Wasting no time following the demolition of the old Burger King structure at 700 W. Broad Street, developers set to construct a new ground floor retail and senior living building, the Kensington, on the site invited members of the F.C. City Council and staff to a ceremonial groundbreaking this morning. Here, they are shown performing the honorary duty of shoveling the first piles of dirt to make way for the building. Crews of real workers were feverishly underway at the site the same morning.

Welcoming and congratulatory remarks were delivered by F.C. Mayor David Tarter and others. Principal developer Ed Novak, who had a big hand in the approval of Falls Church’s first new mixed use project right across the street, The Broadway, noted that The Broadway was approved on the very same date 14 years ago, Sept. 10, 2001 in a Council vote that took place at 11 p.m. The combination of six new mixed use projects since have brought $7.1 million annually in net tax revenues to the City, not counting initial proffers, with two more mixed use projects expected to open in the spring.

For itself, the Kensington is projected to yield $403,794 net annually to the City on only three-quarters of an acre, making it the highest net tax yield for any building in the City with the exception of the new Hilton Garden Inn.