June 14 – 20, 2018
FA LLS CHUR C H, V I R G I NI A • WW W. FC NP. C OM • FR EE
FOU N D E D 1991 • VOL. XXVIII NO. 17
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It was a huge weekend for George Mason High School sports with the Mustangs bringing home three state titles including boys tennis, boys soccer and an incredible 11th straight championship for the girls soccer team.
3 Finalist Bidders on West End Project Named, All Project Much for 10 Acres Council to Issue C���� �� ‘18 Request For More Details Friday
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
forward to the eight-screen sitdown dining movie complex and restaurants that will go there. But the decisive testimony brought to the Council prior to its vote came from the City’s Economic Development Office in the person of Becky Witsman, whose matter-of-fact, methodical style of presentation did not hide the big news she was bringing.
Out of six original bidders for the dense economic development of 10 West End acres in the City of Falls Church, it was not until shortly after midnight Tuesday that the three finalists recommended by a select evaluation committee were announced publicly and approved by the Falls Church City Council. The contending groups of Comstock, EYA/PN Hoffman and Rushmark, listed in alphabetical order, made the cut, it was announced, and will receive a “request for detailed proposal” (RFDP) from the Council, also approved in the wee hours Tuesday, by this Friday. They will have until late August to respond, with the selection of the finalist to work with the City in the development of those 10 prime acres of City-owned land by mid-October. Council members, who were first informed of the evaluation group’s recommendations a week earlier in a closely-held closed session, hailed the process by which the three finalists were decided. They were briefed in the closed session by City consultant Bob Wulff and Economic Development Authority’s Robert Young, who made a compelling case, they said, for the arduous process the evaluators went through to come to their decision. Councilman Ross Litkenhous was vocal in his praise for the whole process and his colleagues concurred. No real details of what went into the decision on the finalists were provided at the meeting, except that they were named in response to general criteria of what the evaluation group was tasked with looking for.
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SEE SPORTS, PAGE 16–17
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City of Falls Church Public Schools announced it has appointed Timothy Kasik as principal of Mount Daniel Elementary School. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 9
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The sci-fi writer William Gibson once said, “The future has arrived — it’s just not evenly distributed yet.” In America in 2018, the same could be said of authoritarianism. SEE PAGE 14
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Northside Social, the longawaited coffee shop, wine bar and cafe taking over the American Legion house at the corner of N. Maple and Park Ave., opened to the public at long last Monday afternoon. SEE PAGE 4
INDEX
Editorial.................6 Letters...................6 News & Notes10–11 Comment ........ 12-14 Sports ............16-17 Calendar .......18–19
Classified Ads .....20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........21 Business News ...22 Critter Corner......22
ANYONE WANTING THEIR hat back after this had better have put their contact info inside somewhere, because with this many George Mason High School students graduating yesterday, there wouldn’t be easy retrievals. Congrats to the Class of 2018! More Mason graduation photos coming next week. (P����: J. M������ W�����)
New Revenue Formula Projects More Founder’s Row Revenue BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
An update of the City of Falls Church’s analytical formula for evaluating the potential fiscal impact of new development projects has significantly up-estimated the revenue projections for the 4.3-acre Founder’s Row project that has been revived by its Mill Creek developers who are now seeking a new special exception
with hopes of a groundbreaking by late August or September. The Falls Church City Council approved a preliminary step toward granting the new request Monday following a long list of neighbors, many the same who failed to derail the plan for the northeast intersection of W. Broad and N. West Streets two years ago. This time neighbors included a mix of opponents, and ones who said they’re looking