local business

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

R&B Songstress Mya Spotted in Clarendon — Mya Harrison, of hip hop, R&B and acting fame, was spotted getting her hair and makeup done at Kavenchy Spa Salon (1025 North Fillmore Street) in Clarendon yesterday. Mya was getting ready to shoot a music video in the District, reports Yeas & Neas.

Real Estate Predictions For 2011 — Local Realtor Laura Rubinchuk has released her predictions for the Arlington real estate market in 2011. Expect flat prices, sluggish sales, fewer foreclosures and more groundbreakings, says Rubinchuk.

Ballston Shell Station Bites the Dust — The Shell station at Wilson Boulevard and North Randolph Street has been shuttered. It will be torn down soon, to make way for the Founders Square development. More from TBD.

“Critical Mass” of Bars and Restaurants Keeping Residents in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Watch out D.C., Arlington may be stealing away visitors.

It was just a few short years ago that Arlingtonians had to make lame excuses for why their D.C. friends should trek into the county. In 2006, one DCist writer (and Arlington resident) bemoaned “Arlington’s low bar diversity and mediocre dining choices” while trying to make the case that the Wilson Boulevard Taco Bell was a potential selling point.

Now?

“We’ve created a critical mass… we’ve passed some kind of tipping point, where Arlington is kind of a cool place to go,” said Terry Holzheimer, Director of Arlington Economic Development. He said that thanks to new dining and drinking options, Clarendon, Courthouse, Ballston Crystal City and Shirlington have all become destinations that can compete with District.

“If you look back a few years, there wasn’t much happening in Arlington,” Holzheimer said. “People have options now, they don’t have to get on the Metro, they don’t have to try to get downtown and not be able to find a parking spot in Penn Quarter or Adams Morgan.”

Indeed, anecdotal evidence of crowded bars and a long streak of new restaurant openings would seem to suggest that the dining and entertainment industry is doing quite well in Arlington, especially in Clarendon. And a poll we conducted earlier this month backs up the notion that residents are staying here rather than heading into D.C.

More than 75 percent of the 665 people who responded to the poll said “I don’t go out in the District as much as I used to.” Some cited steep parking rates in D.C. and the difficulty of taking Metro at night, but others said that new options in Arlington mean they don’t have to go to the District to have a good time.

Holzheimer says locals aren’t the only ones taking advantage of Arlington’s restaurants and nightlife.

“The demand is coming from throughout Northern Virginia, not just Arlington,” he said. “I think it draws from as far away as Reston and Herndon.”

(more…)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

McDonnell Pushes For Quick Action on Health Care Challenge — Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who praised state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s now-successful challenge to President Obama’s health care reform law, wants the federal government’s inevitable appeal to go straight to the Supreme Court rather than take a more circuitous route through a federal appeals court. “Everybody knows it’s going to go to the U.S. Supreme Court,” the governor told Fox News.

W&OD Trail Closure Postponed — A portion of the W&OD Trail was supposed to be closed today to allow for power line work, but that has been postponed indefinitely because of the wind, a county official says.

Arlington-Based Green Firm Acquired — ClearCarbon, a Courthouse-based company that audits corporations’ greenhouse gas emissions, has been acquired by consulting giant Deloitte. More from Reuters.

Street Closure Near Rosslyn Metro Sunday — North Moore Street between Wilson Boulevard and 19th Street North will be closed all Sunday as a result of utility work for the Rosslyn Metro entrance project. Buses that normally use the street will be redirected to North Lynn Street. Signs will be in place to direct riders.

Union Jack’s Reviewed — Parody, or just really enthusiastic? You decide.

Flickr pool photo by Amber Wilkie

Board Approves Ballston BID, Says No to More Taxis

By ARLnow.com

Ballston will be getting a business improvement district, but Arlington will not be getting additional taxis. Those two decisions were reached unanimously by the county board at its Saturday meeting.

The board approved a supplemental commercial property tax in Ballston to pay for the formation of a Ballston Business Improvement District. It did so with the encouragement of many large property owners — like JBG, Shooshan Company and Ballston Common Mall owner Forest City — but over the objections of a few, like the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the Nature Conservancy.

“A Business Improvement District for Ballston is the best vehicle for building on Ballston’s already considerable assets and positioning it for the future,” Arlington County Board Chairman Jay Fisette said in a statement. “With the success of our BIDs in Crystal City and Rosslyn, we know that this new BID will contribute greatly to the future success of Ballston.”

The Sun Gazette, TBD and Arlington County have more information on the BID’s passage.

In other action Saturday, the board rejected a request from two “green” taxi companies to expand their fleets.

County staff took a hard line on the issue, recommending that the board reject the request to add 75 taxis to Arlington’s current licensed fleet of 765 cabs. Cab drivers spoke passionately at the board meeting about their difficulty making ends in Arlington, arguing that allowing new cabs would impose an additional hardship.

EnviroCab, which currently operates 50 taxis in the county, and a would-be start-up called GoGreen Cab had hoped to win board approval for new environmentally-friendly taxis. In the end, county staff pointed out that Arlington has a taxi density that rivals New York City and Chicago when the county’s size and population is figured in.

The Washington Post, Sun Gazette and TBD all have more on the taxi decision.

Flickr pool photo (top) by Tim Kelley

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Wreath Ceremony At Arlington National Cemetery — Volunteers helped to lay some 24,000 wreaths on the graves of military personnel at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday. More from NECN.

Flight Delays at DCA — It was a miserable Sunday for many air travelers, as bad weather caused some big delays for flights arriving and departing at Reagan National Airport. More from the Washington Post.

Christening Set for USS Arlington — A new naval vessel bearing the county’s name will be christened in March. The USS Arlington will essentially serve as a means of transportation for Marines, landing craft and helicopters. The county board heard a presentation about the warship at its meeting on Saturday. More from the Sun Gazette.

Bungalow Billiards Sells Its Shirlington Location — The Bungalow in Shirlington has been sold, according to a blurb picked up the the Shirlington Village Blog. No official word yet on what changes, if any, may be in store, but the blog reports that renovation plans are in the works.

Flickr pool photo by Team Rank

Quarterdeck Restaurant Gets a New Lease on Life

By ARLnow.com

The Quarterdeck Restaurant has been saved.

Owner Lou Gatti, who suddenly announced last month that the 31-year-old seafood restaurant would be closing, now says the Fort Myer Heights institution will, in fact, remain open.

The dramatic reversal, sure to please legions of local crab lovers and dive bar enthusiasts, is due to a breakthrough in the restaurant’s lease negotiations, Gatti said in an email late last night.

For a while, it looked like we would have to close. This was finally settled today. We have another 15 year lease. It seems that the landlord, who has also been my friend for the last 15 years, and I had trouble reaching an agreement; it took 3 months. In retrospect, it reminds me more of a family disagreement; now, everything’s back to normal.

I want to thank all of you for the kind emails and the memories of the Quarterdeck you shared. Like you, I have always loved the Quarterdeck from my first visit, which was over 3 decades ago. The most moving story was from someone who lamented she would not be able to bring her children to the QD, as her parents had done with her.

Patrick Morrogh, a nine year veteran of the QD and a manager, will take over the day to day operations. I think the younger folks need to implement fresh ideas. At 62, I will still be in charge of something, but I don’t know what.

We will be updating our website: http://www.qdrest.com .

Thanks to all of you.

Lou Gatti

County Prepares to Fight Sign Lawsuit

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County is preparing to fight a legal challenge to its commercial sign ordinance — the first such challenge since the creation of the ordinance.

County Attorney Stephen MacIsaac says the county has a number of arguments to counter the lawsuit’s claims. The suit argues that regulators are infringing on a small business owner’s free speech by deeming a large mural painted on the side of her building a commercial sign and not artwork.

“I think it should be fairly apparent under the sign ordinance that this is a sign,” MacIsaac said. The mural is “clearly an effort to promote this woman’s business… to depict it as public art, I think, is a bit of a stretch.”

MacIsaaac said that the county’s sign ordinance is consistent with ordinances currently in place in other jurisdictions.

“Our sign ordinance is not unusual in any way,” he said. Arlington’s political sign rules were challenged just over 10 years ago, according to MacIsaac, but this is the first time someone has mounted a formal legal challenge to the commercial sign ordinance.

MacIsaac, the county government’s top legal counsel, added that the his office hasn’t officially been served notice of the suit, which was filed in federal court on Thursday. He expects the litigation to take about a year, and expected the county’s first court appearance to happen at some point this winter, perhaps February.

“We’re sort of in a wait and see mode right now,” MacIsaac said. “Right now we’re just assessing the case and waiting for the timeline to be established. This is going to be a process.”

TBD & Politico Operations Expanding in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) It’s rare to find a news organization that’s actively hiring these days, let alone one that’s expanding physically. But that’s exactly what Allbritton Communications is seeking to do in Rosslyn.

Allbritton’s landlord has applied for a site plan amendment to convert space that was originally intended to be a television studio into work space for the web divisions of its WJLA-TV and Politico properties. The nearly 6,000 square foot space is a former retail bay in the interior mall of the 1000/1100 Wilson Boulevard office complex.

Citing the “evolution of the broadcast television industry into a web-based online media,” Allbritton will take what the board initially approved in July 2008 to be a new TV studio for WJLA and convert it into cubicles and offices for web employees. County staff is recommending the board approve the change at its Saturday, Dec. 11 meeting.

The renovations will help facilitate the on-going addition of nearly 100 employees for TBD, the web and cable division of WJLA, and Politico Pro, a new subscription service that’s being launched early next year, according Saul Carlin, Allbritton’s Director of Special Projects.

TBD currently has 24 web employees and approximately 12 cable employees. Politico Pro is expected to launch with a staff of 40. According to TBD Editor Erik Wemple, the web site is in the process of hiring three new employees — a news writer, a D.C. neighborhoods reporter, and a transit/transportation reporter.

That accounts for not quite 80 of the 100 stated new hires. Additional hirings at TBD are “possible,” Wemple said.

In the site plan filing, Allbritton said the new hires should boost the company’s Rosslyn workforce by about 25 percent, from 400 employees to 500 employees.

“If approved, the change would help us to keep our growing Arlington operations under one roof,” said Carlin. “In this difficult economy, we’re pleased that we can be an engine of job creation in Arlington County.”

“The proximity to the federal government creates opportunities for news organizations in the Washington, D.C. media market that might not be available to them elsewhere,” Carlin added.

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

Morning Poll: Spending Less Time in the District?

By ARLnow.com

Over the past few years Arlington has experienced an amazing boom of new bars and restaurants (like the future BGR The Burger Joint in Clarendon, pictured).

But what exactly is fueling the expansion? The openings have far outpaced Arlington’s population growth. From a purely economic standpoint, there can only be a few explanations for how so many new bars and restaurants can open and stay in business.

One theory is that we’re spending more and more money going out to restaurants and bars. With so many new options, perhaps residents feel more compelled to go out when they would have otherwise stayed in.

Anther theory is that we’re spending less at older bars and restaurants. There have been a few restaurant closings lately but, then again, there have been many more openings than closings.

Yet another theory is that the new eateries and night spots are bringing more people into Arlington — either from the District, Fairfax County or elsewhere.

But the theory that’s perhaps most intriguing is that with all the new places to go out to, Arlingtonians are feeling less and less compelled to head into the District for dinner and entertainment. To attempt to prove or disprove that theory, we’ve devised the following poll.


Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Most Elaborate Christmas Display in Arlington? — Blue Virginia has a video of what may be the most elaborate Christmas display in Arlington. It’s located on North Quebec Street, between Lee Highway and 17th Street, in Cherrydale. Let us know if you’ve seen anything better.

Pentagon Row Sold — The collection of stores and apartments known as Pentagon Row has been sold for a relatively low $14.9 million. Vornado Realty Trust sold the complex to Federal Realty Investment Trust, which also owns the Shirlington Village shopping center. More from the Washington Business Journal.

Boy Scouts Collect Nearly 55,000 Pounds of Food — The Arlington Boy Scouts collected a whopping 54,791 pounds of non-perishable food donations through its annual Scouting for Food Drive. More from the Sun Gazette.

Travolta Drops by Falls Church — Pulp Fiction star John Travola skipped the dinner at the Kennedy Center Honors last night, opting instead to dine at the Peking Gourmet Inn in Falls Church. Local celebrity photographer Mark Wilkins was there to capture the scene.

Flickr pool photo by Team Rank

Blind Item: Food Truck Follies

By ARLnow.com

It’s been a while since we did a blind item, but this one was too ridiculous to pass up.

Which Rosslyn and Crystal City businesses have been calling the police on the new Bada Bing sandwich truck? Cops have shown up at the truck at least eight times since it launched just over a month ago, we hear.

Officers show up, dutifully check out the truck’s license and examine whether it’s parked legally, and inevitably leave without finding a violation.

Two businesses in particular have been very proactive about calling the cops when Bada Bing shows up in their neighborhood.

“It happens at those two locations pretty much every time we go there, sometimes multiple times per day,” said Bada Bing owner Nicholas Terzella

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