Around Town

Abricott, a new business with a heady gamut of nuts and sweets served 100 different ways and counting, has opened in the heart of Reston Town Center.

Located at 11900 Market Street, where it has a direct view of the Mercury Fountain, the small storefront has a prime location, robust smells and bold interior color palette that easily capture the attention of passersby.


News

The VY at Reston Heights apartment community has been rebranded The Point at Rise following its Dec. 11 sale to institutional fund manager Pantzer Properties.

The building, located at 11830 Sunrise Valley Drive, was built in 2018 by JBG Smith and has 385 residential units, including two-story loft style townhomes. Gold’s Gym, Reston Kabob and My Home Thai occupy its street-level retail spaces.


News

Local nonprofit Friends of Reston has brought new life to its Friends of Trees Tree Fund program, doubling down on its efforts to help preserve Reston’s lush tree canopy by encouraging the community to plant more trees.

The program has existed since at least 2012 but experienced a slowdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Kathleen Driscoll, president of Friends of Reston, which supports Reston Association through private fundraising and charitable, educational and scientific activities.


Around Town

Contrast therapy studio SweatHouz held its grand opening in Reston on Oct. 22, marking another milestone for the franchise as it rapidly expands in Northern Virginia.

Located at 12100 Sunset Hills Road, Suite R9, the Reston Town Center West location is SweatHouz’s third location in Virginia, joining others in the Mosaic District in Merrifield and the Ballston area of Arlington.


News

The first phase of work is underway in the redevelopment of Isaac Newton Square, an office park in Reston that will be transformed into a mixed-use neighborhood in phases over the next 20 years.

Work started at the end of September at the northern end of the site to preserve a line of willow oak trees located along Isaac Newton Square North near Wiehle Avenue. Improvements to streets and infrastructure, such as stormwater facilities, utilities and bioretention facilities, are also in the works.


News

As Fairfax County Public Schools leaders consider a policy to guide the usage of artificial intelligence in classrooms, a lab program from Virginia Tech is already preparing some students to be at the forefront of technological change.

Bucknell Elementary School in Groveton is the new home of the Thinkabit Lab Innovation Space, a tactile learning hub developed by the wireless technology manufacturer Qualcomm that’s designed to pique students’ interests in science and prepare them for careers in technology.


Around Town

A boutique dedicated to the oeuvre of an Iranian American painter, sculptor, and printmaker will host its grand opening in Reston Town Center next month (Nov. 9) from 3 to 5 p.m.

Nasser Ovissi, a former diplomat and cultural attaché under Iran’s former Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, settled in Reston in the 1980s, opening a studio that has since become an artist collective.


Around Town

At a new store in Herndon, customers can survey the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum and the Empire State Building in miniature all at the same time.

Bricks & Minifigs, a national retail chain in the niche market of reselling LEGO mini-figures, bricks and sets, opened in Herndon on June 8. The occasion was reminiscent of Black Friday, with people standing in line two hours before the doors opened, franchise manager Soma Chatterji told FFXnow.


Around Town

The Fairfax County Park Authority will celebrate American colonists’ declaration of independence from Great Britain a little early this year, hosting its annual fireworks celebration this Saturday (June 29) at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston.

The event starts at 1400 Lake Fairfax Drive well before dark — at noon — giving attendees plenty of time to find the choicest spots for live music and the 9 p.m. fireworks show. There is no admission to the park after 8:45 p.m.


Countywide

Juneteenth is just under a week away, but in many places around Fairfax County, the celebrations will start this weekend.

Officially known as Juneteenth National Independence Day, it is observed annually on June 19, the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to liberate some 250,000 enslaved people who had not been freed despite President Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.


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