When it got approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors this fall, VHC Health and Intuitive Health’s planned hybrid emergency room and urgent care facility was touted as a clear upgrade for West Falls Church’s Graham Center, transforming the aging strip mall with an innovative health care resource and much-needed road safety improvements.
However, for the small businesses that in some cases have been housed at the Graham Center for decades, the impending redevelopment has brought stress and upheaval, as they consider whether to relocate or possibly close their doors for good.
While VHC Health and Fairfax County say they reached out to the business owners and other community members during the planning process for the proposed facility, at least some of the business owners were taken by surprise when they were notified in September that they would have to leave by the end of March 2025, according to Viet Place Collective (VPC), a volunteer-led, grassroots community organization.
“I just took over the business a year and a half ago, and I had no idea about this redevelopment,” Tim Lê, owner of the Vietnamese restaurant Phở Golden Cow, said. “[It] is so short notice, and the cold makes moving tough… Any assistance from the landlord would help a lot.”
Immigrant-owned businesses ‘integral’ to community, group says
Built in 1953, Graham Center (7234 Arlington Blvd) is currently home to 10 businesses, all of them owned by immigrants. In addition to Phở Golden Cow, there’s Biên Hòa Oriental Supermarket, the El Salvadorean eatery Pupuseria Mana, Skyline Nail Supply, Carina’s Fashion, a dentistry, cell phone stores and more.
The longest-standing business — Modern Shoe Repair & Cleaners — has been operating since 1978, VPC says. The shopping center is also adjacent to Harvest Moon, a Chinese restaurant and banquet hall that opened in the 1980s but permanently closed during the pandemic.
Though modest, VPC says the businesses at Graham Center have provided “integral” services, products and food to the surrounding community, whose residents are about 38% foreign-born and mostly Hispanic or Asian, per Census estimates.
According to VPC, which formed in 2021 to advocate for a revitalization plan for Falls Church City’s Eden Center that reinvested in local businesses instead of displacing them, some of the Graham Center businesses reported struggles to get building and parking lot repairs, which they hoped meant their landlord planned to renovate the shopping center.
Multiple owners, including Elviz, owner of Elviz Styles Salon, also reported rent hikes over the past year.
“Within the last year before the closure announcement, they raised our rent three times. I feel like they were trying to push us out,” Elviz said.
Some of the affected businesses have managed to find new locations, including Elviz Styles, Dr. Hưng M. Nguyễn Dentistry and USA Mobiles, a small cell phone store that was subleasing from Modern Shoe Repair. Pupuseria Mana and Phở Golden Cow are still hopeful they can reopen elsewhere.
But Skyline Nail Supply, Biên Hòa Oriental Supermarket, Carina’s Fashion and Modern Shoe Repair are at risk of closing permanently, VPC says, calling Biên Hòa a particularly notable loss as one of Northern Virginia’s longest-standing and last-remaining Vietnamese grocery stores.
VHC Health and county dispute communication issues
VHC Health, which acquired the Graham Center property in July 2023, says it did offer to assist the displaced businesses by connecting them with a broker who could help them find a new location. The offer was made in a letter distributed to tenants on Aug. 16, 2024, informing them that their month-to-month leases would stop being renewed effective March 31, 2025.
The shopping center needs to be vacated at that time to allow on-site construction activities to begin in time for demolition to start on schedule in the summer, VHC Health Vice President of Real Estate Acquisition and Development Adrian Stanton told FFXnow by email.
“Unfortunately, no tenants took advantage of this offer,” Stanton said, adding that the offer of a referral to a broker remains available.
According to Stanton, VHC Health first informed tenants and community members of its plans to redevelop Graham Center with a new medical facility in April 2024. The health system had submitted a special exception application to Fairfax County with its proposal in February.
While the county reviewed the application, VHC Health held a virtual community meeting to share details of its plans on May 7, 2024, and an in-person meeting on July 9, 2024, where it provided dinner and child care for nearly 100 attendees, Stanton said.
It’s unclear whether any of the business owners were among the attendees of either meeting, but Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik describes the May 7 meeting as a success, thanks in part to child care and translation support from the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services.
The county notified tenants about the proposed redevelopment on Aug. 1, and on Sept. 1 through “their normal channels” as well as website and on-site notifications, Stanton said.
The special exception was ultimately approved by the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 8.
“Robust and effective outreach is important,” Palchik said. “So, in addition to efforts by the Graham Center owners, staff from my office walked the community and went door-to-door to the current businesses at the Graham Center … We would be happy to reconnect directly with the tenants.”
VHC Health also denies increasing rents or neglecting requested maintenance and repairs. According to Stanton, the health system didn’t make any adjustments to the lease agreements that were in place when it acquired the shopping center.
“VHC Health has performed general improvements and repairs including increased lighting, the addition of speed bumps, more routine trash collection and filled potholes, which were all identified as needs from the current tenants,” Stanton said. “VHC Health also performed routine maintenance updates to the building that are included in the tenant’s lease.”
Community organizers call for support for businesses
However, VPC says the frustrations it has heard from business owners suggests there were gaps in the county and VHC Health’s communication and outreach efforts, noting that the approved redevelopment plan didn’t include any requirements or commitments to assist the displaced tenants.
“Fairfax County approved this development without consulting the impacted small businesses and without considering how this displacement of the businesses and their workers would affect the community,” Binh Ly, core organizer of Viet Place Collective, said. “It’s clear that the outreach that’s legally required is neither sufficient nor considerate.”
In addition to sending VHC Health a letter urging them to postpone the vacate date, reduce rent for the remaining tenants and assist with relocations, the grassroots organization says it “will continue to actively explore other avenues to aid the small businesses” and hopes the community will show support before they’re displaced.
Stanton acknowledged that the Graham Center redevelopment has created difficulties for the business owners but maintained that VHC Health is working to mitigate the project’s impact.
“We understand that this is a challenging time,” Stanton said. “Our commitment is not only to the success of this project, but also to the well-being of the people and businesses that make our community vibrant. We have been working closely with tenants to find meaningful solutions, including relocation support and access to resources to help navigate this transition.”
