The crime happened around 2:30 a.m. Monday in Pentagon City. Police say a group of five suspects jumped a man who was standing outside his vehicle, then started to drive off with it, dragging him for “a short distance” in the process.
The victim suffered minor injuries, police said.
More from an Arlington County Police Department crime report:
CARJACKING, 2020-12280012, 1400 block of S. Joyce Street. At approximately 2:34 a.m. on December 28, police were dispatched to the report of a fight. Upon arrival, it was determined that the victim was outside of his vehicle when a group of five suspects approached him and began asking for a ride. The suspects surrounded the victim, at which point they grabbed the keys to the vehicle from the victim and assaulted him. The suspects entered the vehicle and the victim attempted to pull one suspect out of the driver’s seat unsuccessfully. The suspects then began to drive away, dragging the victim a short distance and fled the area prior to police arrival. The victim sustained minor injuries during the incident and was transported to an area hospital. The vehicle is described as a red 2020 Kia Optima with Florida license plate LKUP10. Suspect One is described as a Black male, wearing a black balaclava, red jacket, black shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots. Suspect Two is described as a Black male, wearing a black jacket, black pants, and brown boots. Suspect Three is described as a Black male, wearing a black jacket, dark jeans, sneakers and a black hoodie. Suspect Four is described as a Black male wearing a black hoodie, dark jeans, and red sneakers. Suspect Five is described as a male wearing a black jacket, black pants and black shoes. The investigation is ongoing.
A woman who was sitting in her car the day after Christmas in Pentagon City was attacked and robbed by a pair of teens, according to Arlington County police.
The victim was in her car, on her phone — on the 1100 block of S. Hayes Street, near the Pentagon City mall — when one of the suspects allegedly climbed in the back of the car, punched her, and stole her phone. The suspect also tried unsuccessfully to steal the woman’s purse, police said.
The teens ran off before officers arrived. The woman suffered what police described as minor injuries.
More from an ACPD crime report:
ROBBERY, 2020-12260096, 1100 block of S. Hayes Street. At approximately 5:47 p.m. on December 26, police were dispatched to the report of a robbery by force. Upon arrival, it was determined that the victim was inside her vehicle using her cell phone when she was approached by two suspects, who opened the rear doors to her vehicle. Suspect One struck her with a closed fist and stole her phone and attempted to steal her purse unsuccessfully, while Suspect Two tampered with items in the vehicle. The victim yelled for assistance, at which point the suspects fled prior to police arrival. The victim sustained minor injuries. Suspect One is described as a Black male in his teens, approximately 5’6″, with a slim build, wearing a dark colored hoodie, blue jeans, and a black mask. Suspect Two is described as a white male in his teens, approximately 5’6″, with a slim build, wearing a dark colored hoodie, jeans, and a mask. The investigation is ongoing.
Restaurant Delivery Popular in Arlington — “When WTOP asked UberEats what the top neighborhoods for deliveries are around D.C., it ranked the top five, based on number of orders in 2020. They are Northeast D.C. (it did not specify a specific neighborhood), Shaw, Adams Morgan, Arlington County’s Lyon Park (a dense residential neighborhood south of Rosslyn) and Pentagon City.” [WTOP]
County Board to Elect New Chair — “The Arlington County Board will elect its 2021 Chair and Vice-Chair during its Monday, January 4 virtual Organizational Meeting, and Board Members will lay out their priorities for 2021. The new Chair will succeed 2020 Chair Libby Garvey and will serve for one year.” [Arlington County]
Arlington Housing Market Stays Hot — “Arlington County remains the most expensive D.C. suburb, with a median selling price of $660,000 in November, up 20% from last November, according to Long & Foster data. The number of homes that sold in Arlington last month — 221 — was 23% more than a year ago. The good news for potential buyers in Arlington is that the 530 active listings at the end of November was up 122% from November 2019.” [WTOP]
Gelato Comes With ‘Woke’ Facts — “Most ice cream pints display little more than nutritional information and ingredients, but Amore Congelato founder Thereasa Black wasn’t about to waste an opportunity to advance her company’s social justice mission. Each pint contains ‘stay woke’ facts printed on the side that cover pitfalls of the U.S. criminal justice system. Pick one up at her storefront in Arlington or at Glen’s Garden Market.” [Washington City Paper]
Virginia Highlands Park (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)
Map of Roaches Run (via Google Maps)
Some residents in and around Crystal City want to open up the Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary to more walking and hiking — with help from JBG Smith.
The developer owns property around Roaches Run and is interested in converting parts of its private land into a public connection accessible from the surrounding neighborhood.
This partnership is one way that the Arlington Ridge, Aurora Highlands and Crystal City civic associations propose adding open space to their neighborhoods. A second solution is to redesign and upgrade Virginia Highlands Park for more uses than sports.
The two ideas are part of a report published last week from the three associations, which have banded together to form Livability 22202. The report also recommends ways to plan new parks in Crystal City and enhance local biodiversity.
“COVID-19 has changed everyone’s thinking about open spaces,” Livability 22202 President Carol Fuller said. “The traditional parks of the past do not serve the purposes of our new world. We need to have open space, parks and trails for people to go out for casual use outdoors.”
The group is scheduled to present its recommendations to the Parks and Recreation Commission in February, she said.
Compared to other parts of the county, Pentagon City and Crystal City have fewer trails and open parks, Fuller said.
“If we did not have Long Bridge [Park] — which is fairly new — and if we didn’t have Virginia Highlands Park, we would have no trails and very little open space,” she said. (Crystal City is also served by the Mt. Vernon Trail, which connects to the neighborhood near the intersection of Crystal Drive and 18th Street S.)
Livability 22202 is proposing a loop trail and connecting trails into and out of Roaches Run. The County too is interested in turning the area into publicly-accessible natural space as the neighborhood experiences a wave of redevelopment in the wake of Amazon’s HQ2 decision — but officials indicated this spring that it could take 5-10 years to implement.
JBG Smith is willing to make use of its land to advance the broader open space discussion happening in National Landing — the collective term for Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard — Andrew VanHorn, Executive Vice President, JBG Smith said in a statement.
“JBG Smith is supportive of plans that would make Roaches Run more accessible to the community and allow more people to enjoy this important natural asset,” he said.
VanHorn added that JBG Smith welcomes “the opportunity to work with the community, the County Board, and the National Park Service to help make this vision a reality.”
Meanwhile, the report authors envision Virginia Highlands Park as an urban park with a blend of recreational and casual uses.
“One of the problems with Virginia Highlands is it’s primarily for recreation,” such as tennis or softball, she said. “It needs an upgrade badly.”
At 18 acres, it is one of Arlington’s largest parks, but suffers from underused and wasted space, at least according to the authors.
The Aurora Highlands Civic Association has long pushed for changes to the park, and this upcoming fiscal year the County was slated to start developing a master plan for it.
But that plan is now on hold, Fuller said. So, in the meantime, Livability 22202 is proposing upgrades that include a gathering space, a sledding site, better lighting, permanent community gardens and a dog run — similar to the dog park proposed by a separate local group.
Money is perhaps the biggest missing ingredient for making changes to Roaches Run and Virginia Highlands Park, Fuller said.
“COVID-19 has not only shown us great need for open space, but it also destroyed the budget to give it to us,” Fuller said.
VDOT and Arlington County are studying ways to improve the safety, accessibility and experience along Route 1 between 12th and 23rd Street. The study responds to greater demand for various transportation methods as construction of Amazon’s HQ2 progresses.
“As this area’s commercial and residential densities continue to increase, transportation plans will need to address the wide-ranging needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, motorists, and other users while maximizing the safety, convenience, and sustainability of the system for decades to come,” said the VDOT study page.
Participants in the online meeting, scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., will hear a review of existing conditions on Route 1 — also known as Richmond Highway — and learn about responses to a public survey that was open during October and November. They can also ask questions and give input.
The public is invited to provide comments during the meeting or through Monday, Dec. 28.
After the meeting, the public will hear and have the chance to provide feedback on draft recommendations in spring 2021. Officials expect the final study to be done next summer.
“At this time, no construction funding has been allocated, so the study will not set design or construction dates,” the VDOT website said.
The department is not the only group thinking of ways to improve the highway. In October, the National Landing BID released “Reimagining Route 1,” a report that transformed the car-centric highway into a safer boulevard lined with trees, retail and restaurants.
“Route 1 was originally designed to accommodate the auto-centric development trends of the mid-20th century, when the primary objective was to move cars through the area as quickly as possible,” the BID said in a press release. “The resulting elevated highway, super blocks, and oversized intersections divided the community for decades, inhibiting not only connectivity and access, but also the area’s ability to come together as a singular downtown district.”
VDOT is studying the Route 1 overpasses over 12th, 15th and 18th streets, which some have called to be eliminated in favor of more urban intersections at grade.
Those interested in joining the virtual meeting can register online or participate in listen-only mode by calling 877-309-2071 (access code 205-472-841).
The study team will make a short presentation beginning at 6:30 p.m. and answer questions for about an hour afterward, the website said. A recording and meeting materials will be available online following the meeting.
In addition to doing so during the meeting, feedback can be provided via a comment form or email.
A new report released by three local civic associations says tenant protections, more housing options and community amenities would make the 22202 zip code livable.
But significant barriers — including a history of exclusionary zoning to a lack of political will from leaders — are holding the area back, the neighborhoods say.
The report was produced by Livability 22202, a coalition of the Arlington Ridge, Aurora Highlands, and Crystal City civic associations.
“We want to ensure our neighborhood reflects the vision of an inclusive community and that residents’ voices are heard in a rapidly changing environment,” the report’s authors wrote. “By learning from the past and planning for a realistic future, we can ensure our shared values and visions as a 22202 community hold a promise that all are welcome to find a home here.”
The report coincides with heavy redevelopment and the construction of Amazon’s permanent HQ2 in Pentagon City. It also comes as Arlington County studies the lack of “middle housing” — duplexes and other smaller-scale multifamily housing — and sponsors discussions on the effects of race-based policies in County’s past.
“We believe that the adoption of our policy solutions, together with other livability objectives, will contribute to making our neighborhood an even better and more inclusive community to live and work in,” said Susan English, of the Arlington Ridge Civic Association, in a statement.
“As the County embarks on a process to overhaul its policies and practices to fill the housing ‘missing middle,’ our report and its recommendations provide a comprehensive roadmap for change,” said Tarsi Dunlop, of the Crystal City Civic Association, in a statement.
The authors predict Amazon and the other commercial and residential development will displace existing residents, and recommend assistance and policies at the local and state level for renters and owners.
The Livability 22202 members said the group will now push for their recommendations to be adopted.
In a statement to ARLnow, Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey said she appreciates the hard work and the recommendations, many of which are consistent with the County’s goals.
“The County, too, wants to avoid displacement, increase the housing supply, and diversify housing choices,” she said.
In response to the assertion in the report that the County lacks political will to remove housing barriers, Garvey said county staff and the County Board are working with the community to do so while avoiding political backlash that could set them back.
“We are building political will,” she said. “The Board sees increasing the housing supply and access to housing as critical to Arlington’s long term sustainability and success as a community.”
The report is the result of workshops with renters, homeowners, experts and historians, as well as a study of the history of zoning and land use in the area and current barriers to adequate housing.
In addition to housing-related recommendations, the report also makes recommendations aimed ad strengthening local community cohesion.
Those recommendations include “creating both physical and digital spaces for community building, including a full-scope community center,” and “developing policies and processes to better include renters in the community, particularly addressing barriers to information sharing with residents of high-rises.”
Pentagon Row is no more. Now, it’s “Westpost at National Landing.”
The Pentagon City shopping center has rebranded as Amazon’s new HQ2 rises a few blocks away. The goal, according to a press release, is to create a “fresh vision” for the retail strip, which first opened in 1999.
In announcing the new branding, “Westpost” owner Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT) also announced a new tenant: Nighthawk Pizza.
The restaurant, expected to open next fall, will feature “approachable low ABV beers, that will be reminiscent of old-world styles for the working class,” along with “Spero’s innovative approach towards pizza, sandwiches.” It will also sport a 90s vibe and a beer hall-like atmosphere.
Though Spero’s food will give Nighthawk culinary cred, we’re told it will be more of a social destination — an after-work watering hole for future HQ2 employees and others who live and work in the area.
Nighthawk will be located in the sizable former Champps space. The shuttered sports bar had been struggling for months when the pandemic dealt a final blow in March.
Leading up to the “Westpost” rebranding, Pentagon Row added a trio of other restaurants helmed by notable local chefs and restaurateurs: Scott Chung’s Bun’d Up, Chung and Kevin Tien’s Wild Tiger BBQ pop-up, and, more recently, Antonio Ferraro’s Napoli Salumeria. Nighthawk “compliments the current mix and offers a look into the future of Westpost at National Landing,” FRIT says.
More from a press release, below.
The dynamic partnership of popular local chef Johnny Spero, Aslin Beer Co., Scott Parker and The Wave Group have created a new fun brand, Nighthawk Pizza. The restaurant is scheduled to arrive to the newly named Westpost in fall 2021.
Nighthawk Pizza will focus exclusively on making approachable low ABV beers, that will be reminiscent of old-world styles for the working class, with the innovation that Aslin is known for. Paired with Johnny Spero’s innovative approach towards pizza, sandwiches, and more, and The Wave Group’s ability to build brands with and through the community, the team plans to make a lasting impact in the DMV area and beyond.
“The team behind Nighthawk are thrilled to bring something special to Westpost at National Landing. We’re excited to add our experience in the Arlington bar scene to Johnny’s incredible food, and the Aslin team’s best-in-class beer-making abilities to create a new beer hall experience that pays homage to the 90’s in its design elements. Nighthawk will be a beer brand of its own, and will brew beer on-site for consumption and to-go,” says Scott Parker.
For Federal Realty, to create a fresh vision for Westpost, formerly known as Pentagon Row, couldn’t have happened at a better time. “With the impending arrival of Amazon’s HQ2 to the newly formed National Landing, our team has set out to deliver a true destination, an outpost, if you will, for the long-time residents and the new-comers that call National Landing, and the greater Arlington area, home, work, and all things in between,” says James Milam of Federal. “Westpost is ideally located just a short walk west from Amazon’s campus, but a world away as far as amenities and offerings. It’s the perfect place to disconnect from work, while staying connected with friends, great food and unique drinks, in a comfortable, relaxed environment,” Milam continues. The neighborhood is equally convenient to Arlington and points south, via Rt. 1, and D.C. via 395/Metro/Rideshare.
New additions to the neighborhood over the past year (Scott Chung’s Bun’d Up, Antonio Ferraro’s Napoli Salumeria, led by Chef Andy Clark and Wild Tiger, a partnership with Chung, and Chef Kevin Tien, formerly of Himitsu and Emilie’s and now Moon Rabbit) have delivered great buzz met with serious culinary innovation. Nighthawk Pizza compliments the current mix and offers a look into the future of Westpost at National Landing.
The season of giving is upon us, and with that, so too is the season of shopping.
The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City is offering new shopping opportunities as a few new stores dot the interior of the mall.
Patrons can now sample spicy items at Pepper Palace or take on a new look at All Star Sports, and will soon be able to buy elevated business casual at Bonobos.
Pepper Palace opened last week on the first floor of the mall. Billing itself as “The Planet’s #1 Hot Shop,” the Pepper Palace is a chain store that offers “small batch, handcrafted, natural, and award winning products,” according to its website.
The store offers a variety of items that include hot sauces you can taste test, plus salsa, jerky, barbeque sauce and seasonings. The specialty retail outlet already has a D.C. area location at National Harbor.
All Star Sports opened at the end of October. The retail chain store offers sportswear as well as licensed apparel for men, women and kids. Items include a variety of items from high school jerseys of NFL and NBA players, to movie apparel, to hats, shorts, hoodies, jerseys and more.
The company has one other local location at Tysons Corner Center.
Finally, Bonobos is slated to open Dec. 20, according to the Fashion Centre’s website. The New York City-based men’s fashion store — noted for its khakis — stakes its claim as a “painless” shopping experience to help men find clothing that “should actually fit.”
Bonobos already has five other “Guideshops” in the region, including two in D.C. — in Georgetown and Columbia Heights — as well as two in Bethesda and one in Tysons.
(Updated at 10 a.m.) An injured worker was rescued from the Amazon construction site in Pentagon City this morning.
The initial call for a worker injured at the bottom of the construction site was made at 8:08 a.m.
Emergency vehicles blocked roads around the site along S. Eads Street as firefighters used a construction crane and a stokes basket to hoist the worker to safety.
“We sent paramedics as well as our technical rescue team to the scene in order to set up a crane operation to remove the worker,” said Arlington County Fire Department spokesperson Taylor Blunt. “After the patient was hoisted from the trench, we transported him to a hospital in stable condition. The operation took about 15 minutes. ”
It was not immediately clear how the worker was hurt.
The construction site will eventually be home to the 2.1-million-square-foot first phase of Amazon’s permanent HQ2, which set to open in 2023.
Army Navy Drive at S. Joyce Street (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Sunset along Army Navy Drive in Pentagon City
Google Maps view of a portion of Army Navy Drive in Pentagon City
Crash with overturned vehicle on Army Navy Drive in Pentagon City in Sept. 2018
SUV overturns at Army Navy Drive and S. Hayes Street in 2013
After five years, Arlington County is putting finishing touches on its Complete Street plan to improve walking, biking and driving conditions along a stretch of Army Navy Drive in the Pentagon City area.
The updated plans — which are 90% complete — were presented in a virtual public hearing on Wednesday. County staff are taking public comments via email on this version until Dec. 4, and the final plans will be submitted next summer. Construction on the section of road from S. Joyce Street to S. Eads Street is slated to begin in 2022.
The $16.87-million project aims to reduce conflicts among cars, buses, bikes and pedestrians with narrower lanes, stretches of bus-only lanes, protected left turns and signalized right turns, clearer sidewalks and shorter crosswalks. The south side of Army Navy Drive will have two-way bike lane protected by a line of trees.
“A lot of the signalizations will improve safety, prevent fatalities, reduce collisions, things like that,” Jon Lawler, the project manager, said during the meeting.
Crasheshappenfrequently in its intersections: Staff said the S. Hayes St/I-395 off-ramp intersection had the second-most collisions of any Arlington intersection in 2016.
The measures mean the new Army Navy Drive will be reduced to two through lanes in each direction, narrowing to one lane east of S. Eads Street.
“This segment has much lower traffic volumes than the other four blocks of the project corridor,” Lawler said in an email.
Reducing a lane of traffic to accommodate a bus lane between S. Joyce Street and S. Hayes Street will actually improve flow because buses will not block traffic while loading passengers, he said.
Traffic lanes will be narrowed to slow down cars, but staff are not planning to propose a lower speed limit, which is 35 miles per hour, Lawler said during the meeting.
Construction is still a ways off. Staff expect construction to begin in the spring of 2022. With work scheduled block by block to minimize disruptions, it could last until the fall of 2024. Original plans had construction starting in 2020 and ending in 2022.
Lawler attributed the delays to the additional tasks needed for a project receiving federal aid.
“For this project, it took much longer to receive our National Environmental Policy Act document approval than we had envisioned,” he said in an email.
Staff skipped the 60% design phase to make up for lost time, he said.
After the medians are removed, work will start on the south side of Army Navy Drive, beginning with the area where Amazon HQ2 will be, along S. Eads Street, and moving west. Once the medians are replaced, the road will be repainted and striped, concluding the project.
Lawler said in the meeting that “we won’t have any conflict” with Amazon construction.
Community feedback led to two major changes, he said. First, another block of protected bike lane was added to connect the bike lane west of S. Lynn Street with the planned protected bike lane starting at S. Joyce Street.
“This way we don’t have a missing link in the system,” Lawler said in the meeting.
Staff could not insert this change into this project, as it is receiving federal funding, so they created a separate capital improvement project to address it, he said.
From S. Lynn Street — near Prospect Hill Park — to S. Eads Street, Army Navy Drive is “pretty uncomfortable to use scooters and bikes on,” Lawler told ARLnow after the meeting. “The changes will provide them a safer route for them to use.”
With the changes, bicyclists on Army Navy Drive will be able to use the major east-west link more easily to connect with the Mount Vernon Trail and get to Washington, D.C., he said.
Another change was to align the bumpy pedestrian ramps with the crosswalk. Initially, the ramps were perpendicular to the crosswalk, which advocates said directs vision-impaired pedestrians into harm’s way.
The aftermath of a felony traffic stop on northbound I-395 near Pentagon City last night.
The Arlington County Police Department says that officers used spikes, known as Stop Sticks, to blow out the tires on a stolen vehicle that was spotted by an automated license plate reader. Two suspects each under the age of 18 were subsequently apprehended.
“At approximately 9:43 p.m. on November 16, police received a License Plate Reader hit for a stolen vehicle,” an ACPD crime report said. “An officer located the vehicle traveling northbound on I-395 and activated his emergency equipment as an additional officer successfully deployed stop sticks.”
“The vehicle came to a stop and the two juvenile occupants were taken into custody without incident,” the crime report continues. “The driver was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle. Charges for the passenger are pending.”
