Good Friday evening, Fairfax County. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.

🕗 News recap

The following articles were published earlier today — May 3, 2024.

• 8:15 am: Morning Notes | 🗣️ Comments
• 9:45 am: FCPD: Lorton man arrested for shooting at fellow rideshare passenger | 🗣️ Comments
• 10:30 am: Developer proposes hotel with condos in place of long-planned Tysons office building | 🗣️ Comments
• 11:30 am: Reston Association launches public survey on proposed Shadowood renaming | 🗣️ Comments
• 1:30 pm: Fairfax pro golfer to compete among nation’s best in 2024 PGA Championship | 🗣️ Comments
• 2:30 pm: Bike to Work Day returns to D.C. area this month, promising a workout and swag | 🗣️ Comments

Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.

1. Fairfax restaurant listed among 25 best in D.C. by New York Times (17940 views)
2. Expanded Route 7 is now fully operational from Reston to Tysons (10230 views)
3. Fairfax board eyes lower-than-proposed real estate tax hike amid budget constraints (6807 views)
4. Herndon cements vision for development of transition zone near Metro station (5438 views)
5. Google to invest $1 billion to expand data centers in Northern Virginia (5212 views)
6. Fairfax County board approves real estate tax hike, laments state under-funding (4961 views)
7. Farmers market, big trucks to park in Herndon this week (4907 views)
8. County board backs Maryland’s push for funds to replace American Legion Bridge (3212 views)
9. Elden Street Tea Shop to launch new Reston location with tea festival (2440 views)
10. Sushi Umi’s new Tysons restaurant is now open (2280 views)

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Saturday throughout the county, from our event calendar.

• 8:00 am: Community Yard Sale
• 10:30 am: How to Play Mahjong
• 12:00 pm: Reston Water Safety Day
• 1:00 pm: Craft Gallery of Artisans United: Show Opening Reception
• 2:00 pm: Romeo and Juliet at Lake Braddock Theatre
• 2:00 pm: Freaky Friday “Mother-Daughter Matinee” at Westfield High School
• 👉 3:00 pm: Encore Creativity for Older Adults at Capital One Hall
• 6:00 pm: Family Roller Skate and Dance Night
• 7:00 pm: Dispatches from Appalachia – Real Stories from The Big Stone Gap Post
• 7:00 pm: U.S. Army Brass Quintet Military Appreciation Concert
• 7:00 pm: Freaky Friday at Westfield High School
• 7:30 pm: Big Fish at South Lakes High School
• 8:00 pm: Brian Ganz: A Chopin Recital – Romantic Revolutionary
• 9:00 pm: The Phantom Jay Band The Old Fire Station Fairfax

Here are the events planned for Sunday:

• 9:00 am: Hopecam 5K Run and Walk
• 2:00 pm: The Joy of Creating Exhibit
• 5:30 pm: Blues Open Mic at The Old Fire Station

🌧️ Saturday’s forecast

Rain and drizzle are expected mainly before noon, followed by more rain in the afternoon, with a high temperature near 57°F and an east wind at 9 mph. The chance of precipitation is 80%, and new amounts may range from a tenth to a quarter of an inch. Saturday night will see continuous rain, with a low temperature around 56°F, an east wind at 10 mph, a 90% chance of precipitation, and similar new precipitation amounts. See more from Weather.gov.

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.

We hope you have a great weekend! Feel free to discuss the most-read stories of the week, the upcoming weekend events or anything else of local interest in the comments. 👋

Local morning commuters can save on gas and win a free t-shirt when Bike to Work Day returns to Fairfax County this month.

The 23rd annual Bike to Work Day is scheduled for Friday, May 17, offering residents across the D.C. area the opportunity to celebrate cycling. Fairfax County will host 27 designated pit stops, with additional stops organized by Commuter Connections, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) and local governments in the region.

Participants are encouraged to register and visit a pit stop by bike to receive a complimentary T-shirt in this year’s color (orange), along with snacks and door prizes. A total of 110 pit stops will be available throughout D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Most pit stops will operate in the morning, with some offering afternoon hours. Commuter Connections, a regional network of transportation organizations, offers turn-by-turn directions for routes that would take cyclists on safe, bicycle-friendly paths and roads.

While Bike to Work Day is a free event, T-shirts are reserved for the first 16,000 registered participants. All registered participants will be eligible to win grand prizes, including bicycles, through raffle drawings.

Each pit stop will offer amenities, including complimentary snacks, beverages, swag bicycling information and raffle prizes. Cyclists can also join free Bike to Work Day convoys led by experienced volunteers.

Bike to Work Day will proceed rain or shine, though individual pit stops can make adjustments in extreme weather conditions. Participants are advised to bring rain gear and stay informed of updates from their pit stop manager.

A full list of pit stops in the Fairfax County area is below. Read More

Local golf professional Larkin Gross has qualified for the 2024 PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, where he will face off with some of the U.S.’s top male golfers in two weeks.

Gross, a Fairfax resident and assistant professional at the Westwood Country Club in Vienna, secured a spot in the Professional Golfers Association of America’s annual tournament after competing in the PGA Professional Championship in Frisco, Texas.

Gross finished inside the top 20 at the Texas event, which was held at Fields Ranch from this past Saturday (April 28) through Wednesday (May 1).

Those who finish in the top 20 at the PGA Professional Championship qualify for the PGA Championship, one of the country’s four major golf championships for men and the only one exclusively for pro players.

Gross tied for the eighth position in the PGA Professional Championship, finishing with the same score of 292 as fellow Virginian, Locust Hill resident Josh Speight, among others.

Now in its 106th year, the 2024 PGA Championship will take place at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 16-19. In addition to Gross, the player lineup includes Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and defending champion Brooks Koepka.

The push to rename Reston’s Shadowood Recreation Area has reached a new phase with the launch of an online survey.

Reston Association announced on Wednesday (May 1) that it’s officially seeking community input on a possible name change for the swimming pool and tennis courts on Springwood Drive.

In addition to the survey, which asks respondents whether they support a renaming and what the new name should be if they do, RA will host a community input session on the topic at Walker Nature Center (11450 Glade Drive) on May 13, starting at 6 p.m.

“Staff will collect all community input and provide recommendations to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors,” RA said in a news release.

The survey is expected to remain open through May 17, according to RA Communications Director Cara O’Donnell. The parks and recreation committee’s next meeting is scheduled for May 29.

At a Board of Directors meeting in March, RA CEO Mac Cummins indicated that the goal is to implement a name change, if one is approved, in conjunction with Shadowood pool’s reopening. The facility finished a renovation in November and is expected to reopen on June 15 during RA’s summer pool season.

Residents first proposed renaming the Shadowood Recreation Area in 2009 and 2010, but insufficient signatures for a petition led the board of directors to vote against a change in 2011.

The issue resurfaced in December 2022, as advocates made the case that a different name would make it clearer that the recreational facilities are open to all RA members, not just Shadowood Condominium residents.

An RA work group floated the possibility of repurposing Shadowood and three other pools in 2021, citing their low usage and the association’s climbing maintanence and capital costs. RA’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee ultimately recommended a renovation instead, arguing that improved amenities might boost the pool’s usage.

Approved by the RA board in 2022, the renovation involved a reconfiguration of the main pool to add lap lanes, the conversion of a wading pool into a splash pad, and roof, deck, flooring and bathhouse repairs. A gas line has also been installed from South Lakes Drive to heat the pool.

A D.C. developer is officially scuttling plans for City View, an office high-rise once expected to break ground near Tysons Galleria a decade ago.

Four Points has asked Fairfax County to amend its plan for the 1.7-acre site at 7901 Westpark Drive so it can build a 28-story hotel and condominium tower instead of the 10-story office building that the Board of Supervisors approved in 2012 as part of the Arbor Row development.

“The Applications continue to propose a predominantly commercial use of Block F in the form of a world-class hotel and ground floor retail use,” Matthew Roberts, a counsel for the developer, wrote in an April 30 statement of justification. “New, luxury residential condominium units will complement and add to the variety of uses at the Property. Further, the condominium units will provide additional ownership opportunities for residents who wish to live, work, play, and contribute to Tysons.”

Announced in 2013, City View was intended to replace the headquarters of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), which owned the property. The CEO of American Real Estate Partners, the enlisted developer, declared it would be “the most desirable office building in the market” due to its proximity to the then-incoming Tysons Metro station and I-495, Commercial Property Executive reported at the time.

Though a groundbreaking was initially anticipated in late 2014, AMT’s existing office building wasn’t demolished until late 2018 — two years after the trade association relocated just a block away to 7901 Jones Branch Drive.

Four Points, which bought the vacant property for over $10 million in 2021, still trumpets City View as a future “crown jewel of the new Tysons” on its website, but the developer has now determined that an office building is “no longer feasible” for the site “due to persistent market conditions,” according to the application submitted to Fairfax County.

“Yet, a primarily commercial use of the site is viable, in line with the Tysons Plan’s vision for Arbor Row,” Roberts wrote.

Topping out at 365 feet, compared to the 175-foot maximum height for City View, the newly proposed building would consist of 225 hotel rooms, 32 condo units on its upper floors and 4,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor.

The building would be supported by 270 on-site parking spaces in a mostly underground garage and about 24,000 square feet of private amenity space, including a second-floor terrace with a swimming pool. The developer has offered to provide 0.25 acres of publicly accessible park space and an 8-foot-wide sidewalk along Westpark Drive.

According to the application, the hotel, condos and retail will generate fewer peak-hour vehicle trips than the planned office building would’ve, and the retail will complement the businesses in the adjacent Nouvelle Apartments, whose current tenants include the Mediterranean restaurant Agora Tysons.

A lack of proposed workforce dwelling units (WDUs) could be a sticking point for county staff, which has objected to a similar omission in another potential Arbor Row building. Four Points believes a cash contribution in lieu of WDUs is justified by the “unique circumstances” of its development, which will be mostly devoted to commercial uses.

“The residential component of this development will consist of luxury condominiums with price points and associated condominium fees exceeding other typical for-sale residential products,” the application says. “This will likely be prohibitive and generate a financial burden for lower-incomes residents.”

According to Roberts’s statement, the only residential building in Tysons to include for-sale WDUs is Monarch, which opened in Arbor Row last July, and those units have been “difficult to implement.”

The City View site is one of six blocks in Arbor Row. The approved plan for the neighborhood calls for almost 2.7 million square feet of mixed-use development on 19.4 acres along Westpark Drive near Tysons Galleria.

Image via Google Maps

Police arrested a Lorton man earlier this week in connection to a March 1 incident where he allegedly fired a gun at another rideshare passenger.

According to the Fairfax County Police Department, officers responded to the 9200 block of Ashland Woods Lane in Lorton shortly after midnight for a call about a shooting.

An investigation determined that Yusef Roy, 32, and the victim had been picked up at different locations by the same rideshare driver, who dropped them off at destinations “in close proximity to each other,” police said.

After they were dropped off, Roy and the other passenger “exchanged words,” and Roy allegedly shot at the other person multiple times.

“The victim was not struck, and the suspect fled the area,” the FCPD said in a news release published yesterday (Thursday).

Police say the two individuals were unknown to each other when they got into the vehicle, and the source of the apparent disagreement is unclear.

According to court records, Roy was arrested on Monday (April 29) and charged with attempted malicious wounding and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He’s currently in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center after a bond hearing on Wednesday (May 1).

A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for July 31.

School Bus Catches Fire in Reston — “#FairfaxsBravest are on scene of a school bus fire on SB Fairfax County Parkway at Fox Mill Road. The driver exited the bus prior to #FCFRD arrival. The bus was otherwise unoccupied. The fire is out.” [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue/Twitter]

Record Heat Reported at Dulles Airport — “By 6 p.m. Thursday, the record for Thursday’s date was tied at Reagan National at 91 degrees…and the record was broken at Dulles International Airport when temperatures hit 91 degrees…The previous record for May 2 at Dulles was 88 degrees, and the average high in the region for this day of the year is 73 degrees.” [WTOP]

Task Force to Recommend Metro Funding Plan — “Setting up Metro with dedicated funding has been discussed for decades in the region but still hasn’t come to fruition. Now, WMATA and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments hope a regional task force can finally bring about an agreeable plan of action.” [WTOP]

Local Schools Get New Principals — “Daniels Run Elementary School Principal Chris Smith was named the new principal at Katherine Johnson Middle School on Thursday afternoon, according to a release from the City of Fairfax Schools.” Meanwhile, Holly Dowling, an administrator at Braddock Elementary School, will serve as principal of Bailey’s Upper Elementary School, starting May 13. [Patch, Annandale Today]

County Animal Shelter Waives Adoption Fees — “The shelter is partnering with the BISSELL Pet Foundation for the ‘Empty the Shelters’ adoption event. Thanks to the foundation’s generous support, the shelter will offer fee-waived adoptions for all pets…May 2 through 5 at both shelter locations.” [Fairfax County Animal Shelter]

Resources for Mental Health Awareness Month — “Mental Health Awareness Month, observed every year during the month of May, is an opportune time to fight stigma, provide support, increase awareness and remind individuals of the services and resources that exist to support the millions of people impacted by mental health issues.” [Fairfax County]

It’s Friday — Expect a mostly sunny day with highs around 79 degrees and an east wind of 9 to 11 mph. Moving into Friday night, there is a 30% chance of showers as clouds increase. Overnight lows will be near 54 degrees with east winds around 8 to 11 mph. [NWS]

Good Thursday evening, Fairfax County. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.

🕗 News recap

The following articles were published earlier today — May 2, 2024.

• 8:15 am: Morning Notes | 🗣️ Comments
• 9:30 am: Fairfax restaurant listed among 25 best in D.C. by New York Times | 🗣️ Comments
• 10:30 am: Planning commission OKs access-limiting gates for Herndon development | 🗣️ Comments
• 11:30 am: Report: Inova backs off plans for mixed-use ‘innovation district’ on Merrifield campus | 🗣️ Comments
• 2:30 pm: Historic Ellmore Farmhouse reopens with new cafe and gift shop run by people with disabilities | 🗣️ Comments
• 4:30 pm: Fatal McLean police shooting was ‘tragic’ but not ‘legally unreasonable,’ auditor says | 🗣️ Comments
• 4:45 pm: Most and least expensive homes sold in Fairfax County (April 2024) | 🗣️ Comments

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Friday throughout the county, from our event calendar.

• 7:00 pm: Romeo and Juliet at The Lake Braddock Theatre
• 7:00 pm: Freaky Friday at Westfield High School
• 7:30 pm: Big Fish at South Lakes High School
• 9:00 pm: Karaoke Fridays The Old Fire Station Fairfax

☀️ Friday’s forecast

Expect mostly sunny skies with a high near 80 degrees and an east wind of 8-11 mph. On Friday night, there is a 40% chance of showers, primarily after 11pm, accompanied by mostly cloudy conditions and a low around 54 degrees, maintaining an east wind of 8-11 mph. See more from Weather.gov.

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

Here in Fairfax County, real estate is a spectator sport. Let’s take a look at some of the most and least expensive single-family homes sold last month (April 2024).

Most expensive single-family homes sold

1. 7012 Holyrood Dr — McLean — $9,115,000 (7 beds | 9 baths | 8,700 sq. ft.)
2. 6622 Malta Ln — McLean — $9,000,000 (6 beds | 8.5 baths | 12,593 sq. ft.)
3. 633 River Bend Rd — Great Falls — $7,200,000 (6 beds | 10 baths | 17,350 sq. ft.)
4. 6511 W Langley Ln — McLean — $6,450,000 (7 beds | 10 baths | 11,600 sq. ft.)
5. 8423 Brook Rd — Greenway Heights — $5,000,000 (6 beds | 8 baths | 11,081 sq. ft.)

Least expensive single-family homes sold*

1. 6311 Prospect Terrace — Virginia Hills — $420,000 (4 beds | 2 baths | 988 sq. ft.)
2. 8122 Keeler St — Woodlawn — $469,500 (3 beds | 2 baths | 1,460 sq. ft.)
3. 3307 Dona Ave — Rose Hill — $486,000 (3 beds | 1 baths | 1,155 sq. ft.)

*Minimum home value of $200,000 set to exclude certain land sales, retirement condos, properties with expiring ground leases, etc.