Pentagon City | ARLnow.com

9/11 Ride Passing Through Arlington

Published August 16, 2013 at 2:40PM

The annual America’s 9/11 Ride is passing through Arlington this afternoon.

The riders are expected to head eastbound on I-66 around 2:45 p.m., before motoring southbound on Route 110 and arriving at the Double Tree hotel in Pentagon City (300 Army Navy Drive) by 3:15 p.m. In past years, Arlington County police have set up rolling road closures to ensure safe passage of the convoy.

The bikers started the day at the Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville, Pa. They will spend the night in Pentagon City and will hold an event in the Pentagon parking lot early tomorrow morning, before departing for New York City around 7:00 a.m.

Photo courtesy edobson22207

Overturned Car Closes Road in Pentagon City

By Katie Pyzyk

Published August 8, 2013 at 1:00PM | Updated August 8, 2013 at 1:56PM

SUV overturns at Army Navy Drive and S. Hayes Street in 2013

(Updated at 1:15 p.m.) Police and fire crews are on the scene of an overturned vehicle in Pentagon City.

According to police, shortly after noon a woman in an SUV driving northbound on S. Hayes Street attempted to make a left turn onto Army Navy Drive. She allegedly failed to yield to a vehicle coming off of I-395 onto Hayes Street. The SUV flipped onto its roof after hitting the Dodge Challenger.

Firefighters assisted the woman in getting out of her SUV and bystanders helped remove her two young grandchildren, who were in car seats. All three were transported to George Washington hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the Challenger was not injured.

Police closed both directions of Army Navy Drive and are currently in the process of re-opening the road. Traffic exiting from I-395 onto Hayes Street is being re-routed around the accident.

Police say it is likely that the driver of the SUV will be charged with failure to yield the right of way.

Board Approves 22-Story Building, Whole Foods for Pentagon City

By Katie Pyzyk

Published July 15, 2013 at 9:45AM

At its meeting on Saturday, the Arlington County Board gave the go-ahead for the construction of a 22-story apartment building in Pentagon City that will also house a Whole Foods.

The Board approved three measures for Metropolitan Park Phase 4/5 at 1200 S. Eads Street. In addition to approving the overall site plan, Board members voted to amend the Pentagon City Phased Development Site Plan from 1976 to increase the allowed building height. They also approved an amendment to the Master Transportation Plan to allow a portion of the planned 12th Road S. to be deleted.

The new building will join two others at the Metropolitan Park site. Developer Vornado decided to combine phases 4 and 5 of the project into one building containing 699 residential units and more than 40,000 square feet of retail space. A Whole Foods grocery store will occupy most of the retail space.

“This is an important milestone for the Metropolitan Park development, because it includes a full-service grocery store that will serve residents of the Pentagon City and Crystal City neighborhoods,” said Arlington County Board Chairman Walter Tejada. “We are now halfway to our goal of transforming this industrial part of Pentagon City to a more walkable, transit-oriented area that offers a great mix of homes and places to shop.”

The county lists a number of benefits for the project, including a developer contribution of around $5 million to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund and $150,000 to the county’s public art fund to support art within the Metropolitan Park development. More than $130,000 will be contributed for undergrounding utilities at the development site, and transportation improvements will be added such as expanded sidewalks, street furniture, trees and outdoor cafe seating. The developer has also committed to a design that is expected to earn LEED Silver Certification.

Board to Mull Plan for Apartments, Whole Foods in Pentagon City

By Katie Pyzyk

Published July 10, 2013 at 3:45PM

The site plan for a new apartment building in Pentagon City with a Whole Foods grocery store on the first level will go before the County Board for approval on Saturday.

The proposal involves Metropolitan Park Phase 4/5 at 1200 S. Eads Street. Developer Vornado wishes to combine Phases 4 and 5 to make one building, the fourth in the Metropolitan Park development. Phases 1 and 2 of the project focused on building The Gramercy at Metropolitan Park and The Millennium at Metropolitan Park, which are both currently occupied. Phase 3 is for The Acadia at Metropolitan Park, which is under construction. Planning for the overall project has been in the works for about a decade.

The 22-story new building would contain nearly 700 residential units and would have more than 40,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. Almost 37,000 of the retail space would be taken up by a Whole Foods. The plan includes a four level, 885 space underground parking structure that will likely have one floor reserved exclusively for use by the grocery store.

In addition to site plan approval, the Board will consider an amendment to the 1976 Pentagon City Phased Development Site Plan to permit the proposed building height. An amendment to the Master Transportation Plan has also been requested to allow the removal of a portion of a previously planned new street — 12th Road S. — from the proposal.

The Planning Commission’s Site Plan Review Committee (SPRC) discussed Metropolitan Park Phase 4/5 at six meetings from November 2012 through April of this year. Members discussed numerous aspects of the development that could be cause for concern like building height, building density, streetscape improvements and grocery store operations. No major issues were identified in the final site plan that would prevent approval of the project.

Last week, members of the Planning Commission voted unanimously (11-0) in favor of the proposal. Similarly, the Transportation Commission unanimously (7-0) approved the final site plan proposal and amendment to the Master Transportation Plan at its meeting on June 27.

Staff recommends the County Board follows the lead of the Planning Commission and the Transportation Commission by approving the proposal.

Extreme Pizza Now Open in Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

Published June 12, 2013 at 4:50PM

A new pizza chain has opened in Pentagon City.

Extreme Pizza opened at 1419 S. Fern Street, across from Costco, on Sunday. The restaurant offers various types of signature pizzas, with names like “Green With Envy,” “Poultry Geist,” “The Spice Route” and “Wingin’ It.” Customers can also customize their own pizza, or order off a menu that includes calzones, sub sandwiches, salads, sides and desserts.

A gluten-free pizza option is available for those who request it.

The Pentagon City Extreme Pizza has indoor dine-in seating, and also offers delivery and takeout. Its phone number is 703-271-1020.

This is the first Extreme Pizza location inside the Beltway and the fourth in Virginia. The existing Virginia locations are in Vienna, Henrico and Richmond.

Officials Tout Revamped S. Joyce Street

By ARLnow.com

Published June 11, 2013 at 3:45PM

Earlier road work on S. Joyce Street (photo courtesy Arlington County)

It’s been open since this spring, but today county and federal officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the South Joyce Street Shared-Use Sidewalk Project,

The $1.8 million Federal Highway Administration project built new, wider sidewalks on the 1/5 mile stretch between Army Navy Drive and Columbia Pike. The 10-foot-wide sidewalks can be used by pedestrians and bicyclists. The sidewalks “improve safety and access at one of the few places in Arlington where bicycles and pedestrians can cross I-395,” according to a county fact sheet.

“As a result of the FHWA project, which was funded with a Congressional allocation… the once highway-style passage has been transformed into an easy-to-navigate bicycle and pedestrian route that connects the east end of Columbia Pike, the Pentagon reservation and Pentagon City,” the county wrote. “Arlington supported the the project, which aligns with the goals of Arlington County’s ‘Complete Streets’ program, with design guidance and funding for some additional elements.”

County Board Chairman Walter Tejada lauded the project, saying that it’s especially useful for those who commute via bicycle from Columbia Pike. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) joked that the new sidewalk “is not the kind of project you’d see on a postcard,” but said it’s important nonetheless.

“This is basic infrastructure,” he said. “If you don’t invest in it, if you don’t do the right thing, you negatively impact a lot of other infrastructure.”

In addition to wider sidewalks, pedestrian-scale lighting was added to the street and automatic bicycle/pedestrian counters were installed. Meanwhile, highway-style guard rails were removed and fire department standpipes were relocated out of the pedestrian route.

Coming Soon: Two New Pentagon City Metro Entrances

By ARLnow.com

Published May 17, 2013 at 10:25AM

Arlington County is planning to award contracts this year that will result in two new ways to get into the busy Pentagon City Metro station.

In September, the county is expected to award a design/build contract for a new elevator that will run directly into the station from the southwestern corner of S. Hayes Street and 12th Street, near the Pentagon City mall.

The elevator will complement an existing elevator on the southeast corner of the intersection.

About 95 percent of the $5 million project will be funded with state and federal funds. The county is hoping that the elevator will be open by Nov. 2014.

Also this year, the county is hoping to award a contract to refurbish and reopen an abandoned pedestrian tunnel that connects the northeast corner of the Hayes/12th intersection to the Metro station’s mezzanine.

The county is hoping to finalize the design of the refurbished tunnel — the design process has been on-going for nearly a decade — and to put the project out for bid by the end of the year.

The tunnel could reopen by the winter of 2014.

Arlington County Transportation Director Dennis Leach suggested that the project has been made more complicated thanks to the tunnel’s proximity to the headquarters of the Transportation Security Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“We’re still working through a few remaining design issues and we have to conclude some property-related negotiations,” he said. “It is a very complicated small project. That tunnel was built as part of a site plan development. We have to work with the adjacent property owner and the adjacent tenants.”

With nearly 35,000 combined entries and exits on an average weekday, the Pentagon City Metro station is the second-busiest Metro station in Arlington — second only to Rosslyn.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 10, 2013 at 8:45AM

Prince Harry Visits Arlington Nat’l Cemetery — Britain’s Prince Harry is visiting Arlington National Cemetery this morning as part of his two-day visit to the Washington area. The prince is expected to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and to visit the burial area for military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. [NBC Washington]

Now Official: Whole Foods to Pentagon City — Whole Foods has made it official and signed a deal with Vornado to open a 37,000 square foot store in on the ground floor of a planned 700-unit apartment building in Pentagon City. The store will be the company’s second in Arlington, and is expected to open in 2017. [Washington Business Journal]

Wieners Added to Testicle Festival — The Fairfax County-based Top Dog food truck has been recruited to serve hot dogs at next weekend’s Montana State Society Testicle Festival in Virginia Square. Jed Link, an organizer of the event, called the combination of Rocky Mountain Oysters and hot dogs “a culinary reunion that’s guaranteed to entertain.”

Flickr pool photo by Martin Humm

Modell’s to Open Tomorrow in Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2013 at 2:15PM

The new Modell’s Sporting Goods store in Pentagon City is expected to open for business tomorrow morning.

The store, in the former Borders book store space at the Pentagon Centre shopping center (1201 S. Hayes Street), says it will open its doors at 9:00 a.m. and offer “great prizes,” “exciting giveaways for early bird shoppers,” and “crazy deals.”

As part of a four-day grand opening event, Modell’s will host “meet and greets” with two local professional athletes. Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez is scheduled to be at the store on Thursday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., and Washington Nationals linebacker Brian Orakpo is scheduled from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.

As we reported last month, this will be the first Arlington location for New York City-based Modell’s, which was founded in 1889. The company operates more than 150 stores along the East Coast, including existing locations in Fairfax County, Montgomery County and the District of Columbia.

Third Suspicious Package Near TSA HQ

By ARLnow.com

Published May 2, 2013 at 8:25AM | Updated May 2, 2013 at 11:13AM

(Update 8:45 a.m.) Arlington police and the bomb squad closed the street in front of the TSA headquarters in Pentagon City for the third time in just over a week due to a suspicious package.

The package — described as a duffel bag or a backpack — was found on the 600 block of 12th Street S. around 6:15 a.m. The bomb squad carefully inspected the package and set up charges to “disrupt” it.

The “all clear” was given by a bomb technician just past 8:15 a.m. The road is now being reopened, as is the east entrance to the Pentagon City Metro station.

This was the third suspicious package on the same block in just over a week. Police say they don’t have any evidence of criminal activity.

“There’s a lot of construction in the area — a lot of laborers and construction workers bringing their stuff to that area, and with the heightened alert and the TSA headquarters there” authorities are taking every precaution, said Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. “We take every suspicious package call seriously, and it’s our duty and job to go out there and investigate and assume that it’s potentially hazardous.”

Photo courtesy Patrick McNeil

UPDATED: Suspicious Package in Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

Published April 29, 2013 at 11:30PM | Updated April 30, 2013 at 1:34AM

Update at 12:50 a.m. — Police have given the “all clear” and roads are being reopened. The package was disrupted “without incident” and no hazards were found, according to Arlington County Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Fitch.

Earlier: Arlington County police and the county’s bomb squad are investigating a suspicious package in the area of the Transportation Security Administration headquarters in Pentagon City.

Police are shutting down roads within a one block radius of the package, including S. Hayes Street and S. Fern Street between Army Navy Drive and 15th Street S. They have also closed off access to one of the Pentagon City Metro entrances.

According to scanner traffic, a witness told police that the package was dropped off on 12th Street S. by individuals in a white box truck, which then left the scene.

At around 12:35 a.m., the bomb squad conducted a controlled blast to “disrupt” the package. A loud boom could be heard in surrounding neighborhoods. (See video, below)

This was the second suspicious package in the area in the past week.