That includes the Spokes Etc. location in Ballston at 3924 Wilson Blvd.
Trek, which manufactures bikes and operates its own retail stores, already has a shop in Clarendon on Wilson Blvd, a mere nine-minute bike ride from the Spokes location in Ballston. The two stores were one and two, respectively, in this year’s Arlies for favorite bike shop in Arlington.
Spokes Etc. made the move into Ballston in 2018, replacing Freshbikes.
The locally owned and operated bike company was founded in 1985 and prides itself on not being “a company that gives ‘cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all’ service,” according to its website.
There are five other Spokes Etc. locations, in Fairfax, Leesburg, Vienna, and two in Alexandria: Belle Haven and N. Quaker Lane, near Fairlington.
ARLnow has reached out to Trek about what the sale could mean for the local shops, but have yet to hear back as of publication. Strang declined to comment on whether all current Spokes Etc. locations will remain open after the sale.
Trek has been on a bike store buying spree as of late, with deals to buy independent bike retailers in Maryland, New York and several Western states announced in the past two weeks.
The Brass Rabbit Pub is coming soon to the former site of Bracket Room (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Inside of Brass Rabbit Pub in Clarendon (photo courtesy of Brass Rabbit Pub)
Inside of Brass Rabbit Pub in Clarendon (photo courtesy of Brass Rabbit Pub)
Inside of Brass Rabbit Pub in Clarendon (photo courtesy of Brass Rabbit Pub)
Brass Rabbit Pub is looking to open next month, in the Clarendon space formerly occupied by the Bracket Room.
In July, ARLnow reported that a new bar planning to have “elevated pub fare with a healthy twist” is coming to 1210 N. Garfield Street. Now, owner Reese Gardner tells us that he’s looking at a mid-February opening for Brass Rabbit Public House, barring delays in securing county permits and passing inspections.
Details are limited, though, about exactly what patrons will see and experience. A July Facebook notes that “to keep the place hoppin'” there will be a selection of 14 draft beers, a craft cocktail menu, house infused vodka, and an “extensive” wine list.
In terms of the menu, there will be burgers, wings, and sandwiches as well as a “large variety of lettuce wraps and unique salads” in keeping with the rabbit theme. Additionally, there will be happy hour specials, weekend brunch, and sports on the televisions with NFL and NHL packages.
Interior photos provided to ARLnow show plenty of rabbit-themed decor, as well.
The pub is replacing the Bracket Room, which closed back in March. That restaurant and bar opened in 2013 and was co-founded by Chris Bukowski of ‘The Bachelor’ franchise fame. It gained a reputation for a place to watch sporting events, the Bachelor, and for annoying some of its neighbors with what they described as excessive noise.
A rendering of Tend’s interior in Ballston (Photo courtesy of Tend)
Inside NM Aesthetics in Ballston Exchange (Photo courtesy of Nurse Megan Aesthetics/Vincent Ononogbo)
A rendering of a Tend dentistry suite (Photo courtesy of Tend)
Inside NM Aesthetics in Ballston Exchange (Photo courtesy of Nurse Megan Aesthetics/Vincent Ononogbo)
Rendering of Tend, a luxury dental office in Ballston (Photo courtesy of Tend)
Inside NM Aesthetics in Ballston Exchange (Photo courtesy of Nurse Megan Aesthetics/Vincent Ononogbo)
Construction is underway on Tend in Ballston (staff photo)
(Updated, 1/27/22) Get a facial and your teeth cleaned all in one day at two new cosmetic-centered businesses opening in Ballston Exchange, the office complex on Wilson Blvd across from the mall.`
The wellness center NM Aesthetics opened in October on the second floor of 4201 Wilson Blvd. The business offers “non-surgical cosmetic work led by an all-female team,” including fillers, hydrafacials and microdermabrasion.
The 3,000-square-foot space features a large lobby, “fun neon signs” and plant walls.
The business started in 2018 as a concierge service for which owner Megan Francis traveled around the area offering the cosmetic work, a company spokesperson tells ARLnow.
Right before the pandemic, Francis moved into Sola Salon Studio on N. Glebe Road, a business that hosts other solo entrepreneurs. Then, this past fall, Francis opened her own space down the street.
The plan is to open on Wednesday, Jan. 26, a company spokesperson tells ARLnow, with customers already able to book appointments. It didn’t open in the fall due to “the proliferation of the Delta variant this summer that put some bumps in our schedule,” the spokesperson notes.
Jennifer Sauter-Price with R.E.A.D’s book bus (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
Kids dance around tables full of books outside of Arlington Science Focus Elementary School on an overcast December afternoon. There are stories in Spanish, books about Black history, and novels about being the next president, all waiting to be picked up and read.
And parked a few feet away from the book fair is a bright blue “book bus” with a dragon painted on the side.
In the middle of it all is “Pajama Mama,” aka Jennifer Sauter-Price, dressed in her best dog pajamas. She’s the executive director of the Arlington-based nonprofit R.E.A.D. with a mission of providing brand new books to young children who may not have access to them.
R.E.A.D stands for “read early, and daily” and it’s the brainchild of Sauter-Price.
“We want to help [kids] grow libraries and encourage their families to read to them on a daily basis,” she tells ARLnow.
There’s ample research that there’s immense benefits in constantly reading to kids prior to them entering kindergarten. It improves their vocabulary and helps them associate words with feelings along with a number of other benefits, studies show.
Sauter-Price’s R.E.A.D program is simple: Families sign up and get to choose one new book a month for each kid under the age of five in their family.
“It would be really easy for me to just hand them a book, but we learned that families are more engaged when they choose their own book,” says Sauter-Price, who is a mom herself and lives in the Arlington Forest neighborhood. “They feel more empowered.”
Currently, there are about 200 children enrolled.
The books available, Sauter-Price notes, are intentionally chosen to reflect Arlington’s community.
“We have a diverse population of young children here. We have kids who speak English, Spanish, Arabic, Mongolian,” she says. “I search high and low to find those books as well as one that have a diverse set of families.”
Two bilingual books inside of R.E.A.D’s book bus (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
These are what are called “mirror and window” books, ones that reflect the child themselves (mirror) and ones that show the community they live in (window).
Sauter-Price describes a time, pre-COVID, when she showed up to a community event with a book featuring a mom wearing a hijab.
“There was a group of Muslim moms and when one of them saw [the book], they started crying,” she says. “She was like, ‘I’ve never seen this before. Thank you.'”
When asked what are the most popular books, Sauter-Price says that’s universal.
“I would probably say anything about transportation or things that go ‘vroom’,” she laughs.
The book fairs across the county that Sauter-Price puts on, like the one held at Arlington Science Focus Elementary, are revenue generators for R.E.A.D, allowing her to buy more books for more families who are in need.
In 2021 alone, Sauter-Price says the fairs have done about $125,000 in sales, much of which goes back to the program. The hope is to double those sales numbers next year.
Community donations and grants also help to finance R.E.A.D. In the summer of 2019, the program received a $50,000 grant from the newspaper publisher Gannett to spruce up an old school bus.
R.E.A.D’s book bus (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
Sauter-Price drives this bus around, brings it to fairs, while families can also shop out of it. She always dress in pajamas because, she says, “it breaks down barriers.”
Future aspirations for R.E.A.D. are high. Sauter-Price just got her peddler’s license meaning she can do “pop-up” book fairs on weekends in commercial areas like Ballston and Clarendon. She’s planning to start doing that this month. Additionally, beginning sometime early next year, the nonprofit is partnering with Virginia Hospital Center to provide a bag of books to uninsured and underinsured moms-to-be.
If R.E.A.D. is able to reach all of those moms, Sauter-Price estimates that it could mean the program could be working with as many as 1,800 babies and young kids a year.
That’s okay by Sauter-Price, who says some of her best memories are reading to her own kids. While they are both grown now and likely don’t want their mom reading to them, reading remains a huge part of Sauter-Price’s life.
She says, “I just feel like my whole life has just been sort of leading to this.”
This feature article was funded by the ARLnow Press Club and was previously published in the Press Club’s weekend newsletter.
Retail space on the ground floor of J Sol at 4000 Fairfax Drive (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A new wine shop and bar is opening on the ground floor of J Sol apartments in Ballston.
Not much is known about what is coming and when besides what’s noted in the permit application, which was just submitted last week.
What we do know is that it’s not associated with Screwtop Wine Bar, another wine-bar-slash-shop nearby, on N. Fillmore Drive in Clarendon. Also, it’s not opening in the immediate future, according to J Sol staff that ARLnow spoke to.
ARLnow has also reached out to retail leasing agents for the building, but has yet to hear back as of publication.
The 326-unit high-rise, luxurious apartment building at 4000 Fairfax Drive opened in August 2020. It replaced the popular local bar CarPool, which has since reopened a half mile walk away on N. Glebe Road.
The new restaurant at the former Green Valley Pharmacy won’t be opening until later this year due to some pushback from the community.
The local Arlington landmark at 2415 Shirlington Road is currently undergoing extensive renovations to transform it from a seven-decade-old pharmacy that served the Green Valley neighborhood into a kabob and burger eatery called “Halal Spot.”
However, those renovations are on hold as the Green Valley Civic Association and the county continue to review architecture plans for the new restaurant, a number of people involved in the project tell ARLnow.
The Green Valley Pharmacy opened in 1952 as the only lunch counter and pharmacy to serve Arlington’s Black community during the Jim Crow era. It was owned and operated by Dr. Leonard “Doc” Muse, a graduate of the Howard University School of Pharmacy.
But in late 2017, Muse died and the pharmacy has been closed since.
In August 2019, Muse’s daughter agreed to allow Arlington resident Nasir Ahmad, who also owns restaurants in Sterling and Fredericksburg, to rent the building and open a new eatery there.
It took more than 18 months for a buildout permit to be submitted in March 2021. In August of that year, it was approved by the county (the permit notes the restaurant’s name as “Time Square Grill,” but Ahmad told ARLnow in September that was simply a placeholder).
Months later, the project and renovations are still in limbo.
Last week, the Green Valley Civic Association held a meeting with members during which Ahmad provided an update on the proposed renovations.
Coming out of the meeting, the community’s concerns remained, civic association president Portia Clark tells ARLnow. Those are related to parking, signage and renovations that could impact the historical integrity of the building.
A catching point seems to be a walk-in cooler that is to be built at the back of the building with a pass-thru or doorway to it. Constructing the cooler would require knocking out a wall and removing a chimney, both historic components of the building, says Clark.
Parking is also an issue. Clark argues there aren’t enough spots available in the parking lot to accommodate the number of seats in the restaurant, in accordance with county code.
Additionally, the historic “Green Valley Pharmacy” signage has been removed. Clark says the civic association would like the restaurant’s name to include “Green Valley Pharmacy.”
“One of the only things left was the name,” says Clark. “Now, there’s no reflection of that.”
Despite these concerns, Clark remains okay with the restaurant moving in and hopes the owner continues to work with the community.
The project’s architect, Pat Snyder, believes there are places for compromise and working together. Learning about the history of Doc Muse and the pharmacy made her realize how important the building is to the community.
“We want the building to reflect that history,” Snyder says.
The current plan is to have pharmacy and Doc Muse-related artifacts and memorabilia on display in the restaurant, notes Snyder.
“There are a lot of things left [in the pharmacy],” she says. “We can collect it and display it to the public.”
She also thinks the idea of painting murals on the side of the building, an idea that was brought up at the civic association meeting, would be “wonderful.”
“We could draw in all of the historic elements and brighten up an otherwise gray, block building,” Snyder says.
Of course, most of these renovations or elements can not happen without county approval.
Since the pharmacy building is protected in the Arlington County local historic district, any proposed exterior alterations must be approved by the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board’s (HALRB) design review process.
The lonely utility pole at Columbia Pike and S. Frederick Street in Sept. (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
The lonely utility pole protruding into a Columbia Pike intersection has not come down yet, the county confirms, despite assurances it was going to by the end of last year.
In September, ARLnow learned that an errant utility pole sitting a few feet from the sidewalk at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Frederick Street was scheduled to be removed. But that has yet to happen, due to at least one utility company not completing work to bury wires as part of the Columbia Pike multimodal project.
“Dominion Energy crews have completed removal of their overhead lines, with [the] exception of one property. Comcast’s contractor has completed removal of their overhead wires. Verizon is dealing with material shipment delays, which have deferred the process of scheduling their undergrounding work,” reads the county’s Jan. 6 project update. “When all three companies have removed their overhead wires, the utility poles along the roadway will be removed.”
The update on the website was made shortly after ARLnow reached out for more information based on a reader tip that the pole was still there.
There’s no timeline as to when the pole will be removed, a county spokesperson tells us.
The work may eventually result in the temporary closure of Columbia Pike lanes between the Arlington/Fairfax County line and the Four Mile Run Bridge during construction hours, they note.
In the fall of 2020, a traffic signal was installed at the intersection of S. Frederick Street and Columbia Pike near Arlington Mill. It was in response to a years-long request from residents and advocates to improve the intersection’s safety, which had seen a number of crashes and accidents over the years, including some involving pedestrians.
As part of that construction, the driveway to Arbor Heights — an affordable housing complex with an entrance right off Columbia Pike — was redone to align with S. Frederick Street. Previously, a cement island with a strip of sidewalk held the pole but that island was removed, leaving the pole all alone.
It’s surrounded by bollards and, though the county says it hasn’t received any complaints about it blocking or being dangerous to traffic, ARLnow has received several notes about it from concerned motorists.
A new underground duct bank was built and the utility companies are using it to bury the lines.
The goal is to “make Columbia Pike a safer, more accessible route for all users” as well as to transform “this main thoroughfare into a complete street that balances all modes of travel and supports high-quality, high-frequency transit service.”
SeoulSpice in Rosslyn (photo courtesy of Joshua Weissman)
A new Korean comfort food restaurant is coming to Rosslyn.
The local fast casual chain SeoulSpice is opening a new location in Rosslyn at 1735 N. Lynn Street, on the ground floor of the International Place office building. This will be the the company’s the first location in Virginia and its sixth location in the D.C. area, with the most recent opening in November in D.C.’s Penn Quarter neighborhood.
It is not immediately clear when the restaurant will start serving. A sign hangs above the storefront with window stickers advertising the menu and announcing that the restaurant is hiring. The construction contractor tells ARLnow that work should be finished this month, but opening is at the discretion of the owner.
ARLnow has reached out to the restaurant but has not received a timeline for opening as of publication.
SeoulSpice’s menu includes Korean-style burritos, bibimbap, japchae and bulgogi. The menu at the Penn Quarter location is gluten-free, making it a unique fast-casual spot.
Founder Eric Shin is not only a restaurateur, but also a world-renowned percussionist. He is now a principal percussionist in the National Symphony Orchestra and a faculty member at the University of Maryland’s School of Music. His passion for food came from his parents, who owned a restaurant in Atlanta.
“Our recipes come from the Shin family, which have been passed down from generation to generation,” reads the website. “All of our entrees are inspired by traditional Korean comfort foods. Our rice bowls come from bibimbap, our noodles from japchae, and the Korrito from gimbap. We respect the food we serve by using the best ingredients and preparing all our food from scratch.”
At-home COVID-19 antigen test kit provided by Virginia Department of Health (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
Sign about at-home Covid tests at a CVS store on Columbia Pike (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
At-home Covid tests have been hard to come by in Arlington, but distributors are promising that more tests will be available soon.
Tests haven’t been available at many Arlington pick-up sites and stores for a number of days, but some could be available as soon as tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 8.
While this week’s winter weather delayed shipments earlier this week to local CVS stores, a spokesperson tells ARLnow that stores should expect deliveries of at-home Covid tests by Saturday.
The Virginia Department of Health shipped 1,400 at-home Covid test kits to Arlington libraries yesterday, a VDH spokesperson confirms to ARLnow. However, the kits, which will be distributed for free, haven’t arrived yet.
“We will distribute some time next week based on when we get them,” library deputy director Anne Gable said. She advised residents to keep checking Arlington Public Library’s website for updates.
Giant Food stores are also expecting more supply by early next week, a company spokesperson tells us. Supply shortages, not the weather, were the cause of the delay at Giant stores.
“Our distributors were waiting on shipments to [be sent] to us,” the spokesperson says.
A Walgreens spokesperson declined to provide ARLnow an estimate on when at-home Covid test kits may once again be available at local stores. They did note the store’s four-item purchase limit on test kits and referred us to the manufacturers to ask about supply.
Harris Teeter hasn’t yet responded to ARLnow’s inquiry about Covid test kit availability.
In recent weeks, it’s been a struggle for many locals to get a Covid test, amid a surge in Covid cases and high positivity rates, fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
This past week hasn’t seen much improvement in terms of access. A number of sites were closed due to the snow and Covid-related staffing shortages, while no new appointments were available online.
Starting Monday, a new testing site is set to open in North Arlington on the campus of Marymount University.
Construction at George Mason’s Arlington campus on Fairfax Drive in Virginia Square as of January 2022 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A rendering of the exterior of the George Mason University Arlington expansion (photo courtesy of Mason Innovation Partners / EYP)
A rendering of the interior George Mason University Arlington expansion (photo courtesy of Mason Innovation Partners / EYP)
A 2019 rendering of the expanded George Mason University campus in Virginia Square (via GMU)
Construction at George Mason’s Arlington campus on Fairfax Drive in Virginia Square as of January 2022 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
George Mason University is breaking ground on the massive $235 million expansion of its Arlington campus.
“This is the start of something big for Mason,” Carol Kissal, the university’s senior vice president for administration and finance, said in a statement. “And when it’s done, it will have fundamentally changed our campus, as well as the broader Arlington community.”
Initial work is beginning this week, a GMU spokesperson confirms to ARLnow, despite the weather. A formal groundbreaking is set for the spring to coincide with the university’s 50th anniversary, we’re told.
Right now, there’s a hole at Fairfax Drive in Virginia Square where the old Kann’s Department store once stood. That was demolished in March to make way for a 400,000 square-foot building that will be the centerpiece of the expansion.
As construction gets underway, fencing will go up mostly around the driveway of the FDIC building on N. Monroe Street, a press release notes. Excavation and relocating of an underground storm pipe, water line, and electric line will also take place. There will be drilling, as well, to install beams to support sheeting and shoring.
Neighbors are being told to expect some impacts from construction during the multi-year project.
“There may be some noise. You may feel some vibrations,” said a GMU facilities manager in the press release. “But it’s all safe and done in compliance with rules and requirements. The reality is, the end result will be worth it.”
The building will house faculty from Institute for Digital InnovAtion and the university’s new School of Computing. The university is expected to occupy about 60% of the space with the remaining 40% potentially leased to private companies.
The university is predicting that the expansion, which was planned in the wake of Amazon’s decision to open its HQ2 here, will add 3,000 to 4,000 students to the Arlington campus by the time it opens in the summer of 2025.
While it may be a gaping hole now and a state-of-the-art university facility later, the Fairfax Drive site was in the past the Arlington outpost of the popular D.C.-based Kann’s Department Store. The store featured three floors, an escalator, and some unusual attractions. Apparently, the shoe department had a large glass-windowed display with live spider monkeys from Brazil.
In 1975, the university bought the building and turned it into its law school. At the time, it was believed to be the only law school in the country to have an escalator.
Maison Cheryl in Clarendon (photo courtesy of Maison Cheryl)
Interior of Maison Cheryl in Clarendon (photo courtesy of Maison Cheryl)
Seared duck breast entree at Maison Cheryl (photo courtesy of Maison Cheryl)
Interior of Maison Cheryl in Clarendon (photo courtesy of Maison Cheryl)
The past several months haven’t exactly gone as expected, but Maison Cheryl in Clarendon is very much looking forward to the future, chef and co-owner Robert Maher tells ARLnow.
The business has been growing and already has a number of regulars, Maher says, but a combination of continued COVID-19 concerns and not securing an outdoor seating permit has dampened expectations a bit.
“We’re still trying to get our outdoor seating, which is amazing how it’s been like five months and we still don’t have it,” he says. “But we should be getting that next week.”
Though, mid-January isn’t exactly the ideal time to eat outside.
Nonetheless, Maher is encouraged by the experiences he’s had so far in Arlington. He and his wife moved from New York City to Bethesda during the pandemic to be closer to family. He initially looked at opening a restaurant there and in D.C., but was attracted to Clarendon’s growing population.
“It looked like such a growing area. Not only with people that have been here for decades and live in the houses, but younger [people] who are working in D.C.,” he says. “I think it’s one of the best places to open a restaurant.”
Another thing that Maher is learning is the amount of work it takes to be both the head chef and co-owner of a restaurant.
“There’s a lot on the plate,” he says. “There’s so much that has to be done besides cooking, food ordering, costs…that’s been the most eye-opening experience. I take a lot of work home with me.”
Maher is a trained French cook and the menu is inspired by “French-New American” cuisine. Best sellers are the Maison Wagyu burger and seared duck breast, but his personal favorite is the bucatini and fried burrata in a zucchini sauce.
Maison Cheryl changes the menu seasonally and next week it will shift to winter. Most of the favorites will still be on it, but Maher is adding several new dishes including mussels mariniere, a honey lavender duck breast, and bouillabaisse with muscles, clams, shrimp and Chilean sea bass.
“Bouillabaisse is one of the first dishes I perfected so I love coming back to it especially during the cold winter months,” he says.
He’s enjoying his time growing Maison Cheryl and becoming part of the Clarendon community.
“I’m hoping to see the same faces over and over again,” Maher says. “One day, I might think of [opening] another one, but right now just trying to become a staple in the community. I’m having the time of my life doing that.”
