coach event after the School Board voted to remove School Resource Officers from school grounds in 2021. The move responded to calls from some community organizations, including the Arlington branch of the NAACP, citing higher arrest rates for Black and Latino kids.

Throughout all that change, she says she has earned the respect of her players, which she considers her proudest accomplishment.

“Many of these players have been under the same coaches for many years and to them, I have to prove that my style will work,” she said. “Kids question and compare their other teams to this one, and we are bringing together players that have all played on separate teams.”

McGuire played travel soccer from middle school through her senior year of high school. She decided to become a police officer in college, when she realized her sports-related injuries would prevent her previous plans to join the Army. Having her daughter directed her toward working with kids as an officer.

“I realized I wanted to be a positive influence in the lives of other children the way I would want someone to be for my daughter,” she said.

After SROs were removed from schools, McGuire moved to the Youth Outreach Unit that ACPD formed to maintain those student connections outside of the school environment.

“Having great relationships with community organizations and the schools meant that we were not starting from scratch, and everyone loved having us come participate in activities,” she said.

Since becoming a detective and taking on a second master’s degree and undergraduate teaching, McGuire has looked forward to the much-needed break from work even more.

“There are times it feels very overwhelming, but everything I do brings me joy and has a purpose,” she said. “I considered giving up coaching, but in my heart, I knew I would hate the decision and miss the kids.”‘ (more…)

Top 20 Arlington Stories of 2022: #11-15

By Jo DeVoe
FBI activity on Columbia Pike (courtesy John Antonelli)

Our countdown to 2023 with the most-read stories of the past year continues today.

Up next we have more coverage of what’s next for Whitlow’s, plus news stories about the FBI raid on Columbia Pike and a woman who pepper-sprayed a man taking pictures of his own children.

15. NEW: Whitlow’s is coming back — but not to Arlington (Aug. 4 | 26,009 views) 

We reported that the longtime Clarendon bar on Wilson Blvd, which closed last June, was reopening in D.C — where it all started in 1946 as a greasy spoon eatery and bar — but it was unclear where. It has since reopened just off U Street near Howard University (2014 9th Street NW) and its digs in Arlington have been replaced by nightlife and music venue B Live.

14. Arlington band wins Grammy award (April 4 | 26,663 views)

SOJA, also known as Soldiers of Jah Army, won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album for their 2021 release “Beauty in the Silence.” But not everyone was happy that the all-white band, which formed at Yorktown High School, was chosen over Jamaican artists.

13. ‘Fifteen-minute cities,’ gaining traction in a post-pandemic world, are already here in Arlington (Dec. 20 | 28,523 views)

Around the world, the idea of the 15-minute city — where every important amenity is within a 15-minute walk or bike ride — is gaining popularity. But Arlington has had 15-minute cities for decades now, due to 60 years of transit-oriented development.

12. ACPD: Woman pepper sprayed man for taking photos of children — who turned out to be his own kids (April 13 | 28,886 views)

A woman pepper sprayed someone she believed to be a stranger taking photos of children. The kids, however, were his.

11. NEW: There was an FBI operation on Columbia Pike this morning (April 27 | 29,323 views)

This was our initial story about FBI activity in front of the Siena Park Apartments along Columbia Pike. Several unmarked federal law enforcement vehicles, including a Lenco BearCat armored SWAT vehicle, swarmed what later turned out to be the home of an ABC News producer, according to Rolling Stone.

Beyer secures more than $2M in federal funding for water infrastructure projects

By Jo DeVoe
Raging rapids and minor flooding along Gulf Branch in North Arlington after heavy rain, August 2020 (file photo)

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) has secured $2.25 million in federal funding for stormwater infrastructure projects in Arlington.

The funding was part of a bipartisan omnibus government funding bill that passed the House of Representatives and the Senate last Thursday, three days before Christmas.

“I am proud to announce that bipartisan legislation which will soon pass into law includes funding I secured for worthy projects in Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fairfax County,” Beyer said in a statement.

The omnibus appropriations bill helps pay for each of Beyer’s fifteen community project funding requests. Four requests were partially funded in Arlington.

It awards $750,000 for stormwater projects in the Gulf Branch watershed downstream of Military Road and in the Lower Long Branch Watershed along S. Walter Reed Drive. These will include a mix of “gray” infrastructure, such as culverts and storage tanks, and “green infrastructure,” or nature-based solutions.

“The Project will treat and store polluted stormwater runoff, reduce impervious coverage, and mitigate climate vulnerability,” the county said in its request, reprinted on Beyer’s website.

Another $1.5 million will fund rehabilitations of segments of two sanitary sewer interceptor pipes. Interceptor pipes “intercept” the flow from smaller pipes and funnel stormwater and sewage to a treatment plant.

The county requested $2 million to rehabilitate 5,876 linear feet of a 30-inch pipe that runs from Arlington Blvd to Sparrow Pond. The pond is slated to be rehabilitated next year. The pipe, constructed through the Four Mile Run stream valley in 1975, serves the East Falls Church neighborhood as well as parts of the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County.

The county also requested $1.68 million to rehabilitate a 2,906-foot section of a large but decrepit pipe in order to “support continued growth in the Rosslyn area.”

“The subject sewer was originally constructed in the 1930s,” the county said in its request. “It was most recently inspected in 2017 and many sections were deemed to require immediate rehabilitation due to structural deficiencies which allow for significant infiltration and inflow and could lead to structural failure.”

In his statement, Beyer thanked his fellow representatives for enacting the legislation and the local leaders who identified and developed the requests.

“This project funding will make our community healthier, support clean energy, boost our transportation infrastructure, support affordable housing, feed the hungry, and help improve law enforcement transparency,” he said.

Additionally, the omnibus appropriations bill included language to officially rename North Arlington Post Office after letter carrier Jesus Collazos, who emigrated from Colombia in 1978 and served 25 years as a USPS postal carrier in Arlington before losing his life to COVID-19 in June 2020.

La Cocina VA rebrands as ‘Kitchen of Purpose’ as mission expands

By Jo DeVoe
The Kitchen of Purpose café at 918 S. Lincoln Street along Columbia Pike (courtesy photo)

Changes are happening within the Columbia Pike-based nonprofit La Cocina VA.

Since its inception in 2014, the nonprofit has provided culinary job training to Spanish-speaking immigrants and donated the meals made by trainees to people in low-income housing and shelters.

Over time, it widened its focus to help immigrants, refugees and unhoused people from all backgrounds. Founder Paty Funegra tells ARLnow the nonprofit was renamed Kitchen of Purpose last month to recognize that shift formally. She also gave a heads-up of some other changes slated for the new year.

Kitchen of Purpose will be putting an $80,000 grant from longtime supporter Bank of America to use to address food insecurity and support workforce development. Meanwhile, the nonprofit will be updating the menu and adding outdoor seating to the café it operates out of its facility at 918 S. Lincoln Street in a bid to attract new customers. Kitchen of Purpose moved into the facility in 2020.

Funegra says the name change was a years-long process that wrapped up last month.

“It didn’t take too long until we had applicants to our program from other ethnicities, immigrants from other places, Americans who speak good English who were interested in food service as career opportunities,” she said.

While La Cocina VA began offering classes in English by 2018, “we were always labeled as ‘La Cocina only serves the Hispanic community,'” Funegra said.

She says many of Asian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European descent — mostly women — have applied to Kitchen of Purpose’s small business incubator program.

“They already utilize food as not only a way of gathering families, but creating something,” she said.

Bank of America’s $80,000 grant will increase the number of meals Kitchen of Purpose can provide to people in affordable housing and homeless shelters, to senior residents and public schools children during the summer. A portion will support the nonprofit’s workforce development program that helps unemployed people get jobs and training in food service and hospitality.

“It definitely is a large contribution,” she said. “We project this is around 10,000 meals that we can provide our clients, using part of this grant.”

With the new name comes a “relaunch” of the café on S. Lincoln Street, which doubles as an incubator for other restaurants, including RAMMY-nominated fried chicken spot Queen Mother’s.

Starting in February, customers can order from the new food menu, with international flavors, Sunday brunch, plus beer, wine and cocktails. The interior will be redesigned and, by the spring, there should be outdoor seating.

“We want to bring more attention to the café,” Funegra said. “Like any other establishment, we’re surviving the pandemic… Some people know about us, but we want to come out with a new look, new name and new personnel to bring clients and raise awareness about us.”

It’s a far cry from where she started: a 167-square-foot kitchen in a church basement. To help small business owners make similar kinds of moves, she says in the near future she wants to provide microloans. That way, they can start building credit and eventually qualify for bigger loans.

“They have the talent, knowledge and passion, but because of their condition, they face barriers to obtain a small seed capital loan,” she said. “We’re exploring opportunities to create a fund that would allow us to inject capital — $5,000 to $10,000 loans — to these entrepreneurs so they can start generating business.”

Top 20 Arlington stories of 2022: #16-20

By Jo DeVoe
Police outside Yorktown High School (photo courtesy Spencer Strebe)

Between now and New Year’s Eve, as in years past, ARLnow will count down to 2023 with the most-read articles this year.

Breaking news of crime and corporate relocations dominated the top 20, although reports of a sighting of tennis star Serena Williams and a low-flying helicopter also piqued the interest of readers.

Check back every day this week to reflect on this year’s biggest stories, featuring tales of heroism, tragedy, triumph, crime and even some animal antics.

20. BREAKING: Parent worried about active shooter may have brought gun to middle school (June 10 | 22,065 views)

Thomas Jefferson Middle School was locked from the outside for extra security while police responded to reports of an armed robbery at a nearby 7-Eleven. Parents, students and teachers were allegedly left in the dark as to why the school was secured and may have been on edge because of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas one month before.

19. BREAKING: Arlington scores another major corporate headquarters (June 7 | 23,391 views)

Soon after Boeing moved its corporate headquarters to Arlington, Raytheon Technologies moved its headquarters here from outside of Boston. Now, Northern Virginia is home to a majority of the top five U.S. aerospace and defense companies: Boeing and Raytheon in Arlington, plus Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics in Fairfax County.

18. Don’t worry about that low-flying helicopter near the Alexandria border, Arlington County says (Feb. 23 | 23,436 views)

After flooding Arlington’s Emergency Communications Center with calls, people came to ARLnow to figure out just why a helicopter was flying so low to the ground in Arlington and nearby Alexandria. We believe the mysterious chopper, which belonged to a Utah company, was being used to inspect power transmission lines.

17. Serena Williams appears to have paid a visit to El Pollo Rico in Va. Square this weekend (Aug. 1 | 24,632 views)

Tennis legend Serena Williams was apparently served a heaping portion of chicken and rice from Virginia Square’s Peruvian spot, El Pollo Rico, which the late Anthony Bourdain featured on his show “No Reservations.” She was in town to support her equally-famous sister Venus, who was playing in the Citi Open in D.C.

16. BREAKING: Police on scene after anonymous threat, lockdown at Yorktown High School (Feb. 10 | 24,945 views)

An anonymous caller claiming to be armed with hostages inside of a Yorktown High School bathroom prompted a lockdown, evacuations and a massive police response in and around the school. It turned out to be a false report, one that kick-started Arlington police’s involvement in a statewide push to combat “swatting” calls like these.

Ingenuity and equity define some of this year’s featured startups

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

From eco-friendly dog food to portable airplane cupholders, this year’s Startup Monday column has highlighted locals with bright ideas.

In 2022, we profiled startups and wrote about mergers, acquisitions, fundraising rounds and relocations. These companies spanned the industries of supply chain logistics to healthcare, data to cybersecurity, and commercial real estate to interior decorating.

But two themes of this year were go-getters with novel products — all coming out of Clarendon — and giving back.

Clarendon resident and fitness buff David Kolton launched Aviate, a line of flour, flakes and baking mixes made of the humble lupini. The high-fiber bean has more protein than meat and can be grown without irrigation, powering humans while reducing their environmental impact.

“I want to make something that’s not only something healthy people will appreciate, but is also something they can enjoy with their friends and family who don’t eat that way,” he said.

Clarendon resident Haley Russell founded Chippin, a company that sells dog treats and dog food made from crickets, an invasive species of fish called the silver carp and a CO2-sucking algae called spirulina.

“We created the first-of-its-kind dog food that solves for providing high-quality nutrition with a protein for dogs with allergies to beef and chicken and helps restore biodiversity in the Great Lakes while fishing for a fish we need to fish for,” she said.

After assembling a 3D printer, teaching himself how to use it, teaching himself how to resin cast, write a patent and register a trademark, Clarendon resident Seth LaPierre told us he is ready to launch the “Sip n’ Clip,” a cup holder for airplane seats.

“If you’re trying to create something, no one is going to pop up and help you,” he said. “Roll up your sleeves and get it done.”

Amazon’s under-construction HQ2 is seen above the Pentagon City skyline, as viewed from Columbia Pike (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

His business donates part of its profits to organizations promoting security, empowerment and equality for women and girls. Here’s how other Arlington companies made a difference this year.

Rosslyn-based CyberVista, a cybersecurity workforce development company, made available two courses to participants in Black Girls Hack. The Alexandria-based nonprofit tackles lack of representation in STEM by training Black girls and women in STEM fields, with a focus on cybersecurity and executive suites.

“Our partnership with Black Girls Hack goes hand-in-hand with CyberVista’s goal to close the skills gap in cybersecurity by measuring and upskilling underrepresented groups of talent,” CyberVista CEO Simone Petrella said.

The Venture X coworking location (2300 Wilson Blvd) in Courthouse donated office space to give The Black Girl TRIBE a new headquarters. The organization, which this year received a $100,000 grant from Nike, educates and uplifts Black girls through mentoring and educational programs and leadership events.

“I was inspired by her mission, and support her doing important work she’s doing,” Venture X location owner Julie Felgar said. “It’s an equity issue: making sure young ladies from all ethnicities and from all walks of life can value themselves and see what the opportunities are for them out in the world.”

We also sat down with longtime Arlington resident and father Peter Kant, whose company Enabled Intelligence employs Americans with disabilities and veterans. The data and security company is redefining workplace inclusion while ensuring government agencies and contractors employ American citizens for security reasons.

“Some were bagging groceries but had a computer science degree from Radford University, and because of their neurodiversity, were not working anywhere else,” he said.

These Arlington creators and companies weathered a tough economic outlook with their concepts cracking contemporary problems. ARLnow will be back with Startup Monday columns in the new year to highlight more locals with big ideas and companies making names for themselves in tech, government contracting and beyond.

Economic downturn puts Columbia Pike redevelopment on hold

By Jo DeVoe
1/6

Construction of an approved residential development at the Rappahannock Coffee site on Columbia Pike is on hold for now.

The approved six-story, 120-unit building with ground-floor retail and underground parking would replace three one-story retail buildings and a surface parking lot on the southeast corner of the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Barton Street, at 2400 Columbia Pike.

Yao Yao, with YW Development, told ARLnow that his firm isn’t going to pursue redevelopment at this time, citing high and climbing interest rates and a generally poor economic outlook — including mixed signals of a looming recession.

Instead, he is looking for a new tenant to fill the vacant retail space next to Rappahannock Coffee and Roasting and generate some income before moving forward with the project. It used to be occupied by Cabinet Era before the business moved to Falls Church.

Leasing agent Erik Ulsaker says the space will work as-is for a temporary retail concept. Any tenant would have to be okay with a termination option if, in three to four years, economic conditions improve and it comes time to build.

“This is a good space for startups, and people who want to get going on their business plans,” he said, adding that he and his business partner “welcome creative ideas,” like pop-ups.

“If it goes over well, it could be put into the development, as we’ve got 16,000 square feet of retail on the back end,” he said. “It’s a good way to test the market.”

YW Development’s proposal went before the Arlington County Board last year. It modified an existing, already-approved proposal for the site by adding 6,500 square feet, 15 residential units and 36 parking spaces while preserving existing building facades.

The long-delayed project — first proposed in 2013, approved in 2016 and pushed back in 2020 — was initially led by Columbia Pike-based B.M. Smith, which was behind the Penrose Square development across the street.

Hat tip to John Antonelli

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