It’s been long awaited, but now it’s here. The saga of bringing a mega-Whole Foods supermarket to downtown Falls Church was slated to culminate with an official grand opening this morning (Thursday, Feb. 7) with the full Falls Church A-List crowd expected to be on hand.
Today’s opening of the 45,000 square foot market culminates a full decade of hopes, ups and downs, headaches, anticipation and grit. Now, the historic Broad (Rt. 7) at Washington (Rt. 29) center of Falls Church has a bright and lively anchor that, in addition to everything else going on here, will act like a beacon for shoppers, investors, hungry kids and many more by the thousands to bring their collective resources to bear right here in the Little City.
Yes, it’s taken a full decade! The May 11, 2015 headline in the News-Press announced plans for a “Flagship Whole Foods” rise at the intersection. In the interim, a principal in the HITT company which had acquired the 2.5 acres there was arrested for business fraud, the Insight Development Group took control of the land and its development, the clashes with neighboring businesses and nearby residents over limiting the disruptions that the development would cause were resolved, the Covid epidemic crisis, and otherwise general ebbs and flows of business and life in general did not deter the eventual arrival of this memorable day.
In the meantime, the very formidable Harris Teeter store just up the street was built, like the Insight property, as a mixed use project with hundreds of apartments above, as has been the Founders Row 1 and 2 seven blocks to the west, and the Hoffman Group’s dense 10-acre West Falls Gateway development a few more blocks further beyond.
Now, above the Whole Foods are the more than 300 apartments that are already 59 percent occupied, and next week will mark the formal opening of a new space in the same project as the new home of the City’s truly iconic Creative Cauldron theater troupe. A grand opening for the Creative Cauldron’s new digs is set for Thursday, Feb. 13, at 1 p.m. Work is also underway for the opening of a Little Beast Cafe and Bistro there.
Among the bigger new entities gearing up for opening in the Little City in the coming months are the Paragon motion picture theaters (still set to open in April) at Founders Row 1 and the GrillMarx steakhouse on S. Washington.
With the sale of the historic Brown’s Hardware directly across the street from the Whole Foods and the looming revival of the Atlantic Realty large scale mixed use development project above Ireland’s Four Provinces caddy-corner from the Whole Foods, and a thriving State Theatre live music venue operating only a few doors away, the Little City will be rocking and rolling, and looking to attract many more patronizers of all these shiny new options for enjoying a good life.
There is the imminent demolition of the back building of the old Stratford Motel that will make way for a new Stratford Gardens eatery and plans for the opening of the Little Falls Cafe just off W. Broad on N. Maple. There will be a Tatte Bakery and Cafe and
Three more supermarkets are in the works, too. There is the Fresh Market that will go into the West Falls development, an as-yet-unnamed market to go into the former Mini-Target site on S. Washington, and rumors of a Trader Joe’s going into the Atlantic Realty plan.
At this Tuesday’s meeting of the Falls Church Economic Development Authority (EDA), now chaired by former City Council member Ross Litkenhous since the untimely passing of Bob Young, a summary of new developments was presented by Becky Witsman of the City’s Economic Development Office showing that all the new dwellings in the mixed use projects that have opened in the City since 2002 are well over 90 percent occupied.
The Broadway, Byron, Read and Spectrum projects are all reported in as 100 percent full, while the 301 W. Broad (above the Harris Teeter), and the Modera and Verso residential sites at Founders Row 1 are all over 90 percent full, as are the Northgate, Pearson Square and Tinner Hill projects. The Adler at the still-being-built Founders Row 2 is already 10 percent full.
A big sign is now up for the Fish Taco restaurant about to open in Founders Row 1 where Ellie Bird, Nue, Role Play, Seoul Prime, Chasin Tails, Kyo Matcha, Kyuramen, Lil’ Cakes and Creamery, and Tiger Dumpling are operating, and Cafe Semicolon is set to open.
At the West Falls development, permits are either about to or have been let to Burger Fi, Honoo Ramen and Bar, Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls and Dok Khao Thai Eatery, Ice Cream Jubilee, and a big new Fresh Market on the corner of W. Broad and Haycock, staring down the long-established Giant Food market in the Birch and Broad Center run by Federal Realty.
The West Falls and Birch and Broad centers are across the street from the Gordons Road Triangle which was the subject of an extensive two-day Urban Land Institute evaluation held at the Hilton Garden Inn last week aimed at optimizing the potential for that area. Major land owners there are the Beyer family and the City of Falls Church.
While there was a lot to unpack, as they say, in that area, the ULI team did not explore how that area could be integrated into what the West Falls and Federal Realty properties may have in store. The West Falls are adjacent HITT and WMATA properties that are being developed in tandem with a common road through all three connecting W. Broad and the West Falls Church Metro Station.
