IN THE NEWS
Mike Isabella’s Ballston Restaurants
Arlington Magazine features many articles on what is happening around the area and covers a wide variety of restaurants, among other businesses. A 2016 article titled Restaurants That Innovate is particularly interesting for the way it dives in to describe unique eateries around Arlington. At the Shooshan Company, we're especially proud to see Mike Isabella's restaurants located in The View Luxury Apartments: Kapnos Taverna, Yona and Pepita Cantina. Regarding these restaurants, the article states: "It took celebrity chef Mike Isabella just one year to transform the corner of Wilson Boulevard and Quincy Street in Ballston into a food mecca. The address (4000 Wilson) is now home to the trifecta that is Kapnos Taverna, Pepita and Yona. 'They are so different, I think they feed off of each other,' says the restaurateur/chef of his Greek, Mexican and Asian-inspired hot spots. 'It’s like living on a city block where you can walk down the street and have a lot of options. People in that area don’t have to go far, whether they want a watering hole, food to go or to sit down for something to eat.'" The article goes on to highlight unique dishes of each establishment, such as Pepita Cantina's 54 cocktails, Yona's uni waffle and Kapnos' taramasalata. The restaurants are not only great additions to Ballston, they are an incredible benefit to residents of The View Luxury apartments. Find more information about The View apartments here, or visit websites for each of the restaurants to see their full menus: Kapnos Taverna, Yona and Pepita Cantina. Source- Restaurants That Innovate. (2016). Arlington Magazine. Source: http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/innovative-arlington-area-restaurants/
Virginia Ranks 8th Top State for LEED Projects
A new report from the U.S. Green Building Council states that Virginia ranks #8 in the Top 10 States for LEED. This report shows "an annual ranking that highlights states throughout the United States that made significant strides in sustainable building design, construction and transformation over the past year." The top 10 states were:- MA
- CO
- IL
- NY
- CA
- NV
- MD
- VA
- WA
- TX
Source:
U.S. Green Building Council Releases Annual Top 10 States for LEED Green Building. (2017). U.S. Green Building Council. Source: http://www.usgbc.org/articles/us-green-building-council-releases-annual-top-10-states-for-leed-green-building
Arlington, state finds themselves near top of rankings in LEED buildings. (2017). Inside Nova. Source: http://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/arlington-state-find-themselves-near-top-of-rankings-in-leed/article_44b7b252-ea27-11e6-bfbc-f3e2aba3ff7d.html
Two Liberty Center Receives LEED Gold Certification.
Two Liberty Center, located at 4075 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington, was recently honored to receive LEED Gold Certification. As we've stated in previous articles, LEED stems from the U.S. Green Building Council and as their website states: “LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is changing the way we think about how buildings and communities are planned, constructed, maintained and operated. Leaders around the world have made LEED the most widely used third-party verification for green buildings, with around 1.85 million square feet being certified daily... LEED-certified buildings are resource efficient. They use less water and energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As an added bonus, they save money.” Based on the number of points received, a project is awarded with one of four LEED rating levels: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Two Liberty Center received GOLD and was ranked on:- Sustainable sites
- Water efficiency
- Energy & atmosphere
- Material & resources
- Indoor environmental quality
- Innovation
- Regional priority credits
Source:
LEED. (2017). U.S. Green Building Council. Source: http://www.usgbc.org/leed
Bowling is Coming to Ballston Quarter
ARLnow is reporting that Punch Bowl Social is coming to Ballston Quarter in 2018. According to the press release sent to ARLnow: "Punch Bowl Social, the leader in the 'eatertainment' movement, announced... that it will open a 25,000 square-foot restaurant, bar and entertainment concept in Arlington’s Ballston Quarter in June 2018. Punch Bowl Social pairs a Hugh Acheson designed, scratch-made menu and craft beverage program with 'old-school' social activities like vintage video games, shuffleboard, private karaoke rooms, bowling, Ping-Pong, bocce and skee-ball." The Ballston location will include:- Eight bowling lanes
- One bocce court
- Three private karaoke rooms
- A custom built 360 degree bar
- Various lounging and gathering spots
- Confirmed: Punch Bowl Social Coming to Ballston Quarter Mall (2016). ARLnow. Source: https://www.arlnow.com/2016/12/20/confirmed-punch-bowl-social-coming-to-ballston-quarter-mall/
New Website for 4040 Wilson Blvd.
Recently, The Shooshan Company, Brandywine Realty Trust, Jones Lang LaSalle and Kodiak Realty launched the official website for 4040 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington, Virginia: www.4040wilson.com. 4040 Wilson, Ballston's tallest and first vertically mixed-use building, is a trophy caliber building designed to achieve LEED Gold certification. This building is the final component to the Liberty Center Development, offering unrivaled views of the city and features 190,000 SF of rentable, highly efficient office space, 3 floors of retail and 244 residential apartments. The website offers information on:- Nearby attractions
- Restaurant guide
- Features and amenities (including Arlington first VIDA fitness)
- Available office space
- Ballston demographics and statistics
- The rooftop terrace exclusive for office tenants
- Apartment information
- And more!
- 4040 Wilson Blvd. (2016). Shooshan Company. Source: www.4040wilson.com
Arlington County Ranked Among Best Places to Live
Arlington County has once again received an impressive ranking, this time from 24/7 Wall St., LLC, a financial news company. Four of the counties/independent cities listed in the "top 10" are within DC metro area. These top 10 "Best Counties to Live In" are:- Falls Church Independent City, Virginia
- Arlington County, Virginia
- Fairfax County, Virginia
- Loudon County, Virginia
- Howard County, Maryland
- Douglas County, Colorado
- Los Alamos County, New Mexico
- Fairfax Independent City, Virginia
- Marin County, California
- Alexandria Independent City, Virginia
- 5-yr. population change: +13.4%
- Nov. unemployment rate: 2.7%
- Poverty rate: 9.0%
- Life expectancy at birth: 82.8 years
- The Best Counties to Live In. (2017). 24/7 Wall St., LLC. Source: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/01/24/the-best-counties-to-live-in/6/
The Walk Arlington App
We've talked about Walk Arlington and their amazing maps before (see here). This past December, Walk Arlington discussed their app for reporting "damaged sidewalks, missing street signs, broken streetlights, trail maintenance issues" and more. It's called the Arlington VA Service Requests App and it's available for free in both the Apple and Google Play app store for your smartphone: [caption id="attachment_1317" align="alignnone" width="173"] Image courtesy of Walk Arlington[/caption] As WalkArlington Program Manager, Alli Henry, discusses in the blog: "The ArlingtonVA Service Requests app (yes, they have their own app) is a one-stop shop for reporting non-emergency issues, alerting the County to areas that need attention during snow events and staying informed of Arlington County’s news. My favorite feature is the app’s 'New Request' option that allows users to submit a variety of issues via Arlington’s user-friendly Report A Problem tool. Damaged sidewalks, park maintenance, fallen trees, potholes or traffic signal concerns? In a few short clicks, users can snap a photo, drop a pin on the map and leave County staff a quick note." There's even a helpful video from Arlington County on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGOW5ZxWRv8 This app seems like another great product from Arlington County and is certainly worth a try for Arlington residents! References- There's An App For That. (2016). Walk Arlington. Source: http://www.walkarlington.com/pages/news-events/blog/theres-an-app-for-that/
- About The Problem Reporting Tool. (2017). Arlington County Government. Source: https://topics.arlingtonva.us/reportproblem/online-service-request-tool/
Influential Real Estate Heads Expect Unconventional President To Bring Conventional Growth
John Shooshan and other real estate leaders were recently featured in an article on Forbes Magazine's website following a Bisnow event.40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Real Estate
DCA Live Media has announced their list of "40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Real Estate." The official site states:"Get back to business in 2017! Join DCA Live and our host committee to celebrate the rising stars in DC commercial real estate. We'll honor this great group with a lively and fun event on January 31."
The Shooshan Company is proud to note that among the many accomplished names is our own Kelly Shooshan. The full list from the website includes:
- Anthony Balestrieri
- John Wilkinson
- Joe Reger
- Martin Ditto
- Kelly Shooshan
- Jason Bonderenko
- Jeff Chod
- Dave Dochter
- Matt Dewey
- Vaki Mawema
- Matt Coursen
- Evan Regan-Levine
- Erik Weinberg
- Mark Witschorik
- Doug Mueller and Evan Behr
- Brad Wilner
- Matt Garcell
- Jon McAvoy
- Jason Fudin
- Jon Glass
- Matthew Jemal
- Jon Cummings
- Stephen Powell
- Marisa Michnick
- Anna Shaffer
- James Collins
- Brian Abramson
- Jimmy Barter
- Jeff Wainwright
- Cris White
- Jackson Prentice
- Chethan Rao
- Andrew Roberts
- Samuel Heiber
- Steve Burman
- Jay Farmer
- Elliott Estes
- Brandon Jenkins
- Simon Frost
- Mike Zink
- Dan Klueger
- Cy Kouhestani
- Michael Goldman
- Ezra Weinblatt
- 40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Real Estate. (2016). DCA Live Media. Source: http://www.dcalivemedia.com/2017-40-u-40-real-estate