Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

Plan to convert former Inova HQ into live-work development advances

Published June 9, 2023 at 1:30PM

Developer Madison Highland proposed a "game table community park" outside 8110 Gatehouse Road in its plan to repurpose the office building as a live/work development (via Fairfax County)

The proposed repurposing of Inova Health System’s former corporate headquarters in Merrifield as live/work and workforce housing units got a hearty recommendation from the Fairfax County Planning Commission earlier this week.

The commission recommended on Wednesday (June 7) that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approve the plan from Madison Highland, a developer focused on live/work projects that’s pursuing similar conversions at the Skyline Center in Bailey’s Crossroads.

News

Providence Community Center’s new name is up for a vote

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 9, 2023 at 11:45AM

Providence Community Center (file photo)

Fairfax County has already decided to rename the Providence Community Center after the late Jim Scott, a former Providence District supervisor and state delegate.

The exact phrasing of the new name, however, remains up for debate.

News

Grill grease behind McLean house fire that displaced four people

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 9, 2023 at 9:30AM

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue responds to a house fire in the 6000 block of Chesterbrook Road in McLean (via FCFRD)

Four McLean residents lost their home last week in a fire that investigators say was ignited by grease on an outdoor grill.

The fire started accidentally in the 6000 block of Chesterbrook Road on June 2 when grease that had accumulated on the back patio grill ignited, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department reported yesterday (Thursday).

News

Vienna will send 1950s-era Faith Baptist Church building to ‘house heaven’

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 8, 2023 at 2:15PM

The former Faith Baptist Church building in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Faith Baptist Church that has occupied 301 Center Street South in Vienna for about seven decades will officially be torn down.

Faced with increasing maintenance costs, the Vienna Town Council voted unanimously on Monday (June 5) to demolish the entire two-story building, which was originally built in the 1950s, according to Fairfax County records.

Around Town

Handmade ice cream shop to expand from Arlington to the Mosaic District and beyond

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 8, 2023 at 11:00AM

A scoop of roasted red pepper ice cream from Mimi's Handmade (photo by Rollin Amore)

An Arlington-based ice cream shop that brings together flavors from around the world is planting its flag in the Mosaic District to further an ambitious expansion plan.

Mimi’s Handmade will take up residence in the Merrifield neighborhood at 2985 District Avenue, Suite 160, replacing 520 Ice Cream and Tea after the cafe closed late last year.

Countywide

Poll: Fairfax County’s air quality is hazardous today. Have you limited your outdoor activities?

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 8, 2023 at 9:45AM | Updated June 8, 2023 at 10:28AM

The Capital Beltway at Lewinsville Road is hazy and congested (via VDOT)

(Updated at 10:30 a.m.) It’s another day of poor air quality for Fairfax County and the rest of the D.C. area.

As wildfires continue to burn in Canada, the resulting smoke has clouded the East Coast in a sometimes orange-tinted haze of particulate matter. As of 9 a.m., Fairfax was at 313 on the Air Quality Index (AQI) — a Code Maroon for hazardous air that’s even more severe than yesterday’s Code Red.

Around Town

McLean’s Chesterbrook adds French-inspired home decor store, veterinary clinic

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 7, 2023 at 2:15PM

The home decor store Le Village Marché is opening a new boutique at Chesterbrook Shopping Center in McLean (courtesy Le Village Marché)

A home decor store inspired by Parisian flea markets will say bonjour to the Chesterbrook Shopping Center in McLean this week.

Le Village Marché will open a new boutique at 6234 Old Dominion Drive on Friday (June 9), marking the company’s first expansion within Northern Virginia since it began operating in Shirlington in 2007.

Countywide

Code Red alert signaling unhealthy air issued for Fairfax County

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 7, 2023 at 11:10AM | Updated June 7, 2023 at 11:39AM

A haze hangs over I-66 in Dunn Loring (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

(Updated at 11:35 a.m.) Smoke drifting south from wildfires in Canada has introduced unhealthy levels of air pollution in the D.C. area.

A Code Red Air Quality Alert has been issued for the entire region, including Fairfax County, signaling that the air is unhealthy for everyone today (Wednesday), according to AirNow.

Around Town

BB.Q Chicken, not Bonchon, to fill Korean fried chicken void in Tysons

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 7, 2023 at 9:30AM

Bb.q Chicken is planning a restaurant in Tysons (via bb.q Chicken US/Instagram)

Tysons will get a Korean fried chicken restaurant this year, but it’ll no longer be Bonchon.

After getting a tip in January that signage installed at 8603 Westwood Center Drive had been removed, FFXnow was told that the location was still in the works. However, a Bonchon spokesperson has now confirmed that the planned restaurant isn’t moving forward.

News

Four arrested after police pursuit for alleged theft at Tysons Nordstrom Rack

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 6, 2023 at 3:45PM

Nordstrom Rack in Tysons (via Google Maps)

Kilmer Middle School was briefly put on alert this afternoon (Tuesday) while Fairfax County police searched Tysons for suspects in an alleged theft and hit-and-run at Nordstrom Rack.

Officers with the Fairfax County Police Department’s Tysons Urban Team responded to the clothing store at 8027 Leesburg Pike around 1:25 p.m. for a reported larceny, though an officer initially told the dispatcher that there was “no confirmed theft.”