Power lines on Lee Highway near N. Quincy StreetAll 12 of the civic associations along Lee Highway in Arlington are forming a partnership to try to shape the future development along the corridor.

With the stated goal of “a more economically vibrant, walkable, attractive Lee Highway corridor — one that benefits neighborhoods and the business community,” representatives from the civic associations have already met with the Arlington County Planning Commission for guidance, according to representatives of the Waverly Hills Civic Association.

Along with Waverly Hills, East Falls Church, John M. Langston, Glebewood, Yorktown, Leeway Overlee, Old Dominion, Donaldson Run, Cherrydale, Maywood, and Lyon Village have also joined what the group is calling the “Lee Highway Grassroots Re-visioning.”

Waverly Hills Civic Association President Ginger Brown says the group hasn’t discussed specifics on what the future Lee Highway should look like, calling these first months since the group formed in February “the educational phase,” which includes meetings with the county’s planning staff.

Among the issues the group will be examining and presenting to staff and, they hope, the County Board, will be land use planning and zoning, housing, transportation and parking, demographic trends, tax increment financing and transferable development rights.

“It is anticipated that the new vision will be sent — in early 2015 — to the Arlington County Manager’s office with a request that the County Board appoint and fund a Task Force,” Brown wrote in an email. “Its purpose would be to formally develop a Lee Highway Sector Plan that guides future rezoning and development applications.”


(Updated at 4:45 p.m.) A Little Caesar’s franchise is expected to open near the intersection of Lee Highway and N. George Mason Drive before the end of 2013.

The pizza shop, at 5175 Lee Highway, will be the only Little Caesar’s location in Arlington, according to Little Caesar’s spokesman Gray Reynolds. Little Caesar’s has one location in Alexandria and three in Fairfax County. The space was formerly occupied by Sana Jewelers.

There is already a Little Caesar’s banner on the roof of the storefront and a “Now Hiring” sign on the window. The owner of the Garden City Shopping Center — the strip mall in which the future Little Caesar’s is located — was approved for an interior alteration building permit Sept. 24.

Hat tip to Jim Sweetman


A new restaurant specializing in food from Bangladesh opened its doors today at 5169 Lee Highway.

Aladdin, in the Garden City Shopping Center near the Yorktown neighborhood, opened for lunch today with a limited menu, owner Harun Rashid said. He is planning a grand opening on Sept. 1.

Rashid and his wife, Shiuli, opened their first restaurant in 1994 in New York City. After a few years there, they moved to Atlanta, then to Rockville. They sold their restaurant in Maryland and signed their lease in Arlington in May.

He didn’t initially plan to have a soft opening before Sept. 1, but he said many of his Bangladeshi friends “were getting frustrated” that they couldn’t eat at the restaurant yet.

“We’re eager to see the local crowds,” Rashid said. “Most of our customers are American and have our lunch buffet. They love it here. In Georgia, they just go to Waffle House, Waffle House, Waffle House all the time and don’t try anything else.”

The buffet is open from noon to 3 p.m. and costs $9, Rashid said. Aladdin’s specialty, however, is the Kachi Biryani, a slow-cooked, lamb delicacy they only serve on Saturday that customers need to call and order in advance. Rashid said he already has an order for five dishes from an former Maryland customer this Saturday.

“We think we make the most authentic Biryani,” he said. “It takes six hours in total to make, and we won’t reheat it. It’s a very expensive, very tender meat, and a very unique cooking process.”

Bengali food is very similar to Indian food, Rashid said, but there are subtle differences in its texture and spice. Rashid’s two children were sitting quietly in the restaurant Thursday morning when he spoke to ARLnow.com. He emphasized that it’s a family-owned and operated establishment and he hopes to build ties to the area.

“I’m very proud to be part of the Bangladeshi community here,” Rashid said.


A car flipped on its roof on the eastbound lanes of Lee Highway this afternoon, sending at least one person to the hospital.

The accident happened between N. Nash and Quinn Streets, near Rosslyn, around 3:30 p.m. today (Friday). The late model Toyota Corolla somehow overturned, coming to rest in the left-hand lane of the three-lane thoroughfare.

One person was transported from the scene in an ambulance while police closed the two left lanes. A Bergmann’s Cleaning truck remained on scene while its driver gave statements to Arlington County police officers. It’s unclear whether the truck was involved in the accident or if the driver was being interviewed as a witness.

The car lost its right rear wheel in the crash, and the area around its left rear tire was stripped of paint in the accident.


Cloud Lounge on Lee Highway Cloud Lounge on Lee Highway

A new hookah lounge and restaurant is coming to Lee Highway, perhaps as soon as this summer.

Cloud Lounge is planning to open at 2525 Lee Highway, in the basement of Burger 7 restaurant. A sign is up in the adjacent parking lot and its owner, who owns both Burger 7 and Cloud Lounge, told us in a brief phone call that he’s hoping to open this summer.

Interior of Cloud Lounge (via cloudlounge.co)A construction permit for the lounge, first issued in February 2011, indicates that it will seat 53 people. We’re told the restaurant will serve Middle Eastern cuisine, as well as Illy coffee, chocolates and other desserts.

The lounge will also offer cigars, thanks to a walk-in humidor, and hookahs. Alcoholic beverages will not be offered, we’re told.

The interior of Cloud Lounge, meanwhile, will have a unique look, according to the restaurant’s website.

“The distressed aged space is dressed and accessorized with semi modern Baroque designed furniture,” the site says. “When such style of furniture is mixed with modern & vibrant color upholstery, the results are one of a kind.”

Photo via cloudlounge.co


This weekend, the Arlington County Board is expected to consider a plan to build a new hotel on the former Colony House furniture site at 1700 Lee Highway.

The hotel is slated to be branded as a Hilton Homewood Suites. Developer B.F. Saul plans for the hotel to be 8 stories tall, with 168 rooms and 102 parking spaces.

“Due to the extreme topography of the site, which rises 20-50 feet in elevation from the northern to the southern property line, the two levels of parking are at grade and visible along Lee Highway and at the corner of North Quinn Street,” Arlington County staff wrote in a report to the County Board.

The staff report anticipates “marginal” increases in traffic at nearby intersections after the hotel opens, with no additional traffic delays expected. The hotel is roughly a half mile from the Rosslyn and Courthouse Metro stations.

The County Board is set to consider the project at its Saturday meeting. If the Board approves a rezoning and site plan for the hotel, developers hope to have it built and open at some point in 2014.


(Updated at 12:50 p.m.) Police and firefighters responded to a two-alarm house fire this morning on the 2300 block of N. Dinwiddie Street, near the intersection of Lee Highway.

The two-story house was fully engulfed in flames when rescuers arrived.

At least two people are reported to be hurt, and were transported via ambulance to a local burn center. Drew Lofton, a witness, says one woman jumped to safety from a second story window, at the encouragement of neighbors who rushed to the house after spotting the smoke and flames. A third resident was rescued from the basement.

Samantha Pozo tells ARLnow.com that she was in the basement of the house and was rescued, along with her two pet ferrets, by a firefighter. The basement was filling with smoke and she was still on the phone with a 911 operator when a firefighter found her and escorted her to safety.

“He came to me and he said to go,” Pozo said. “He took my ferrets and we just got out of there.”

Pozo, who was uninjured, says the fire started suddenly.

“I heard an explosion from the kitchen, I believe,” she said. “Then I saw fire and smoke outside my door.”

According to Pozo, a student at Northern Virginia Community College, six women live in the house. Her roommate downstairs was at school at the time of the fire.

Police shut down westbound Lee Highway at Glebe Road and several neighborhood street for more than two hours due to the large fire response.

Heat from the fire melted the siding on an adjacent house, and caused damage to the side of another adjacent house.


Two pedestrians were struck at the intersection of Lee Highway and N. Veitch StreetPolice and firefighters are assisting two pedestrians who were struck by a vehicle on Lee Highway.

The incident happened at the intersection of Lee Highway and N. Veitch Street just before 9:00 a.m. Via a traffic camera, it appears that the pedestrians were attempting to cross Lee Highway on the western side of the intersection when they were struck near the center median.

One of the victims suffered a head injury, while the other suffered a possible back injury, according to scanner traffic. Both victims’ injuries are described as relatively minor.


Dominion logo(Updated at 2:30 p.m.) A pair of power outages hit parts of north Arlington earlier today.

At about 9:15 a.m., a tree fell on power lines along Lorcom Lane, in the area of N. Jackson Street, causing several transformers to blow. That knocked out power to 3,827 customers, according to Dominion. Power was restored by noon, the company said.

Shortly after that outage was reported, another began.

“Around the same time we had another outage involving a tree on a power line in nearby northern Arlington,” Dominion spokeswoman Daisy Pridgen told ARLnow.com. “It affected 2,455 customers. Power was restored in two hours and 25 minutes.”

Traffic lights were reported dark on busy Lee Highway near I-66 as a result of the outages.


(Updated at 2:30 p.m.) A car has plowed into the front of a Pizza Hut restaurant on Lee Highway.

Arlington County police and firefighters responded to the Lee Centre shops on the 3300 block of Lee Highway just before 1:00 p.m. for a report of a car into a building. Upon arrival, they found a Honda Fit hatchback that had driven through the front door of the Pizza Hut. Half of the car was in the restaurant, stopped only by the order counter.

The 86-year-old female driver was extricated from the car by firefighters, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. She suffered no visible injuries but was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

Amazingly, even though it was lunch time, there were no customers inside the store at the time of the accident. Four employees were inside at the time, according to police, but nobody was hurt.

The car was removed from the building by a tow truck around 1:30 p.m. An Arlington County building inspector has determined that there is no structural damage to the building, but the restaurant will be boarded up until its front facade can be repaired.

Photo courtesy @CAPT258


Yorktown Nails owner Li Vo (photo courtesy Sarah Moore)A new nail salon recently opened on Lee Highway.

Arlington mom Li Vo opened Yorktown Nails, at 5163 Lee Highway, in December. Fellow moms have been spreading the word about the salon in an attempt to drum up business.

“It was opened by Li Vo, a McKinley Elementary and Yorktown [High School] mom who many folks know as the uber-popular manicurist at American Nail,” resident Sarah Moore told ARLnow.com. “Now she and her family have opened their own salon and everything is super clean, new and parking is a cinch.”

Through Feb. 28, Yorktown Nails is offering a “grand opening special” — an “organic” pedicure and manicure for $28.

Photo courtesy Sarah Moore


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