Central Place

Rosslyn Farmers Market Starts CSA Program

By Bridget Reed Morawski
1/3

The Rosslyn Farmers Market will kick off once again in a few months, but with a new feature: a weekly community supported agriculture program (CSA).

Like other CSA programs, FRESHFARM Share program staff pull together fruit, vegetables, and other goods from local farmers and producers that also sell at the farmers market.

Residents have the option of a regular share, which costs $30 a week and feeds two people or “one person who eats a lot of veggies,” or a large share that will feed two to four people for a week, according to the subscriber website.

A rotating market treat can be added on for $5 per week, and can be anything from pickles to pasta sauce to pastries (and other non-alliterative supplementary snacks).

Subscribers can pick up their share of the week’s crop at the farmers market, which is held weekly at 1800 N. Lynn Street at the Central Place Plaza from late spring through early autumn. The CSA is limited to 40 subscriptions, and members can skip up to two weeks per half season with three days notice.

More from a press release on some subscription logistics:

While the Rosslyn Farmers Market season will begin on May 9 and run through October, FRESHFARM Share will not begin until May 16. If you subscribe for the first half of the season (12 weeks) of FRESHFARM Share, your subscription will run through August 1.

If you subscribe for the second half of the season (12 weeks), your subscription will run from August 8 through October 24. Full season subscriptions are also available (May 16 – October 24). Share pick-ups will be available during the market’s afternoon operating hours.

The announcement of the program, in partnership with the Rosslyn BID, follows the results of a Rosslyn resident and worker survey which noted the neighborhood’s desire for more healthy food options.

Photo courtesy of the Rosslyn BID.

Rosslyn BID Previews Central Place Observation Deck

By Bridget Reed Morawski
1/3

It’s not slated to open until this summer, but we’re getting some of the first views of Rosslyn’s new observation deck.

The Rosslyn Business Improvement District’s urban design committee previewed the new views from Central Place’s upcoming observation deck with several photos. Visitors will be able to see much of the Georgetown waterfront, the Washington Monument, the U.S. Capitol building and more.

Slated to open late summer 2018, the 12,000 square foot deck is expected to be a marquee feature of the Rosslyn neighborhood, drawing considerable tourist traffic. It will be run by Legends Hospitality LLC, a management consulting company that currently operates New York City’s One World Observatory and Los Angeles’ Angel Stadium.

A Rosslyn BID press release touted a bar which will serve light food options and undetermined “other components.” Updated photos of the deck’s indoor space weren’t released alongside the outdoor views.

Photos via Rosslyn BID.

Rosslyn to Host First Ever Holiday Concert at Central Place Plaza

By Chris Teale

Central Place Plaza in Rosslyn will be alive with holiday cheer tomorrow (Thursday) for the Rosslyn Carols! Holiday Concert.

Hosted by the Rosslyn Business Improvement District for the first time at the public plaza at 1800 N. Lynn Street, the event will include a lunchtime concert, then in the evening a DJ, games and food and drink.

A choir from H-B Woodlawn will lead the singing of Christmas carols from 6:15 p.m., then local band The Woodshedders will play a live concert from 7 p.m.

And throughout the day, attendees can have free photographs taken in a life-size snow globe.

The full list of festivities on offer is below:

  • Noon-10 p.m.: Free photo-ops in the life-size snow globe.
  • Noon-2 p.m.: Holiday lunchtime concert.
  • 4:30 p.m.: Festivities start on the plaza with a DJ, holiday games, drinks and food for purchase.
  • 6:15 p.m.: Holiday caroling from H-B Woodlawn
  • 7:00 p.m.: Live concert featuring The Woodshedders

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Disparities in New Middle School Boundaries — “Under a staff plan slated to go to the School Board Dec. 14, middle schools will have economically-disadvantaged populations ranging from 1 percent of the student body at Williamsburg Middle School to 52 percent of the student body at Kenmore Middle School, with the other schools falling in between.” [InsideNova]

Winner of Marine Corps Marathon Works at 7-Eleven — The winner of this year’s Marine Corps Marathon lives in Nauck and works at an Arlington 7-Eleven store. Desta Beriso Morkama, a 32-year-old Ethiopian immigrant, arrived in the U.S. in September 2016. He has been receiving training and assistance settling into his new Arlington life from a number of local people and groups, including local running coach Jay Jacob Wind. [Falls Church News-Press]

JBG Installing Giant Screens at Central Place — JBG Smith plans to exceed the county-imposed public art requirement at its new Central Place development, thanks to a project that will install giant screens in various places around the apartment and office building. The screens will display moving images, including artwork and nature scenes. [Washington Business Journal]

Hybla Valley = The Next Shirlington? — Fairfax County has big plans for a car-oriented neighborhood south of Alexandria: “The plans also include a 3.1-mile extension of the Yellow Line that would connect the Huntington station to the Hybla Valley section of Richmond Highway, in hopes of creating a pedestrian-friendly urban neighborhood akin to nearby Shirlington.” [Washington Post]

Flickr pool photo by Joe Green

Several Neighborhoods to Host Halloween-Themed Events

By Chris Teale

With Halloween around the corner, Arlingtonians will have several chances to celebrate the upcoming holiday.

The Ballston Halloween Market is set for tomorrow (Thursday, October 26) at Welburn Square (901 N. Taylor Street).

This week’s market, part of the neighborhood’s regular farmers market, will include a beer and wine garden with live music, as well as pumpkin decorating and face painting. The market is open from 3-7 p.m., with attendees encouraged to wear a spooky costume.

And the last of Crystal City’s Fridays at the Fountain events for the season will have a Halloween theme too, with pumpkin painting, seasonal drinks and candy available at the beer and wine garden on Friday, October 27 from 5-9 p.m. at the Crystal City Water Park (1750 Crystal Drive).

Meanwhile, Rosslyn will host its first harvest festival on Friday, October 27 from 4-10 p.m. and Saturday, October 28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Continental Beer Garden, Central Place Plaza and Gateway Park East.

More than 20 vendors will sell various crafts and gifts, while there will be live entertainment and activities including a pie eating contest, corn hole, a pumpkin toss, costumes contests for children and pets.

New Harvest Festival Highlights Rosslyn Fall Calendar

By Chris Teale

Central Place Plaza (1800 N. Lynn Street) in Rosslyn will host a harvest festival next month during Halloween weekend, the neighborhood’s first.

On Friday, October 27 from 4-10 p.m. and Saturday, October 28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., more than 20 vendors will sell various crafts and gifts, while there will be live entertainment and activities including a pie eating contest, cornhole, a pumpkin toss, costumes contests for children and pets.

The event is part of a series of autumnal happenings in Rosslyn.

The neighborhood’s Business Improvement District is hosting Cinema & Pub in the Park at Gateway Park (1300 Lee Highway) tonight — extending its summer film festival into September.

From 6-11 p.m. for the next three Fridays, beer, wine and sangria will be on offer, with food available from on-site food trucks. September 22 will be a family night, with activities beginning at 5 p.m.

The movie schedule is as follows:

  • September 15: “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”
  • September 22: “Lego Batman”
  • September 29: “Golden Eye”

On Tuesdays beginning September 19, Gateway Park will host Yoga in the Park, a yoga class for all experience levels from 6-7:30 p.m. The entire session of five classes costs $20 per person, and attendees should bring a yoga mat.

And on Thursday evenings from 6-8 p.m. starting September 21, Gateway Park will host Bonfire Concerts around its bonfire pit. Seasonal beers, ciders and wines will be available for purchase, with a different fashion truck on site each week as well as donuts from Mama’s Donut Bites and s’mores from Capital Candy Jar.

The following acts will perform:

Photos via Rosslyn BID.

Rosslyn Sweetgreen To Open Next Week

By Katherine Berko
1/3

Rosslyn’s new Sweetgreen will open its doors on the ground floor of the Central Place apartment tower next week.

The D.C.-founded salad purveyor will be fully open for customers on July 11 at 1800 N. Lynn Street, after staff training and a soft opening in the days before.

A spokeswoman for the Rosslyn Business Improvement District said that new employees are being trained on making Sweetgreen’s various salads, then donating them to the homeless. Local advocacy group A-SPAN and D.C. Central Kitchen across the Potomac River will receive the prepared salads.

For the soft opening, customers can receive free lunch or dinner at an RSVP-only event, while on Monday, July 10, Sweetgreen will host a free lunch in honor of Neighborhood Day, another RSVP-only event.

All proceeds from the eatery’s official launch on Tuesday will be donated to Dreaming Out Loud, a local nonprofit that looks to build healthy, equitable food systems.

This will be the fifth Sweetgreen in Arlington. Other locations are in Ballston, Clarendon, Crystal City and Pentagon City.

New Healthy Restaurant Options Under Construction in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com
1/5

McDonald’s may have been the first restaurant to open on the ground floor of the new Central Place apartment tower in Rosslyn, but two health-oriented eateries will soon join it.

D.C.-founded salad purveyor Sweetgreen and NYC-based, fast-casual vegetarian chain Little Beet are both under construction along the 1800 block of N. Lynn Street.

There’s no word yet on an exact opening date but Sweetgreen is now hiring and appears to be nearing the completion of its interior build-out, while Little Beet is closer to the beginning of its construction process.

Also planned for Central Place are a Compass Coffee, a Cava Grill, and a Nando’s Peri-Peri. Nando’s has applied for a license to serve wine and beer. A cursory check around the block did not reveal active construction for any of the three.

Walkway Closure Prompts Pedestrians to Walk in Traffic in Rosslyn

By Chris Teale
1/7

(Updated 1:10 p.m.) Construction in Rosslyn has led many people on foot to make a dubious choice after the temporary closure of a pedestrian walkway: walking in a busy street.

Crews closed the temporary walkway on Wilson Blvd between N. Lynn and N. Moore streets, adjacent to the Central Place development, where work is ongoing on the new CEB Tower.

And during lunchtime Thursday, numerous people made the risky decision to walk on the outside of the walkway along Wilson Blvd, just inches from cars traveling west on that major thoroughfare.

A reader emailed to say that pedestrians had been “forced” to walk in the street, although the sidewalk on the other side of Wilson Blvd remains open for use.

A spokeswoman for the county’s Dept. of Environmental Services said the closure will last until June 29 for utility work. She said signs direct pedestrians to the opposite sidewalk.

New Rosslyn Outdoor Concert Series to Debut Next Week

By Chris Teale
1/4

A new free rock concert series will kick off next week at Rosslyn’s Central Place Plaza.

The Rosslyn Rocks! Concerts are scheduled to take place each Thursday in June from 6-8 p.m. at the plaza on N. Lynn Street. Each week, a new cover band will entertain concertgoers.

Attendees can also enjoy a drink in the neighborhood’s newest outdoor space, with proceeds from sales going to the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network.

The schedule for the month-long concert series is below.

The public plaza already hosts the newly-opened Rosslyn farmers market and is adjacent to a 31-story mixed-use building that includes apartments and retail, including a new McDonald’s.

Rosslyn Farmers Market Opens Tomorrow

By Chris Teale

The county’s newest farmers market is set to open tomorrow afternoon in Rosslyn’s Central Place plaza.

Approved by the County Board last month, the market at 1800 N. Lynn Street will run each Wednesday evening from 4-8 p.m. until November.

Nonprofit FRESHFARM will operate the market in partnership with the Rosslyn Business Improvement District. The pair anticipate having up to 10 vendors during its first year.

Vendors already confirmed for the market are Atwater’s, selling breads, pastries, baked goods and soups; Black Rock Orchard selling tree fruit, heirloom tomatoes, specialty vegetables and preserves; local pickles, pickled beets and sauerkraut vendor D.C. Dills; fresh meat and produce vendor Hillside Meadow Farm; and Loblolly Organic Farm selling cut flowers, wreaths, fruit and vegetables.

The Rosslyn market becomes the ninth in the county, with FRESHFARM already operating the markets in Ballston and Crystal City.

“Community spaces, like the Central Place Plaza, are all about bringing together people,” said Mary-Claire Burick, Rosslyn BID president, in a statement last month. “So it’s fitting that one of the first events in the plaza is a farmers market, where Rosslyn residents and workers can meet and enjoy some of the incredible fruits and vegetables our region has to offer.”

Image via Rosslyn BID

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