The Broiler’s second location in Clinton, Maryland (via The Broiler/Facebook)
After 64 years of serving subs and pizza in Arlington, The Broiler has expanded into Maryland, per the company’s social media accounts.
The long-time eatery, a local institution that opened back in 1959 on Columbia Pike, held a grand opening for its second location, in Clinton, Maryland, in late October. It announced the move to Clinton, which is about a 20-minute drive east of National Harbor, earlier this fall.
A video tour accompanying the grand opening announcement included footage inside and outside the restaurant as well as a montage of its famed cheesesteak sandwiches and pizza.
Khalid Elayan, the owner, opted not to comment on the new location.
Arlington-based cookie company MOLTN Cookies opened its newest location today (Monday) in Ashburn, just in time for National Cookie Day.
To celebrate, the new location in a pizza and pasta place called EATaliano will offer free triple chocolate cookies — limited to one per visitor, while supplies last — from 4-6 p.m.
Customers who splurge and put in orders exceeding $75, meanwhile, will get a free sugar or s’mores cookie-scented candle.
“We only have 20, so grab them quick,” the company says on Instagram. “We can’t wait to celebrate together.”
MOLTN’s cookie-scented candles (courtesy photo)
The location started operating two months behind its anticipated opening date of Oct. 1.
It is MOLTN’s third in the D.C. area, after the company debuted in a “ghost kitchen” within AllSpice Catering at 6017 Wilson Blvd, near the border with Falls Church. Over the summer, it expanded into D.C., operating from Teddy & The Bully Bar at 1200 19th Street NW.
The Ashburn cooke hub kicks off what MOLTN founder Neal Miglani says is the start of an expansion across the D.C. area., including three forthcoming locations in Maryland: Prince George’s and Montgomery counties and Baltimore.
“We are thrilled to bring the MOLTN Cookies brand to Ashburn and beyond,” Miglani said in a statement. “The excitement around our new location at Eataliano signals the start of an even more exciting phase for us as we plan to expand across the DMV area. Soon, more communities will be able to enjoy the MOLTN Cookies experience.”
He told ARLnow he aims to open 10 new locations by the second quarter of 2024, in the D.C. and Baltimore areas.
He aims these locations to soon bake the 12,000-15,0000 cookies MOLTN’s Arlington location churns out each month.
The company transitioned from operating ghost kitchens to what Miglani says is a licensing model. Restaurant partners purchase MOLTN’s cookie dough from approved suppliers in its distribution network.
“We provide the dough and all technology, they handle the operations and retain all profits, a strategy that propels rapid expansion while upholding the excellence MOLTN Cookies is known for,” Miglani says.
MOLTN cookies (courtesy photo)
Other new ventures are coming down the pike, too.
Miglani says MOLTN is creating a gifting platform that allows customers to send freshly baked, warm cookies to others, along with personalized items such as candles and cards. The company is on the cusp of launching nationwide shipping.
These developments could be coming late in the first quarter of next year or early in the second quarter, Miglani said.
Lang Street Community Gardens in November 2023 (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Lang Street Community Gardens, facing the north end of the property (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Front view of property at 28th Street South and South Lang Street (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Rear view of property at 28th Street S. and S. Lang Street (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Side view of property at 28th Street S. and S. Lang Street (staff photo by James Jarvis)
The Arlington County Board is considering buying a property adjacent to the Lang Street Community Gardens to expand its gardening space.
The Board is set to review — and likely approve — the $1.2 million sale agreement for the house at 1128 28th Street S. during its meeting this Saturday.
If approved, it will be the county’s ninth property acquisition on this same block in the Arlington Ridge neighborhood since 1969, according to a spokesperson for the Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services.
The most recent was a 0.2-acre site at 2822 S. Arlington Ridge Road — situated on the block’s southeastern edge — which the county bought in 2015 for $699,000. That house was demolished to create 45 half-sized plots.
Following the purchase of the nearly 0.3-acre property on 28th Street, the house would be razed to add “approximately 43 new 10’ by 20’ garden plots,” according to a county report.
Arlington County’s Office of Historic Preservation determined the residence, built around the 1930s, does not have any historical or architectural significance, per the report. The item is on the Board’s Consent Agenda, reserved for items deemed noncontroversial by county staff.
Arlington County aims to enlarge Lang Street Community Gardens by acquiring residence at 1128 28th Street S. (via Arlington County)
By creating more garden plots, the county aims to ease the high demand for the nearly 2.3 acres of community garden space throughout Arlington.
The waiting period for larger gardens, including Lang Street, is often under a year, but for smaller ones, such as 1601 Key Blvd, the wait can extend to three to five years, according to a spokesperson for the Dept. of Parks and Recreation.
As of this past Monday, the waitlist for Lang Street Community Gardens had 1,094 hopeful gardeners.
The potential purchase also advances the county’s strategic plan to add at least 30 acres of new public space, including two more community gardens, over the next 10 years as part of the 2019 Public Spaces Master Plan.
In addition to the property’s purchase price, county officials estimate that demolition costs would be about $350,000.
The building GMU purchased to soon become part of the Mason Square campus (via Google Maps)
Proximity of the recently purchased building, left, to Mason Square’s current campus, right (via Google Maps)
GMU Mason-Square Campus’s Schar School (staff photo)
George Mason University is mulling a future expansion of its Arlington campus.
To realize that long-term goal, this April the university purchased an $8.25 million piece of property across the street from the its Mason Square campus in Virginia Square, according to county property records.
The acquisition is located at 3300 Fairfax Drive, in a 1960s-era office building that currently has some law and insurance agent offices, as well as a pilates and yoga studio.
In the immediate future, the university does not have plans for the site.
“These properties are strategic investments that provide security and flexibility for the future of the Mason Square Campus,” GMU media relations manager John Hollis told ARLnow.
“In the near term, Mason expects to continue current or similar operations to the existing tenants, while longer term opportunities include potential developments in support of Mason’s faculty, students, and mission,” he continued.
Although the statement alluded to more than one property, Hollis did not specify any other properties recently acquired by the school.
The Arlington campus of the Fairfax County-based university holds the university’s School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, economics, business and arts departments, the Antonin Scalia Law School and the Schar School of Policy and Government.
Mason Square is currently in the midst of a major expansion, with the under-construction Fuse building set to host labs, classrooms, an innovation center and retail spaces, among other uses. The university estimates the building will be substantially complete in May 2025.
Should the newly-acquired building be redeveloped in the future, it would join a bevy of other projects in the area, including the redevelopment of the nearby YMCA, St. Charles Catholic Church, the Joyce Motors site and the former Silver Diner location.
The outside of the Mah-Ze-Dahr cafe in Crystal City (courtesy of Nina Palazzolo)
Some of the food options included in Mah-Ze-Dahr’s expanded menu (courtesy Nina Palazzolo)
The interior of the Mah-Ze-Dahr cafe in Crystal City (courtesy of Rey Lopez)
Some of the bakery items still included in Mah-Ze-Dahr’s expanded menu (courtesy Rey Lopez)
(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Fans of the New York-based bakery Mah-Ze-Dahr can now enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner daily at its offshoot in Crystal City.
The restaurant at 1550 Crystal Drive broadened its menu offerings this past Thursday — two years after opening with a more limited menu of pastries, baked goods and coffee drinks.
The Crystal City outpost was initially supposed to serve breakfast through dinner, though those plans were derailed by Covid, co-owner Michael Reginbogin told ARLnow.
Since the bakery opened a year into the pandemic, when most workers were still remote, he and his partners chose to stick to baked goods — including donuts some say are New York City’s best and Oprah-endorsed pastries.
“We scaled the menu to a bakery only because the guests just would not have been there enough to enjoy them,” Reginbogin said.
Thankfully, he said, the café survived Covid and, with the expansion, can cash in on the return to in-person work and the recent opening of the first phase of its Arlington HQ2.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” he said.
Mah-Ze-Dahr, rechristened Mah-Ze-Dahr Café, now serves bread pudding french toast, salads, sandwiches, quiches, steak frites and more, all day long.
Reginbogin said Mah-Ze-Dahr Café had a successful (re)opening day last week.
“Everything has been going well. We have already sold out of a few items. The demand is definitely there,” Reginbogin said. “The all-day flexibility of the new menu seems to be hitting a homerun with locals and office workers returning to the area.”
No changes to the space were necessary beyond hiring more staff to serve more customers, Reginbogin said.
Across the river in D.C., Mah-Ze-Dahr has a bakery and a bistro called Bistro Du Jour, according to its website.
The ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday marked the opening of the $250 million, 250,000-square foot facility at 1851 N. Edison Street in the Hall’s Hill/High View Park neighborhood.
There, VHC Health — formerly Virginia Hospital Center — will provide outpatient surgery, endoscopy, physical therapy, women’s health and imaging, per a press release. There will also be a pharmacy.
Christopher Lane, the hospital’s president and CEO, said during the ceremony that providing these various services makes it easier to coordinate patient care.
“By bringing outpatient services together under one roof, patients can now be conveniently scheduled for diverse healthcare services and can be seen within the same facility, often on the same day,” Lane said.
Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey told ARLnow the ease of getting care will greatly benefit residents.
“This facility will expand the ability for people who need services that don’t require staying in the hospital and getting the most expensive form of care, being emergency services, to get what they need here in Arlington,” Dorsey said. “The pavilion will reduce patient frustration, reduce errors and be a huge benefit to our community.”
State Sen. Barbara Favola applauded VHC Health’s effort to reduce emergency visits for Virginians.
“VHC Health has embraced this mission,” she said during the ceremony. “Our outpatient facility will in fact divert individuals from going into emergency care.”
Discussions of a new pavilion began in 2017 and VHC Health proposed an expansion in 2018. The County Board initially voted to delay approving the project so that the hospital could address the concerns of homeowners who live around the hospital.
The Board narrowly approved the plans two months later and the facility broke ground in the fourth quarter of 2019. Work became a source of consternation for nearby residents, who dealt with about a year of poor water quality tied to construction activity.
After about two years, the local public broadcasting station WETA is set to finish off its 17,000-square-foot expansion on Campbell Avenue later this year. The refresh will include four floors of studios, offices, a consolidated headquarters, and more large spaces for public gatherings and screenings, Vice-President of External Affairs Mary Stewart told ARLnow.
It will also allow WETA to fully move out of the building down a few blocks at 3620 27th Street S, which was sold to the county in 2020 and is now scheduled to be torn down.
Some production is still being done out of the old building, which WETA first moved into in the 1980s, but that will stop once the renovation is completed on the building on Campbell Avenue, Stewart said.
The WETA building in Green Valley, set to be demolished soon (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Externally, much of the work appears to be nearing the finish line with the expansion extending into a space that was once a courtyard. It’s the internal renovations, said Stewart, that still need some time. Those are expected to be done in “late 2023,” despite some “supply chain hiccups.” Some of the studios and public spaces could be open to employees by the summer, though.
Two main studios and one flash (smaller) studio are set to be added. One of the main studios will be used by the PBS NewsHour.
The national nightly news broadcast, which recently debuted a new pair of anchors, will get an updated set, with modern tech, video walls, and an outward-facing TV screen on the ground floor. The goal for the new set is to be “flexible,” modern, and for the video screens to allow remote interviews to be more “natural and cohesive,” said Stewart.
Also set to start filming in the new studios will be the six-decade-old teen quiz show “It’s Academic.” In the fall, the longest-running TV quiz show in history announced it was moving into WETA’s renovated building with the hope it would start producing episodes there in early 2024.
The studios will also be home to PBS NewsHour Weekend and Washington Week, as well as local programming like WETA Arts. Additionally, the update will also allow pledge drives and special broadcasts to take place in the new studios.
“We will now be a 365-day, 7-day-a-week production,” Stewart said.
She said the biggest drivers of the expansion are to modernize, allow for more production flexibility, and consolidate all of WETA in one building.
The local PBS station actually first began operating out of Yorktown High School more than six decades ago, in 1961. It moved to D.C. for a time, before consolidating operations back in Arlington in 1983 at the still-standing 3620 27th Street S. location. In 1995, WETA purchased the building on Campbell Avenue and moved its headquarters there, while production remained mostly at the other building a few blocks away.
But with this $50 million expansion, WETA will be whole for the first time in its 62-year history.
“With this expansion of our building, it means WETA will have a permanent home in Arlington,” said Stewart.
The Arlington National Cemetery Defense Access Roads Project, set to be completed in 2025 (image via screenshot/FHWA)
(Updated at 12:40 p.m. on 8/16/23) A portion of Columbia Pike is set to close for more than a year later this month to help make way for Arlington National Cemetery’s expansion.
The half-mile section of Columbia Pike between S. Joyce Street and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) facility just east of S. Oak Street is expected to be shuttered starting Monday, Jan. 23.
This will add about 80,000 burial sites, allowing the cemetery to continue burials through the 2050s. The expansion will also bring the Air Force Memorial within cemetery grounds as well as provide space for the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center, with construction on that currently slated to start next year.
The overall expansion project remains on track to be completed by 2027, an ANC spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow.
Some detour specifics for the Pike closure are expected to be announced in the coming days, though the ANC spokesperson did share the general plan via email.
Traffic will be redirected to travel north on a new segment of S. Nash Street that will be opened between Columbia Pike and Southgate Road and one block east of S. Oak Street. It’s marked as a “new access road” on the map below.
The new road layout circumventing the closed portion of Columbia Pike over the next year (map via Arlington National Cemetery)
Then, to circumvent the closed portion of the Pike, traffic will be sent east on Southgate Road to the existing S. Joyce Street/Columbia Pike intersection, which will remain open.
For pedestrians and cyclists, there is set to be a “dedicated” sidewalk with a buffer zone and barricades. Those “are currently being constructed in anticipation of the 1/23 closure,” the ANC spokesperson said
At the moment, there is an established pedestrian and bike detour along the north side of Southgate Road as well as a temporary sidewalk to the east of S. Joyce Street that connects with the sidewalk under the I-395 bridge.
Vehicle, pedestrian, and bike detours along Columbia Pike through Jan. 23 (via Arlington County)
Last week, though, a reader reached out to ARLnow about how a portion of the pedestrian and bike detour has a “large patch of gravel” rendering it not accessible for some.
“While a wheelchair user might be able to make it across that patch, it wouldn’t be easy,” they wrote. The reader said that locals have reached out to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) about the gravel but, so far, little has been done.
Local officials told ARLnow that they have since addressed that patch of gravel.
Rainy day in Ballston (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
‘Midsummer’ Starts Next Month — “Synetic Theater, the home of American Physical Theater and movement-based storytelling, announces the return of its acclaimed adaptation of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed and choreographed by company co-founders Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili. The production runs June 30 through July 24.” [Synetic Theater]
Local Donut Shop Expanding — “The owners of a Ballston doughnut shop and cafe are building out a commercial kitchen in Tysons to support a growing wholesale business and its own planned expansion… Charles Kachadoorian, a Good Company co-owner, said the shop has outgrown its capacity at 672 N. Glebe Road in Ballston, from which it produces sweets for its cafe, for other coffee shops to sell retail, and for its own catering business. It plans to expand across all of those avenues, Kachadoorian said, including with a new shop in Crystal City in the shorter term and one in D.C. in 2024.” [Washington Business Journal]
GOP Concern Over ‘Missing Middle’ — “Several Arlington Republicans have expressed your concerns about the County’s proposal to upzone single-family residential plots in neighborhoods across the county. We are passing along information from Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future (ASF), should you decide you want to make your voice heard on this issue.” [Arlington GOP]
Planetarium Supporters Look to Future — “Boosters of the Arlington school system’s planetarium are hopeful that new budget funding will enable the facility – shuttered since before the pandemic – to reopen with a permanent teacher attached to it by fall. School Board members in early May overruled Superintendent Francisco Durán and dropped in nearly $150,000 to support the David M. Brown Planetarium for the coming school year. Durán had proposed keeping the facility closed for another year.” [Sun Gazette]
Rosslyn Walk Planned — “When you’re out and about, do you find yourself contemplating how sidewalks, land use, and street connectivity influence your experience and enjoyment of public spaces? If so, make sure to RSVP to WalkArlington’s upcoming “Walk and Learn” focused on street design in Rosslyn on Wednesday, May, 25 from 5:30 – 6:45pm.” [GGWash]
W-L Boys Win District Soccer Tourney — “With the Washington-Liberty Generals hosting the championship match of the Liberty District boys soccer tournament, head coach Jimmy Carrasquillo expressed some pre-game concerns. The top-seeded Generals (15-0-1) entertained the third-seeded Yorktown Patriots in an all-Arlington clash, and Carrasquillo knew the rematch would be much tougher than his team’s 4-0 regular-season victory over its neighborhood rival.” [Sun Gazette]
Some Cicada Stragglers Spotted — “Have you ever been late to a party? I mean really late, so late that by the time you arrived, the party was over and the guests were long gone? If so, then you have something in common with the periodical cicadas that have been popping up in the last few weeks from Maryland to Tennessee. They’re a year late to the raucous party billions of their fellow Brood X cicadas threw last summer.” [Washington Post]
It’s Tuesday — Rain in the morning, ending in the afternoon. High of 65 and low of 56. Sunrise at 5:50 am and sunset at 8:23 pm. [Weather.gov]
Beginning today (Monday), the Northern Virginia-based university will be hosting a week full of events at its Arlington campus in Virginia Square on Fairfax Drive, now known as Mason Square, culminating with an outdoor concert from a local cover band on Friday night.
There is a new photo exhibit opening in Van Metre Hall tomorrow called “Profiles of Arlington” that recognizes those “who are working to impact their community, their region, and the world.”
On Wednesday, there’s set to be an official groundbreaking ceremony for the quarter of a billion dollar expansion of George Mason’s Arlington footprint. That includes the 400,000 square-foot building set to be the centerpiece of the efforts, which is being called Fuse at Mason Square.
The building will house faculty from the Institute for Digital InnovAtion as well as the university’s new School of Computing. There will also be an atrium, 750-seat theater, a public plaza, and a below-grade parking garage. The building is estimated to be completed in the summer of 2025.
While construction actually started at the beginning of the year, Wednesday’s ceremony may include some news. The university previously said it would occupy about 60% of the space with the remaining 40% likely being leased to private companies.
The groundbreaking ceremony press release promises an “announcement of a landmark tenant.”
Arlington County Board Chair Katie Cristol and Virginia’s Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad are both scheduled to be in attendance at the groundbreaking.
Thursday marks GMU’s 50th anniversary. The university officially broke off from the University of Virginia and became independent on April 7, 1972.
Then, on Friday, Mason Square will host an outdoor concert event featuring the David Thong Band which will play cover songs from across the decades. The event asks attendees to “dress your favorite decade,” with the best costume winning a prize.
Next week, noted philosopher Cornel West is set to speak at GMU’s Arlington campus about the current state of American democracy, human rights, and critical race theory.
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.
