Article Text
A vacant Falls Church property once slated for a seven-story mixed-use building is being offered for sale after the development proposal failed to advance.
The 0.98-acre site at 419 W. Annandale Road sits at the northwest corner of South Maple Avenue and Annandale Road. It is zoned for central business uses and designated for mixed use on the city’s future land-use map.
The abandoned proposal envisioned a 258,000-square-foot residential building with roughly 200 units and ground-floor retail. It reached a Falls Church City Council work session and a Planning Commission town hall but did not progress beyond those stages.
Plans had contemplated combining the development site with adjacent parcels owned by Burke & Herbert Bank and the City of Falls Church. Those neighboring properties are not included in the advertised sale.
The parcel was most recently assessed at $2.7 million, compared with the reported $4.6 million that Stewart Investment Partners paid for it in 2022. Marketing materials from JLL did not list an asking price. Stewart Investment Partners, Cascade Realty Partners and JLL reportedly did not respond to requests for comment about the abandoned project and property sale.
Lidl sets Falls Church opening
Lidl plans to open a grocery store Aug. 12 in the former Whole Foods space at 7511 Leesburg Pike. A ribbon cutting is scheduled for 7:40 a.m., and the company has announced regular store hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
The opening will add another grocery option along the Leesburg Pike corridor, though future opening plans remain subject to change.
Falls Church prepares first Summer Restaurant Week
Falls Church’s first Summer Restaurant Week is scheduled for Aug. 21 through Aug. 30, with 80 restaurants expected to participate. Businesses will offer prix-fixe menus, specials or other dining experiences during the 10-day event.
Visitors who patronize at least eight participating restaurants can enter for a chance to receive one of three $100 restaurant gift cards.
Zoumana collects two scoring titles
Diarra Zoumana of Falls Church-based Virginia Dream FC earned scoring honors in two leagues during 2026.
Zoumana scored 13 goals during the spring United Premier Soccer League Virginia North Conference season, earning that conference’s Golden Boot. He then recorded nine regular-season goals and two playoff goals in the National Premier Soccer League season, receiving the Mid-Atlantic Conference Golden Boot and conference MVP award.
Virginia Dream FC is a semiprofessional club founded in 2022. The organization says it covers player costs as part of an effort to remove financial barriers.
LEGO display marks Fairfax County anniversary
At Tysons Corner Center, a Fairfax County anniversary LEGO installation features creations representing all nine county districts. The display, made by the Northern Virginia LEGO Users Group, is expected to change monthly and remain in place through Jan. 1, 2027.
Visitors can find the installation on Level 1 near Wasabi and Oakley.
A separate community project is also seeking LEGO bricks. The Learning Quest announced a donation drive intended to create one-step ramps for strollers, mobility aids and heavy garbage bins. The group plans to begin with a pilot at Aurora House. Its announcement says volunteers and local youth will build the ramps and provide them free when appropriate, but the supplied material does not include an independent accessibility or engineering review.
South Block plans Eastern Market café
South Block has signed a lease with EastBanc Inc. for a café at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue SE in Washington’s Eastern Market neighborhood. The opening is planned for early 2027.
The company says the café will operate from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. South Block also plans an opening block party featuring a DJ, family activities and free açaí bowls for the first 100 guests.