hotel

Twilight Convention Coming to Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Hundreds of Twilight fans will be flocking to the Sheraton National Hotel (900 S. Orme Street) this weekend for the D.C. leg of the Official Twilight Saga Fan Convention Tour.

The convention, which starts today, will feature appearances by a number of Twilight stars (including Chaske Spencer, left) as well as parties, musical performances, trivia competitions, auctions, photo ops and a costume ball. Tickets to the convention range from $20 for a one day pass to $289 for a weekend ‘gold’ package.

The event will be hosted by the sisters behind The Hillywood Show, of YouTube fame.

When we reported on the convention last year, it was sharing the Sheraton with a meeting of the Nation of Islam. We’re still disappointed that no one sent us a photo of the Fanpires, Twi-Hards and Nation of Islam members together in line for continental breakfast.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Grand Opening for USAA Office in Pentagon City — A new USAA branch has opened on Pentagon Row. The “financial center” — in company parlance — will hold its grand opening celebration from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 2. The branch is located at 1301 South Joyce Street.

Doorways Job Featured — Arlington-based Doorways for Women and Families is looking for a new executive director. The job was featured as the MyFoxDC.com “Job of the Day” yesterday. The listing notes that Doorways’ annual operating budget has more than doubled in the past five years, to $3.1 million. [MyFoxDC]

Hilton Garden Inn Sells for $60 Million — The Hilton Garden Inn in Courthouse has changed hands for $60 million, or $320,000 per room. [GlobeSt.com]

Photo Tour of Swank New Crystal City Hotels

By ARLnow.com

They’re two hotels with separate identities and philosophies, but they share a building, an owner and a sleek, modern aesthetic.

The new 300-room Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel and 325-suite Residence Inn Arlington Capital View will open to the public on Wednesday, but public relations staffers have been busy showing off the properties over the past week. Located on the south end of Crystal City, the hotels offer rooms with expansive views of Reagan National Airport and the Potomac River.

We’ll talk about what each hotel offers guests in a minute, but first let’s discuss the stuff that locals can take advantage of.

The Renaissance is home to an airy, 96-seat restaurant and bar called SOCCi (pronounced so-chee). The eatery, which is accessible from Crystal Drive, features modern Italian cuisine, a “pet-friendly outdoor seating area” and a chef’s tasting room.

The Renaissance is also home to one of the few Espressamente Illy coffee bars in the United States. The cafe has an outdoor patio and offers espresso beverages, sandwiches and lite fare. Your coffee can be enjoyed in the cafe or in the adjacent lobby area, which has WiFi and plenty of places to plug in laptops. The cafe will compete with a Starbucks that does brisk business just a block away on Crystal Drive.

For guests, the upscale Renaissance will offer rooms with high-speed internet, high-def TVs, iPod docking stations and “spa-like bathrooms.” The extended-stay Residence Inn will offer rooms wiht free WiFi, kitchens with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances and complementary grocery delivery.

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Melee Breaks Out at Hip Hop Award Show in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Update on 3/7/11 — Another video of the brawl has been posted on DMVLife.com.

Update at 3:05 a.m. — A video posted on AllDMVHipHop.com (NSFW) shows a group of nearly a dozen people fighting inside the hotel.

A huge brawl broke out at a local hip hop award show in Crystal City Saturday night, sending several people to the hospital.

Multiple fights broke out at the 2011 DMV Music Awards at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, authorities said. Reports of more than 20 people fighting amid an audience of more than 1,500 prompted Arlington County police to take the rare step of sending every available unit to the scene.

“We’re going to need everyone,” an officer radioed to the dispatch center just after 9:30 p.m. “Apparently the whole place is out of control.”

Police arrived after most of the fighting had been broken up. Arlington officers were joined by units from Alexandria and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, a witness said. Some officers were armed with assault rifles, riot shields and other tactical gear, according to multiple witnesses.

The violence sent at least five people to local hospitals, according to Arlington Police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal. Among the injured were a hotel employee and an individual who suffered “severe trauma to left eye.”

As of 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, no arrests had been made, according to Nosal. At that time police were still conducting an “active investigation” inside the hotel, Nosal said.

Local resident Doug Wendt witnessed the aftermath of the melee from outside the hotel. He reported this from the scene:

Approximately 30+ police cruisers converged upon the scene within minutes, as well as multiple paramedic units. While uniformed officers – some wearing tactical gear – and plainclothes detectives searched the hotel for suspects and persons of interest, victims were being treated on the streets outside the hotel by emergency medical personnel. Medical staging areas were set up on South Clark Street in front of the Hyatt, as well as at the nearby Courtyard by Marriott hotel. Police units clogged Crystal Drive and South Clark Street as patrons streamed out of the hotel after the event was ended as a result of the incident.

According to TBD, the general manager of the hotel said security for the event was provided by “police, a private company, and the hotel’s own security staff.”

No word yet on why the fighting started.

Photo courtesy Doug Wendt. Hat tips to Doug, Alan and John.

Arlington Business Booster Recommends Replacing Tourism Funds

By ARLnow.com

Officials from Arlington’s economic development office asked the county board to fund the county’s tourism promotion efforts now that the hotel tax surcharge that funded such efforts is being allowed to expire.

“I think we have a great program,” Arlington Economic Development Director Terry Holzheimer said at a board work session this afternoon. “The program has value.”

“This board has been put in a very difficult position,” said board member Jay Fisette, adding that he  hope to “come up with some way to share” the cost of tourism promotion with local hotels to save money from the already-stretched county budget.

Although Arlington has developed “much, much stronger ties to the local hotel industry,” Holzheimer told the board that he did not believe hotel operators could be persuaded to make a voluntary contribution to a tourism fund from their bottom line.

“Even if we got a few to do it, I don’t think the majority would do it,” he said.

With that in mind, Holzheimer asked the board to allocate $450,000 from the county’s budget to fund the Convention and Visitor service between between Jan. 1, 2012, when the current surcharge expires, and June 1, 2012, when the surcharge could be reinstated.

Holzheimer said he believes the Virginia General Assembly, which rejected the renewal of Arlington’s 0.25 percent hotel tax surcharge last month, might be persuaded to to pass it next year.

“I do believe we’ll mount an effort next year and be successful,” Holzheimer said.

Board member Barbara Favola, however, was skeptical of the General Assembly passing an Arlington-friendly tax measure.

“I don’t think that’s a realistic position,” she said.

The board will adopt a final FY 2012 budget in April.

Favola: Tourism Funding Still Up in the Air

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County Board members are still figuring out what to do now that much of the county’s tourism promotion budget has been effectively slashed by the Virginia General Assembly.

Last week a bill that would have renewed the county’s 0.25 percent tax surcharge on hotel rooms — a tax that had the support of the local hotel industry — failed in the House of Delegates. The defeat was attributed to Republicans retaliating against Arlington’s HOT lanes lawsuit.

The tax surcharge brings in nearly $1 million each year, which is used to promote Arlington’s $1 billion tourism industry. The surcharge will expire at the end of the year.

County board member and possible state Senate candidate Barbara Favola says the board hasn’t decided yet whether it will replace the lost revenue. If it does, the money will have to come from the county’s general budget.

“It doesn’t make much sense to me,” Favola said. “This tax is paid by out-of-state people… If Arlington is going to continue this level of marketing, we’re going to have to raise the tax rate on Virginia residents.”

“It really was extraordinarily irrational,” Favola added, noting that Arlington tourism generates $58 million in annual tax revenue for the state. “I would think that having a dedicated tax… is financially in the state’s best interest.”

The lost tourism revenue will now have to “compete with all other county budget priorities” when Arlington’s FY 2012 budget comes up for adoption in April.

Arlington’s Hotel Tax Bill Fails in House of Delegates

By ARLnow.com

Arlington will have to find another way to fund its tourism promotion efforts.

A bill that would have renewed Arlington’s 0.25 percent hotel tax surcharge failed in the Virginia House of Delegates yesterday. The bill, which was approved by the state Senate, did not get the necessary two-thirds vote to pass.

An earlier House version of the bill failed to get out of committee after it was blocked by Del. Tim Hugo. The Fairfax County Republican cited Arlington’s lawsuit against high occupancy toll lanes on I-395 as his reason for blocking the bill.

We’re awaiting word from the county on how they plan to make up for the loss of nearly $1 million in revenue. Arlington funds its Convention and Visitors Service largely through the revenue generated by the surcharge, which will expire at the end of the year.

Update at 5:15 p.m. — “I’m disappointed that it failed to pass,” said Arlington’s Del. Bob Brink (D), on the phone from Richmond. “[The surcharge] is beneficial to Arlington’s business community as they try to compete against the District and Maryland for tourism and tourism dollars.”

Arlington Hotel Tax Surcharge Passes House Subcommittee

By ARLnow.com

It looks like Arlington has a chance of getting its top legislative priority through Richmond, after all.

A House of Delegates Finance subcommittee approved Arlington’s hotel tax surcharge bill today. It’s expected to be taken up by the full committee on Monday.

The bill that was under consideration today was approved by the Democrat-controlled state Senate in January, under the leadership of Arlington’s Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple. A House version of the bill, introduced by Del. Bob Brink, failed to make it out of committee after being blocked by a key Republican.

A Democratic legislative source tells ARLnow.com that the current bill has about a 60-40 chance of ultimately passing the House and becoming law. Del. Tim Hugo (R), who blocked Brink’s bill in retaliation for Arlington’s lawsuit against the proposed I-395 HOT lanes project, has said he would vote against the current legislation but not try to block it, according to the source. Arlington took steps to withdraw its lawsuit yesterday.

The bill would renew Arlington’s ability to impose a 0.25 percent surcharge on hotel rooms. The county uses the tax to fund its tourism promotion programs. The bill has the support of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.

If the bill passes in its current form, Arlington would have to lobby Richmond again next year to renew the surcharge authorization. In the subcommittee today, members changed the bill’s “sunset provision,” which sets an expiration date on the bill, from three years to one year.

Passage in the House still won’t be easy, however. Since the bill applies to only one locality, it requires a two-thirds House vote to pass.

$129 Million Crystal City Hotel Project Sets Opening Date

By ARLnow.com

The opening of two large hotels in Crystal City is drawing near.

The new Renaissance Arlington Capital View and the new Residence Inn Capital View hotels are currently expected to open on March 9.

The hotels will both be owned by developer JBG and managed by Marriott. Construction, which began in 2008, was funded with $129 million in financing from Wells Fargo.

The hotels are located on the southern end of Crystal City. They have a total of 625 rooms between them, and are expected to create about 500 jobs.

Photo via Flickr. Hat tip to Doug Wendt.

Ballston Development Grows, Mosaic Park to Get Major Upgrade

By ARLnow.com

Ballston’s 1.68 acre Mosaic Park will get a $6.6 million upgrade, paid for by the company behind the nearby Founders Square development.

On Saturday the county board approved a transfer of development rights from the park to the new development, adjacent to Ballston Common Mall.

As a result, Founders Square will now be taller and denser than before. A 15-story office building will become a 20-story office building, a 198-unit residential building will become a 257-unit residential building, and a 164-unit residential building will become a 183-unit hotel.

In exchange, the Shooshan Company, which is developing Founders Square at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and North Randolph Street, will pay $6.6 million for improvements to Mosaic Park, which is now a mostly empty field with some playground equipment.

“Our action today will help realize a long term County goal to provide a high-quality neighborhood park in Ballston,” County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said in a statement. “By trading density from the park to Founders Square, the County has secured more than $6 million from the developer that will be used for improvements to Mosaic Park that will benefit the community.”

Richmond Bites Back on HOT Lanes Suit By Blocking Tax Bill

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:35 p.m.) Arlington’s legislative agenda is in danger as the county faces a backlash in Richmond over its controversial HOT lanes lawsuit.

The lawsuit, which has thus far cost the county about $1.5 million in legal fees, was filed in order to block VDOT’s plan to build High Occupancy Toll lanes on I-395. The suit has been ruffling feathers in Richmond ever since, but on Wednesday it came back to bite the county on a key legislative priority.

Del. Tim Hugo (R) of Fairfax County used his chairmanship of a House finance subcommittee to delay action on HB 1513, Del. Bob Brink’s bill that would extend Arlington’s 0.25 percent hotel tax surcharge for another three years.

The surcharge brings in between $800,000 and $1 million each year, which is then used as the county’s tourism promotion budget. But, in a bit of political theater, Hugo had a question waiting for Brink once he explained how much revenue the surcharge brings in.

Why, he asked, can’t the county use the money it has been spending on the lawsuit to promote tourism?

“If they’ve got so much money for silly, abusive, intimidating, frivolous lawsuits like this, then they obviously have plenty of cash in Arlington and don’t need this tax reauthorized,” Hugo said.

Hugo said he objected to the suit generally as a supporter of the HOT lanes project, but he objects specifically to the fact that the county is suing two officials — Federal Highway Administration Administrator Victor Mendez and former Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer — in their personal capacity, instead of in their professional capacity.

“It’s incredibly wrong… it’s abusive, it’s intimidation,” said Hugo, who noted that he’s “sticking up” for Homer, a Democrat.

Hugo said he “would like to hear from Arlington personally” about the suit. As for the bill, Hugo said he wanted to table it — essentially killing it — but instead decided to wait to see if he hears back from county officials.

The bill “may or may not come up in a week or two,” he said.

Arlington Chamber of Commerce President Rich Doud, who was at the subcommittee meeting to support the bill on behalf of Arlington’s hotels, said Hugo’s action was indicative of the difficult political climate for Democrat-heavy Arlington in Republican-dominated Richmond.

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