Tysons Corner

The reign of the trophy kitchen is officially over. The dream kitchens of today aren't about the sexiest six-burner range or the most exotic countertop material. As cooking has returned to center stage and remodeling budgets have sobered, the kitchen island is nurturing family togetherness and reviving casual entertaining. In kitchens with a small footprint, glass tiles, quartz counters and dish drawers are adding sparkle and practicality. The kitchen of 2013 has soul. "That industrial, commercial style was looking a little cold," says...

Science Applications International Corp. announced Monday that it has agreed to sell its 18-acre Tysons Corner campus to a Bethesda-based real estate firm, the Meridian Group, for more than $200 million. The deal is part of SAIC's effort to remake itself amid waning government spending. The giant government contracting firm, based in McLean, announced last summer that it would split into two public companies: a government services firm that will retain the SAIC name and a technology company that will...

1723 Gosnell Rd. Vienna, Va. 22182 866-383-4724 · APPLICATION FEE: $75 per applicant · SECURITY DEPOSIT: None with approved credit · AMENITY FEE: $450, one time · LEASE TERM: 2-12 months · UTILITIES: Residents pay electricity, water, sewer and trash. · AMENITIES: Full-size washer and dryer in unit; most units are newly renovated with white-on-white kitchens and baths; modern cherry cabinets with black appliances; upgraded lighting, hardware, fixtures and closet...

Craig Shearman was at the Queenstown Premium Outlets with his mother last month when something stopped him in his tracks: A loudspeaker announcement in Mandarin. "This is an area that's known for fishing, goose hunting and taking your boat out on the Chesapeake Bay," said Shearman, vice president of government affairs for the National Retail Federation. "It's not really a place where you expect Chinese travelers to buy haute couture. " But that seems to be quickly changing. As international...

Tysons Corner was largely undeveloped Virginia farmland until the 1960s, and did not become a major employment center until defense contractors set up shop there in the mid-1980s. Soon after, development exploded and the area boasted some of the fastest growth in the region. Now, Tysons Corner is one of the largest suburban centers in the country and one of the most popular addresses in the region. The area is expected to blossom further with the arrival of Metrorail's Silver Line and the high occupancy toll (HOT)

Wal-Mart plans to open a store in Tysons Corner on the site of the former Moore Cadillac dealership as part of a mixed-use development that will probably be one of the first to accompany Metrorail's arrival to the area . The 79,000-square-foot store would join new offices, a gym, parking lots and other stores as part of a project by developer JBG Cos. on Leesburg Pike between Ashgrove Lane and Westwood Center Drive. JBG and Wal-Mart are in final negotiations on a lease agreement, company officials said.

A Sept. 7 Close to Home commentary, "A Green Makeover for Tysons Corner," extolled the potential benefits of the giant redevelopment being planned for Tysons Corner. Besides the benefits, the complications should be mentioned. The proposal would mean accommodating at least 100,000 more workers and 85,000 more residents in Tysons Corner. A large percentage of these people would not both live and work in Tysons, so traffic would get worse. Many road improvements would be needed to handle the additional traffic,...

With no Zip code of its own, Tysons Corner has long struggled to define its sense of place, despite success as a major shopping and employment hub. It isn't an official city and residents and businesses there have traditionally had mailing addresses in McLean, Falls Church or Vienna. Until now. Fairfax County received approval this week from the U.S. Postal Service for the use of Tysons Corner or Tysons as an official address. It can be used in the 22102 and 22182 Zip codes of McLean and Vienna, which make up the majority of...

The first thing to go was the parking lot behind the Container Store. And if all goes according to plan, more lots will be bulldozed — as will dozens of mid-rise office buildings, hotels and car dealerships. Two years after Fairfax County adopted a radical, four-decade plan to redevelop Tysons Corner , it is finally beginning to happen, block by block, building by building. Inspired by the decision to run Metro's new Silver Line through Tysons, the county essentially is undertaking a do-over, one that seeks...

The May 29 front-page story "Plan to Remake Tysons Corner Envisions Dense Urban Center" portrayed a future urban utopia and cited Clarendon to show that nearby communities often fear density but like the results. I'd cite Crystal City as an urban disaster. And, having grown up near New York City, I know that density can be overwhelming. The problem with Tysons Corner's future is the unknowns. With Metrorail already strained, how will an additional line succeed? If Metro doesn't draw people from their cars, won't that...

Authority to hear public input Tuesday on Westgrove Park Plan The Fairfax County Park Authority will hold meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday to gather public input on a plan for Westgrove Park. The meeting will be in the cafeteria of the Belle View Elementary School, 6701 Fort Hunt Rd., Alexandria. Staff members will provide information about the park, current site conditions and the draft master plan. A moderated public comment session will follow presentations. Last year, the Park Authority Board approved an interim dog park at Westgrove Park.

Community corrections staff returns to Loudoun Street The staff of the Loudoun County Department of Community Corrections has moved back to 107 Loudoun St. in Leesburg, county officials said in a statement. Staff members had to temporarily relocate in November after fire damaged their offices. Substance-abuse groups that have been meeting Monday and Tuesday evenings at the Shenandoah Building on Heritage Way since the fire will return to Loudoun Street on Monday. The county Fire Marshal's Office has determined that the Loudoun Street...

T he harshest critic of the Old Angler's Inn is one of its heirs. Mark Reges, whose family has owned the property since 1957, says the Potomac restaurant had "fallen asleep over the decades. " The old couches in the front were smelly, the restrooms were pathetic, the shape of the kitchen so "lousy" — his word — that no good chef would want to work there. Not so long ago, little but its idyllic wooded setting attracted customers to Old Angler's Inn. " ‘I love it. I...

Tysons Corner has developed a thriving food-truck scene in recent years. Now, the colorful trucks serving up bahn mi, paninis, lobster rolls and bratwurst for lunch are running into trouble with authorities. During the past couple of months, truck owners occasionally have received tickets from police for operating in Tysons Corner. So far, food-truck entrepreneurs have not been deterred from setting up shop on Solutions Drive, behind SAIC's campus, and Boone Boulevard. Instead, they're...

Looking at them now, surrounded by muddy gravel lots, towering cranes and swarms of hard-hatted construction workers, it's hard to envision what the stations along Metro's new Silver Line will become by the time they finally open late this year. But imagining that day — Day One, as many planners and officials have taken to calling it — is exactly what Fairfax County is doing. All five of the stops along the 11-mile Metro extension are in Fairfax...

Dear Dr. Gridlock: I am generally a fan of E-ZPass , but ran into a major issue with the new E-ZPass express lanes in Northern Virginia . Aside from the fact that not all the Capital Beltway exits are available to the E-ZPass drivers, coming from the Maryland side, there is no sign indicating the exit to take for Tysons Corner . I only realized it as I was passing Tysons. To add anxiety over frustration, the next exit was Interstate 66 West. There is, by the way, a Tysons sign coming...

Drivers will see a major change this week at the Capital Beltway junction with Chain Bridge Road (Route 123) in Tysons Corner. Exit 46B from the outer loop to Route 123 north toward McLean closed Sunday for 45 days as part of the HOT lanes construction project. Workers are building bridge piers for an artery that will provide HOT lane access from Westpark Drive onto the Beltway. The closed ramp also will be reconfigured. The detour during the ramp closing is a little tricky. Outer loop drivers will exit before their usual exit.

For the travelers who try to navigate through Tysons Corner , the commercial hub of Northern Virginia has taken on yet another characteristic of an American city: It now gains and loses landmarks at a disorienting pace. All four new Metrorail stations in Tysons are under construction. But Route 7 bulges out from its former course and looks like it's being set up for an extreme steeple­chase. A huge new ramp extends out at a right angle from the Westpark Drive Bridge toward the Capital Beltway, but throughout the high-occupancy...

Even with its glistening emerald-green glass, the boxy 1960s-era Zalco Building in downtown Silver Spring is hardly noticed by many passersby, let alone thought of as a historic structure. The very idea makes John Cranston, the building's engineer, chuckle. "I don't think George Washington slept here or anything," he said. But to Clare Lise Kelly, a historic-preservation planner for Montgomery County, and to other architectural experts, the office building at Georgia Avenue and Cameron Street...