(Updated 5:35 p.m.) Watch out, Red Lobster, there’s another crustacean crawling into town across Van Dorn Street.
According to a city permit application, the national seafood chain Crafty Crab is planning on moving into the shell of Portner Brewhouse (5770 Dow Avenue) in the Modera Tempo mixed-use development. A representative of the applicant confirmed the new location was part of the national chain.
A long-planned bus rapid transit network (BRT) that would run through Alexandria’s West End is moving forward early next year, though the dedicated bus lanes featured prominently in the conceptual stage might not make it into the initial designs.
The city’s vision for the West End Transitway is a series of transit improvements to create a reliable, accessible bus line that would run from the Van Dorn Metro station to the Pentagon, hitting West End destinations that aren’t accessible by Metro, like the Mark Center, Southern Towers, and the perhaps soon-to-be-redeveloped Landmark Mall.
An Alexandria boutique gym has moved to a new location in the West End.
Sand and Steel Fitness opened in a larger, “state-of-the-art” space at 5418 Eisenhower Avenue on November 1. Previously, the gym was located along Alfred Street in Old Town.
A new mixed-use apartment complex scheduled to open in the West End in early December has debuted three new pieces of public art.
At the front of the $200 million complex, Array at West Alex, artist Harry McDaniel has built a kinetic sculpture garden titled “En Pointe.” The artwork, which took three years to sculpt, involves large, abstract sculptures of people moving slowly in circles.
It’s all hands on deck at the Transurban offices as the company prepares for the launch of the new I-395 Express Lanes this weekend.
The 395 Express Lanes — which run from Edsall Road in Fairfax County up eight miles to the 14th Street Bridge, passing through Alexandria’s West End — are scheduled to switch over to High Occupancy Toll lanes this Sunday, Nov. 17.
Modera Tempo, an apartment and retail building at 5760 Dow Avenue, has had a notorious parking shortage for years. But a change approved at a Planning Commission meeting last week has opened up unused residential parking to customers.
Modera Tempo is a popular hangout on the Landmark/Van Dorn Corridor, but it is common to see cars circling like vultures in front of the Starbucks trying to snag one of the handful of parking spots outside/
Korean chicken restaurant Choong Man Chicken is coming to the northwest corner of Alexandria.
Paperwork filed for the new restaurant says it will be moving into Suite 4668 at Shoppes at Summit Centre (4700 King Street), though suite is currently home to nail salon that said they have no plans to close, while the nearby Suite 4686 is currently vacant.
The Mark Center building in Alexandria’s West End could become the new center for screening letters and packages headed to the Pentagon.
The Department of Defense is planning to hold a meeting at the nearby Francis C. Hammond Middle School (4646 Seminary Road) on Thursday, Nov. 14, to provide information about the plan and to answer questions from the community.
A 64-year-old Alexandria man has died and four others were seriously injured in a crash on the West End this weekend.
The crash happened around 8:15 p.m. Saturday on the 2000 block of North Van Dorn Street, near the Aldi supermarket.
Mumbai Darbar, the Indian restaurant at the end of a long line of international restaurants in the Van Dorn Station Shopping Center (512 S. Van Dorn Street), is looking to add beer, wine and some new dishes to its menu.
Staff at the restaurant said the restaurant has recently filed an ABC permit and, if approved, the restaurant will hopefully be able to serve beer from India.
A group of men, at least one of whom was armed with a gun, robbed two people on the 400 block of N. Armistead Street last night, according to Alexandria police.
The incident happened around 11 p.m.
