The Kensington Assisted Living facility will be opening the doors of its information center at 1212 W. Broad St. (former location of the ABC store) next Thursday, June 16, with a by-invitation-only reception that night, the City of Falls Church’s Economic Development Office reported Tuesday. The Kensington building going up at the former site of the Burger King in the 700 block of W. Broad is expected to be ready for moving in early 2017.
The other big news coming from the Economic Development Office Tuesday, is the target date for the opening of the flagship Harris Teeter supermarket in downtown Falls Church, which is July 27. The store, as its signs are already touting, will be open 24 hours a day.
According to the EDO, the store will hire 76 full-time employees and 98 part-time employees, and over 40 percent of the apartments above that store were already leased as of May 26.
Construction of the new restaurant coming to the 200 block of Park Avenue (the former Blue and Grey building) less than a block from City Hall is due to commence later this month, and plans for the exterior renovation of the vacant Southgate Shopping Center on Fairfax St. across from the historic Falls Church Episcopal Church have been submitted to City Hall. Once approved, 10 weeks of construction will take place there, followed by interior tenant improvements, with retailers able to move in this September.
With the announcement of the closing of Vantage Fitness at 402 W. Broad, a children’s fitness business known as Jumping Joey’s will open in the space next month, while the Kid’s First Swim Club at Falls Plaza adjacent the Staples there anticipates a mid-September grand opening, with construction inside the building beginning later this month.
The Locker Room Bar and Grill restaurant at The Broadway, 502 W. Broad, will be expanding, adding billiards and darts, with work to accomplish that beginning this month.
At the former location of Tutti Fruitt at 230 W. Broad, a specialty coffee roaster business, Rare Bird Roasters, plans to open in mid-July, and at 1052 W. Broad, the former site of the Nourish Market in the West End Plaza, will be the new home for Value Vet, providing “affordable veterinary care,” and in the Northgate building at 450 N. Washington St., build-out plans are pending City approval for the Better Homes and Gardens Realty there.
In a related development, the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce has reported that the Hampton Inn and Suites in the Seven Corners area of Falls Church has opened at 6430 Arlington Boulevard. The Chamber reports that the new hotel offers a state of the art fitness center, an indoor pool, 900 square feet of meeting space (accommodating approximately 70 people), complimentary coffee and tea 24 hours a day, free hot breakfast every day, free WiFi, underground parking, complimentary shuttle service to West Falls Church Metro.
The 159 guestrooms and suites include large desks, flat-screen LCD TVs, coffee makers, microwaves, and mini-refrigerators. An official grand opening will be held in September.
