Rosslyn

Cafe and Asian Eatery Opens in Rosslyn Office Tower

By Vernon Miles
1/3

A fresh new cafe and Asian eatery called Open Kitchen is now open in Rosslyn.

The cafe is tucked away on the ground floor of Arlington Tower (1300 17th Street N.) but seemed relatively busy this morning (Monday), with several customers ordering their coffee and heading upstairs. In addition to Lavazza coffee and espresso drinks, the cafe serves tea and fruit smoothies.

Open Kitchen is open Monday-Friday from 6 a.m.-3:30 p.m. for breakfast and lunch. Breakfast offerings include oatmeal, omelettes and egg sandwiches. Lunch items include bibimbap and Japanese bento boxes for around $10.

The little cafe opened last Monday (Aug. 5) and is still working out some of the kinks; staff said wifi for guests is still in the works.

Nestlé Expands Rosslyn Headquarters

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 5:10 p.m.) Nestlé is expanding its Rosslyn headquarters.

Monday Properties, which owns the company’s headquarters at 1812 N. Moore in Rosslyn, announced on this week that the company will be expanding from its presence from 252,000 square feet to 300,000 square feet.

The expansion means Nestlé will occupy 18 floors of the 35-story building. The Washington Business Journal reports that the company “plans to use the extra room for conference facilities, meetings and event space for its team.”

The company relocated its U.S. headquarters to Arlington in 2017 — a move that netted the company several million dollars in grant funding, as well as nearby infrastructure improvements, from Arlington County.

“Our Rosslyn community continues to bring in some of the country’s finest companies, and we are pleased to play a significant part in this incredible momentum,” Austin Freeman, senior vice president of asset management for Monday Properties, said in a press release.

“We’re looking forward to continuing to build our relationship with Nestlé and its employees, as well as attract exceptional companies to our community that will benefit not only from a high-quality office environment, but from Rosslyn’s social and lifestyle transformation as a true destination hub for world-class businesses,” Freeman said.

Monday Properties noted that its other marquee corporate tenants in Rosslyn include Gerber (which is owned by Nestlé), Yext, Deloitte, Gartner, Accenture, Sands Capital, Raytheon and Grant Thornton.

Rosslyn’s Eastern Foundry Is The Right Coworking Choice For Government Contractors

By ARLnow.com Sponsor
1/5

Everybody needs a place to work, so why not choose an office that also works for you?

While there are many coworking options in Arlington, Eastern Foundry is the only space tailored for government contractors. We’ve been helping businesses enter and grow in the federal market since 2014 and are always looking for more to join our community.

When you come to work at Eastern Foundry, networking happens naturally, and your next-door neighbor may just turn into your next teaming partner.

Our Rosslyn office is a perfect fit for any small or large business looking to connect with industry partners and have a flexible workspace. Not just an office, but an opportunity for growth, our event series brings high-level agency officials right to your door, and our unparalleled education provides our members with the resources they need to succeed at any stage of their business.

Whether you have two team members or forty, we are able to accommodate your needs. With 5 spacious conference rooms, phone nooks and ample coworking space, Eastern Foundry provides a variety of options for your company to thrive.

Our commuter friendly office is steps from the Metro, features a spacious bike storage facility, includes complimentary gym membership, and access to a rooftop lounge with one of the best views of D.C.

To learn how Eastern Foundry can take your contracting business to the next level, schedule a tour today or reach out directly to Cindy Lee.

Grammy-Nominees Headline Rosslyn Jazz Festival’s Return

By Vernon Miles

The Rosslyn Jazz Festival is coming back with some Grammy-nominated artists headlining the event.

The free festival is planned for Saturday, Sept. 7 from 1-7 p.m. at Rosslyn’s Gateway Park (1300 Lee Highway).

This year, the annual festival will feature:

The festival will also include food trucks, a pop-up beer and wine garden, and a visit from the Arlington Art Truck, according to its organizer, the Rosslyn Business Improvement District.

The focus of this year’s musical selections is art and music from the Gulf Coast, the BID said in a press release.

Attendees are encouraged to take the Metro to the Rosslyn station — a five-minute walk from the park — as parking at the festival will be limited.

Photo via Rosslyn BID

‘Coding Dojo’ Moves from Tysons to Rosslyn

By Vernon Miles

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

There is no actual karate on the grounds of Coding Dojo, but the program does hope to help coders learn to chop through digital obstacles.

Coding Dojo is a boot camp for teaching coding with locations set up across the country. Bobby Bethea, Program Success Manager for Coding Dojo, said its new D.C. area location at Eastern Foundry coworking space (1100 Wilson Blvd) in Rosslyn is a relocation of an original location in Tysons.

“Arlington has always been on our radar,” Bethea said. “The idea to relocate the campus to Arlington was determined after a former student, now a staff member, developed an API which pulled the zip codes from existing applications submitted to Coding Dojo. Once pulled, the zip codes were organized to display a heat map.”

Bethea said the heat map showed that most of the applications were coming from Arlington, so when the lease expired, the school moved closer to the students.

Bethea also said the announcement of Amazon’s move to Arlington also played a role in the move; opening up a new market for Coding Dojo alumni.

“It did factor into our decision to move to Arlington because at the end of the day, our ability to help graduates find jobs is the most important aspect of our business,” Bethea said.

The Arlington location, like the others, teaches Python, MEAN, and C#/.NET. Bethea said the program is designed to be beginner-friendly and to fit with developers of various experience levels.

The 14-week program costs $13,495, though the company offers various payment plans, financing, and scholarships.

“Our dynamic curriculum was first developed in 2008 as an internal training program for small software engineering teams — the first in the industry,” Bethea said. “Ever since, we’ve constantly refined the curriculum and have trained thousands of students to either become developers or refine their skill sets. Today, we provide students with a veteran curriculum, that is proven to work as the most effective approach to training both experienced developers and students new to coding.”

Photo via Facebook/Coding Dojo

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

New Coworking Space Coming to Ballston — “Piedmont Office Realty Trust signed a 29K SF lease with WeWork at its Arlington Tower office building at 901 North Glebe Road in Ballston, the REIT said in its Q2 earnings release Wednesday evening. The coworking giant will take the entire fifth floor and plans to open before the end of the year, Piedmont Director Chris Poppell tells Bisnow.” [Bisnow]

Disaster Declaration May Be Coming Soon — “A disaster designation based on damage assessments in Arlington County would allow homeowners and businesses in Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax County to apply for low-interest federal loans beginning as soon as next week to help pay for repairs. Fairfax County Emergency Management Coordinator Seamus Mooney expects the designation to be approved within the next two weeks.” [WTOP]

Changes Proposed for Pentagon City Hotel — “The owner of the DoubleTree by Hilton in Crystal City is gearing up for a play to capitalize on the 627-room hotel’s proximity to Amazon.com Inc.’s second headquarters. Tom Baltimore, CEO of the hotel’s owner, Park Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: PK), told analysts on its second-quarter earnings call Thursday that the hotel is one of several the company is evaluating as possible redevelopment opportunities.” [Washington Business Journal]

Video: Dark Star Park Day — A timelapse video captured the moment on Thursday morning when the shadows lined up at Rosslyn’s Dark Star Park, as happens once a year on Aug. 1. [Twitter]

Arlington Boy Lives Dream in Boston — “There was a special visitor to the WBZ Weather Center on Thursday. Noah Coon from Arlington, Virginia is a big weather fan and stopped by the studio thanks to Dream On 3. Noah has cerebral palsy and was in Boston to visit the Red Sox. Because he’s also a fan of meteorology, he came to visit the WBZ weather team.” [WBZ]

Video: Yorktown vs. W-L — Just published online: “Long-lost footage of the famous Nov. 5, 1970, mud bowl football game between the Yorktown High School Patriots and the Washington-Lee Generals. Yorktown was favored with a 9-0 record but W-L won 12-0 and earned the Potomac District championship. [YouTube]

‘Signal Problem’ at Rosslyn Leads to Major Metro Delays

By ARLnow.com

Update at 9:55 a.m. — The issue has been resolved and Blue Line service resolved, Metro says, though residual delays remain.

Earlier: Metro riders are facing delays this morning due to a reported signal problem at the Rosslyn station.

Currently, Metro says the Blue Line is no longer running to Largo and shuttle buses are being requested to run from Rosslyn to the Pentagon. Service at Arlington Cemetery station is said to be suspended.

Delays have also been reported on the Orange, Silver and Blue lines since the problem was first reported around 8 a.m.

More via social media:

File photo

Dark Star Park in Rosslyn Expands Its Orbit

By Vernon Miles
1/2

Rosslyn’s Dark Star Park is growing and recently swallowed a nearby slip lane.

The park is notable for the somewhat strange concrete orbs and poles, designed to cast perfectly aligned shadows every August 1. The expansion of the park was planned as part of the Core of Rosslyn study, a project aimed at making Rosslyn’s street network more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly.

The first stage of the expansion is the closure of a slip lane between Fort Myer Drive and N. Lynn Street. The lane was closed last week and will now be used as park space, furnished with tables, chairs, and artwork.

According to the project website, the county government is hopeful that the community will use the new open space as a daily activity spot.

The next stage of the project will involve the expansion of Dark Star Park’s green space and sidewalks into the unutilized street space, but that expansion is still in the early design stages.

Funding for the second stage of the project is expected to be determined as part of the next Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) budget update.

Images via Arlington County

JUST IN: Gold’s Gym to Open New Location in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com
1/2

A new 30,000 square foot Gold’s Gym is coming to Rosslyn next year.

The fitness chain announced this morning that it is planning to open in the redeveloped Rosslyn City Center, next to the Metro station, next fall.

The new gym will features boutique-style classes, group classes and 3D body scanning, plus “health spa-quality shower and towel amenities, healthy concessions and exclusive use of a 1,400 square-foot training terrace overlooking Central Place Plaza with expansive views of the Rosslyn skyline.”

Once it opens, the new Gold’s Gym will replace the existing subterranean Gold’s at 1830 N. Nash Street, which is located below an office complex that itself is slated to eventually be redeveloped.

More from a press release:

American Real Estate Partners (AREP), an institutional fund manager and operating partner focused on office and mixed-use repositioning and development, announced today Gold’s Gym, the world’s trusted fitness authority, will open a new location at AREP’s Rosslyn City Center.

Expected to open in third quarter of 2020, the new location will provide Rosslyn City Center tenants and the neighborhood’s growing resident and business community with access to the full Gold’s Gym fitness experience and programming. This includes a suite of boutique-style GOLD’SSTUDIO® classes – GOLD’SFIT®, GOLD’SBURN™ and GOLD’S CYCLE™ – along with a diverse schedule of group exercise classes, 3D body scanning, GOLD’SAMP™ digital personal training and an expert team of certified Gold’s Gym personal trainers. Additionally, Gold’s Gym will offer health spa-quality shower and towel amenities, healthy concessions and exclusive use of a 1,400 square-foot training terrace overlooking Central Place Plaza with expansive views of the Rosslyn skyline.

“The renovation of Rosslyn City Center is fully underway and will complete the core of Rosslyn’s renaissance, bringing the best restaurants and fitness amenities to serve all of the new residents and tenants relocating to Rosslyn,” said Doug Fleit, CEO of AREP.  “Rosslyn City Center is a destination that will continue to attract the best employee talent for offices around Metro.”

In June, AREP announced the $35 million renovation of Rosslyn City Center with state-of-the-art exterior, lobby and common spaces. Along with the addition of Gold’s Gym, the redevelopment also includes new retail destinations that will match Rosslyn’s transformation into a vibrant urban center, including a Chase bank and a 20,000 square foot food hall with 12 locally-curated food stalls and two lounges operated by Austin, Texas-based Oz Rey.

“Healthy, local food and a commitment to wellness are key priorities for today’s workforce, especially for the millennial population that makes up more than 40 percent of workers in Rosslyn today,” said Paul Schulman, Principal and Chief Operating Officer, AREP. “With millennials contributing to an estimated $4.2 trillion global wellness market, bringing in award-winning industry leaders like Gold’s Gym and Oz Rey food halls to manage world-class facilities with high foot traffic at Rosslyn City Center provides greater opportunities for our tenants, retailers and the community at large.”

Retail, along with hospitality amenities, are signature components of AREP’s placemaking strategy at Rosslyn City Center — and across its portfolio — to develop properties that leverage innovative design and elevated amenities to create destinations that have a sense of place and activate tenant and community engagement.

Rosslyn-Based Ostendio Moves to Make Cybersecurity Auditing More Accessible

By Vernon Miles

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

(Updated at 10:45) Ostendio wants to make it easier for users to see how much more — or less — secure they are compared to their peers.

The growing, Rosslyn-based cybersecurity startup has made some big changes over the last year and is making a push to make security auditing easier for smaller companies.

“We have just launched a major initiative called My VCM CrossWalk,” Miranda Elliott, a spokeswoman for Ostendio, said in an email. “It gives customers an easy way to showcase to an auditor that they are compliant to security regulations. More recently we launched a new web site to showcase our business and provide information to customers who are navigating a security program.”

Elliott said the program is aimed at managing risks for small and mid-size organizations who need to demonstrate compliance to security standards. The program is aimed at making it easy for a company to showcase their security ratings or find the help they need to get on track.

“We are just getting ready to enhance MyVCM with the launch of two new programs,” said Elliott. “One called Vendor Connect, which will allow an organization to push security assessment requirements to any of their vendors, and the other is called Auditor Connect, which will allow a third-party auditor to complete the audit from completely within the MyVCM platform.”

“Both… programs are an extension of our recently launched MyVCM CrossWalk Assessment,” Elliott added. “They make security audits more straight-forward and help our customers save time and money.”

The company also recently moved to a new location in Rosslyn. Elliott said being in Arlington offers the company a competitive advantage

“At the beginning of July we moved to a larger office in Arlington Tower to fit our growing team,” said Elliott. “We chose to stay in Arlington because our organization has grown around this area and we have been able to recruit a skilled, diverse team from the Greater D.C. area here. Our experience is that Rosslyn-Arlington gives us access to a diverse talent pool and is an excellent location for our team in terms of transit options and entertainment outside of work.”

If you’re in the area and interested in a job, Elliott said the company is currently looking for a data product manager.

District Taco Marking 10 Year Anniversary With Free Tacos in Rosslyn

By Ashley Hopko
1/8

District Taco began as a stand-alone food cart and expanded into the burgeoning regional restaurant chain it is today.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of District Taco, which was co-founded by Marc Wallace and Osiris Hoil. The company is marking the occasion with an event in Rosslyn tomorrow (Thursday).

“ATTN, amigos!” the company said in a social media post. “Join us back where it all started for our 10 year anniversary… from 12-1 p.m. we will be on the corner of Lynn St & Wilson Blvd, in Rosslyn, handing out tacos and giveaways! Come celebrate with us and pose for a photo with our original taco cart.”

Hoil said he also plans on celebrating by taking a trip down to Mexico in August to visit family and reminisce about his mother’s cooking — the inspiration for many District Taco recipes.

Hoil’s entrepreneurial story began when he came to the United States as an immigrant and was laid off from a construction company during in 2007, around the time of the economic crisis. He said despite his dismay at the time, he still thinks highly of the firm and hired them to build several District Taco locations.

The District Taco cart launched in 2009, but was retired in 2014. Since then, two bricks-and-mortar District Taco locations have opened in Arlington: at 5723 Lee Highway — its very first storefront — in 2010 and in Rosslyn (1500 Wilson Blvd) in 2016.

District Taco now has 14 locations, according to its website, and plans to add at least three more in 2020, according to Hoil. They also want to double their office space by 2021.

“Everything we have done is by scratch,” said Hoil. “We have learned so much from other people and big companies.”

Photo 1 via Twitter

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