Fresh fruit juice is back on the menu in Old Town North.
On Saturday, City Council unanimously reclassified Juice Box as a temporary trailer, after being incorrectly zoned as a food truck. The move follows a zoning violation after the company started operating in the parking lot of the Robinson Terminal North warehouse building at 500 North Union Street.
The business, which runs until April to November, is now licensed to serve fruit juice in the lot until April 2025.
Christina Barbari opened Juice Box this spring, and recently closed down for the season. Barbari is also working on opening a Juice Box kiosk next summer at the Crystal City Water Park at National Landing, and is scoping out brick and mortar locations throughout the D.C. Metro area.
“I am looking to expand in Arlington,” Barbari told ALXnow. “I’m finalizing the details for a second location at the waterpark at National Landing, and the fact that I’m looking at a second location within my first year in business in amazing.”
Barbari is a native of the Alexandria area of Fairfax County, and has a degree in catering and hospitality from The Art Institutes of Washington.
“There’s nothing like this in Old Town, and bringing fresh juice to cyclists and dog walkers and people in the community is really great,” Barbari said. “I met a lot of great people and I’m really excited about coming back next year.”
At the height of the pandemic, Classical Movements held weekly open-air concerts with world-renowned musicians in their “Secret Garden” in Old Town North.
Business is slowly returning to its hectic pace for Neeta Helms, the organization’s founder, as she and her staff organize trips around the world for some of the biggest classical musical acts in the business. The touring company has worked in 147 countries, and produces more than 50 annual musical tours, as well as hundreds of concerts.
“For us, this garden became the sign of spring and hope,” Helms said.
While the weekly concerts are no more, there are still monthly performances at the Secret Garden.
“It was never about the money,” Helms said of the Secret Garden concerts. “For 50 distanced people at $40 a person, that’s $2,000, while we have the concert master of the Philadelphia Orchestra, concert mistress of the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as the principal and second violin, the principal viola and principal clarinet play with us. If musicians of that caliber, who play in the greatest concert halls in the world and the Kennedy Center and are back playing every week to play in our garden, that should tell everybody something.”
Classical Movements, in June 2020, was one of the first venues in the region to open their doors for live performances. Between June and December 2020 alone, they hosted 40 socially distanced one-hour-long concerts, with a few noise complaints from neighbors.
“The first violinist in the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, before he played, said that he hadn’t played to a live audience for 15 months,” said Johan van Zyl, the company’s senior vice president. “As he was saying that, I was sitting on the side of the stage in the back and I could see his lip quivering. He was so emotional about the fact that he was playing to a live audience. That’s the moment for me where I thought we’re doing the right thing.”
The venue has also become a popular spot for weddings.
“What shocked us about Covid was that the music was singled out as one of the most dangerous things to do,” Helms said. “Choirs were identified right from the get-go, and performing music became this lethal activity. For us, we had 40-or-so tours all over the world that we had to cancel. We had to try to figure out how much money we could get back and give to our clients, which is a huge amount of money. Really what was at stake was millions of dollars.”
Helms said that the travel industry is at the whim and fancy of plagues, weather and international relations.
“We were affected by SARS and had to put tours on hold in China, or there was MERS, or there was a volcano erupting in Chile and we had to bus people 18 hours to get to a performance in Argentina,” she said. “On September 11, 2001, we had the New York Philharmonic itself flying back home from a residency in Braunschweig, Germany, and all flights were grounded until we could get everyone home four days later.”
Bucking trends musically is commonplace for Helms, whose first touring concert in Moscow’s Red Square in 1992, right after the fall of the Soviet Union, was attended by 100,000 people. The event was conducted by Russian defector Mstislav Rostropovich and featured the National Symphony Orchestra and the Choral Arts Society of Washington.
“For us in Red Square (in 1992), what was marvelous was being mobbed by people,” she said. “It was like touring with Elvis or the Beatles, because anyone in this Russia who met us gave us flowers and notes, and thanked us for the miracle of actually having music on Red Square, as opposed to demonstrations with tanks. By presenting music, it was a surprisingly revolutionary event, in hindsight.”
With redevelopment on the horizon, Wheel Nuts Bike Shop (302 Montgomery Street) owner Ron Taylor said it’s time to close up shop and ride into the sunset — specifically to West Virginia.
The store’s final day is set for tomorrow (Saturday) from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
The store is in the middle of the Montgomery Center, which developer Carr Companies is in the process of redeveloping. Taylor said the writing had been on the wall for a while.
“We were given significant advance notice that the building was being sold,” Taylor said. “My lease happens to run out in December. Demolition of the building is slated for maybe the end of the second quarter of next year, [around] June to October. At that point, all tenants will need to vacate.”
Taylor said he knew the development was coming sooner or later.
“There’s never any question that the Montgomery center will not be developed, we all knew that they had plans for the building,” Taylor said.
Wheel Nuts has been a fixture for local cyclists for over twenty years, with a location easily accessible from the Alexandria portion of the Mount Vernon trail. The business’ website said the shop opened in 1999, but by Taylor’s count it’s been around 25 years.
“We’ve been in business 25 years,” Taylor said. “It’s bittersweet. I’m the owner of the shop — my wife and I own the shop, and my wife just retired from the Fairfax County Park Authority, so it’s nice that we were able to tie it in with when she retired.”
Taylor said since announcing the store’s closure, he’s gotten a flurry of emails and texts and phone calls both from past customers and neighbors sharing just how important the shop was to them.
“I’m going to miss the work, I’m going to miss my staff, going to miss the community, going to miss cyclists that came off the trail,” Taylor said. “I’m saddened by it, but I’m excited for what the future holds.”
Taylor said he’s looking forward to new adventures when the pair move to a new home in West Virginia.
“We’re both into the outdoors and looking forward to mountain biking and skiing,” Taylor said. “We plan to do a lot of traveling and we’re excited to visit national parks, and do biking: we want to practice what we’ve been preaching for many years.”
A juice trailer parked in North Old Town is headed to Planning Commission review next month after a zoning inspection triggered by a complaint found it was not in compliance with city ordinance.
Juice Box Old Town is a cold-pressed mobile juice bar set up at 500 North Union Street, near Founders Park. The Juice Box website describes it as a perfect site to catch locals and visitors walking along the river. What it was not, a staff report said, was in compliance with city zoning ordinance.
“On June 10, 2022, a zoning inspection of the subject site was conducted after the City received complaints of the operation of a commercial trailer,” the report said. “A Zoning Inspector confirmed that a trailer was being used as retail juice establishment at the subject site and the proprietor was informed of the need to bring the trailer into compliance through Special Use Permit approval. To bring the business into compliance with the City’s Zoning Ordinance, the applicant has submitted the current application for an after-the-fact SUP review.”
It is likely Juice Box will get that approval, though, with the staff report recommending approval and saying the trailer makes a welcome addition to the city’s efforts to make the waterfront more vibrant.
“Staff recommends approval of the applicant’s request for a temporary trailer. The temporary trailer would provide a desirable amenity in close proximity to the City’s active waterfront area and in a location where this relatively small business would not impact the surrounding commercial and residential neighborhood.”
The trailer turns the empty lot into a space for beverages; offering pressed juice, water and coffee at a walk-up window.
The report also said there’s no reason to believe the trailer would impact parking of traffic flow.
Juice Box is a seasonal business, and the report said the trailer will be permitted for up to two years beginning on April 1, 2023, when the business reopens. Additional years could be approved via an administrative special use permit.
The Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 6.
(Updated 1/6/23) Last week, Alexandria city staff pulled back the curtain on the city’s progress on turning Old Town North into an arts district.
The goal is to trade density in Old Town North for arts uses — mirroring earlier arrangements between the city and developers for affordable housing uses.
At an “Old Town North Arts and Cultural Uses” meeting last week, Director of Planning and Zoning Karl Moritz offered an overview of sites in Old Town North making use of that arts density.
Two have already been constructed, two have had their development special use permits approved, the former power plant site has had a coordinated development district (CDD) approved, and a sixth location is under review.
- The Muse (constructed) – 5,900 square feet
- The Venue at Crown Plaza (constructed) – 7,300 square feet
- TideLock (DSUP approved) – 5,000 square feet
- 901 N Pitt (DSUP approved) – 6,445 square feet
- Hilco (CDD approved) – 30,000 square feet
- Montgomery Center (in review) – 20,000 square feet
The Muse (1201 N. Royal Street) is set to house The Art League along with other arts programs. Theater company MetroStage is working on opening at The Venue ( 925 N. Fairfax Street).
Musical instruction program Levine Music was approved earlier this year as the tenant at the TideLock development ( 1033, 1055 and 1111 N Fairfax Street). 901 N. Pitt Street, meanwhile, will be the new home of CityDance.
The public at the meeting was surveyed on what other arts uses they’d like to see in Old Town North. Suggestions included a piano bar, a jazz club and an opera house, but one of the most popular suggestions was a Governor’s School for the Arts — a type of public arts program. There are Governor’s Schools in other states, like Kentucky and South Carolina, and several across Virginia.
A local art exhibit showcasing psychedelic art throughout rock-and-roll history will be free this weekend and includes a unique piece of local music history.
The Psychedelic Art Exchange’s Rock & Roll Poster Show is on exhibit at Gallery at Canal Center (11 Canal Center), a new art gallery that opened earlier this month. The gallery said in a release that entry will be free this weekend.
“View the original concert poster art that defined a generation, including legendary works from the beginning of the revolution in San Francisco to modern era,” the gallery said in the release. “On display will be an incredibly rare local artifact — the 1968 of Janis Joplin/Big Brother Alexandria Arena Roller Rink poster.”
For the exhibit’s upcoming opening weekend, admission will be free. According to the release, the hours this weekend are:
- Friday, Oct. 21, 4-8 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 22, Noon-8 p.m.
- Sunday Oct. 23, 2-8 p.m.
“These pop culture posters are the intersection of fine art and collectible, illustrating the history of Rock Music — the original American art form,” the gallery said.
More art is in store for Old Town North.
On October 15 (Saturday), a number of sidewalks and parking lots will be brightened by work from more than a dozen chalk artists.
October is National Arts & Humanities Month, and last weekend  the Old Town Arts Alliance celebrated with the opening of an art gallery in the new Old Town North Arts District.
“This is the first major art event for the Arts District,” according to Agnes Artemel, President of the Old Town North Alliance. “We are looking forward to this event and bringing more art to OTN.” Members of the Alliance are actively participating in the Walk by providing space in which the artists can work, including Canal Center. and businesses like St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub and Made in ALX.”
The event is free and open to the public.
Via Alexandria Arts Alliance
A new art gallery in Old Town North will celebrate its grand opening with an event showcasing a number of Alexandria artists.
Starting on October 8 (Saturday), the Old Town Arts Alliance will celebrate National Arts & Humanities Month at the Canal Center Plaza (44 Canal Center) in the new Old Town North Arts District.
The Party For The Arts will be held from 4 to 7 p.m., and will feature performances on multiple outdoor stages and a special art exhibit at the new gallery.
“The goals of this event are to provide a collaborative platform to promote the city’s arts and culture sector as it recovers from the pandemic, and to highlight the arts’ power to inspire, spark change, and contribute to a vibrant, thriving and inclusive city,” according to an Old Town Arts Alliance release.
Participants at the event include:
- Yellow Door Concert Series Sextet
- Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic
- Principle Gallery
- Kyo Gallery
- Local Motion Dance Project
- The Art League
- The Athenaeum
- Galactic Panther Gallery
- Alexandria Harmonizers
- Torpedo Factory Art Center
- MetroStage
- Arts On The Horizon
- Alexandria Citizens Band
- Del Ray Artisans
- Artspire
- Upcycle Creative Reuse Center
- Heard Arts Program
Courtesy image
The Electra America Hospitality Group (EAHG) has filed an application to open a new cafe with outdoor seating at Hotel AKA — an Old Town North Holiday Inn replacement at 625 First Street with a dark exterior.
The amendment to allow a cafe is bundled in with an official change of ownership special use permit headed through the city review process.
The hotel is currently under construction and is scheduled to open sometime this winter. One of the most notable parts of the application process was the proposal to paint the exterior of the building fully black, though concept renderings on the Hotel AKA website show the exterior as a lighter grey.
“The Applicant is requesting a minor amendment to the existing SUP to add 40 outdoor dining seats,” the application said. “The Applicant is in the process of completing interior and exterior renovations to the existing hotel and plans to re-open as the Hotel AKA Alexandria.”
The new hotel will have 180 guest rooms with various amenities, including the new cafe if the permit is granted.
“The cafe will offer coffee, pastries, and similar beverages and light fare typically offered in coffee shops,” the application said. “The cafe will include a total of 40 outdoor dining seats in an outdoor seating area on First Street.”
The hotel will also include a lounge area and bar on the ground floor near the lobby. There are 148 parking spaces on-site, and the application said that’s expected to remain the same.
A fall festival celebrating the broad culinary options around Old Town North makes its return next Thursday.
The annual Taste of Old Town North is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 29, from 4-9 p.m. in Montgomery Park (901 N Royal Street).
“Join us at this Free, Family Friendly, Dog Friendly Celebration of the Charms of Old Town North in Montgomery Park,” the Old Town North Community Partnership wrote in an email.
The festival includes sampling from restaurants around the area like Cafe 44, Lost Dog Cafe and the newly moved Hanks Oyster Bar.
The event will also include live music starting at 4:30 p.m.
Photo via Lost Dog Cafe/Facebook
