New Building in Vienna
New Shops Opening on Maple Avenue Midtown Plaza developed by local businessman. By Donna Manz, The Connection December 15, 2009Where now a big, deep hole sits on Maple Avenue, a new retail complex will spring.
Long-time Vienna businessman Charles Chahel is developing Midtown Plaza at the corner of Glyndon Street and Maple Avenue, where Chahel’s Sunoco station used to sit. Current plans at 256 Maple Ave. E. call for four shops, each approximately 1,300 square feet, and parking spaces for 25 vehicles.
“A lot of traffic goes by there,” Chahel said. “I want to make a place where people will stop, spend time there, say ‘OK, let’s meet over there.’”
Chahel said he has businesses in mind but is flexible about tenants. He is hoping for a mix that will draw people to it as a kind of community meeting space.
Chahel has lived in the Oakton area for 21 years and has had businesses in Vienna for 20 of those years. He owns four gas stations and repair garages between Tysons Corner and Oakton, and other properties in Northern Virginia. Midtown Plaza is his first Vienna retail project.
“Everything I do, I do with integrity,” said Chahel. “My reputation is very important to me.
“We do a lot of automotive business and that’s an industry that doesn’t have a good name. We strive to give it one.”
The longevity of Chahel’s staff at his four stations, most of whom have worked for him for more than 10 years, reflects his business culture, that of “good customer service and honest work,” he said.
That, he said, is the type of business he’d like to see come into Midtown Plaza.
The new complex is set back 15 feet from Maple Avenue with parking spaces in back. The architect, Ziad Demian of Demian/Wilbur in Washington, D.C., sited the building, along the Glyndon side, to create a small corner square.
“The idea was to create a meeting space … something so that people will say, ‘meet me at 256 Maple Ave.,’” said Demian. Demian and Chahel shared a vision of what they wanted of the plaza: a pedestrian environment, a sense of place, and a way of marking the corner to introduce a new Vienna landmark.
The building was designed to be unique and constructed of beautiful materials, such as wood and glass, said Demian. When people walk by, they will see the structure, not a parking lot.
“You’ll walk by and want to stop there,” Demian said.
Midtown Plaza is slated for completion by late spring.
Comments
I hope the buildings look better in real life than the renderings. They could use some human touches like awnings or something. I'm glad the buildings will be built closer to the road, but sad that it's only another one story building.
Posted by: Dan | January 5, 2010 07:44 PM
The original drawing on Demian/Wilbur's site was much bigger. Hey, who wouldn't want to spend time hanging out at such a warm, welcoming bldg @ that busy intersection - sippin' a latte, watching traffic, inhaling exhaust and admiring the view of the banks that surround...ahhh! Meet you there!
Posted by: ModernVienna | January 7, 2010 09:03 AM
Four [retail] businesses with 25 spaces and that includes the spaces for employees? Will this actually be a worse parking scenario than the situation at the Noodles & Co shopping area.
Sure seems like the time for owners of Walgreen's vast, empty lot to put in some paid parking spots. Or, perhaps, in the Giant Shopping Center.
Posted by: More Parking Woes/Whoas? | January 7, 2010 12:37 PM
I like sitting outdoors at Tequila Grande. It's set back pretty far from Maple and still a bit annoying to hear and see all the traffic. The solution for an interesting, walkable commerce area cannot face 123, it requires more radical innovative thinking.
Posted by: Bounce House | January 7, 2010 11:02 PM
More Parking Woes
That's not a bad idea. It makes sense to share some of that parking. At least the employees could park there and then walk across the street.
Posted by: Dan | January 8, 2010 12:04 PM
Shared parking is the only solution for growth on Maple Ave. This site is far too small to accommodate enough of its own parking. Yes, it's too bad that it's only a single story on such a prime site, but without efforts by the town govt to address parking in a comprehensive way, nothing bigger will work.
Posted by: anne smith | January 10, 2010 10:50 AM
Who is building this? Isn't it another "local" guy who builds houses and wants to get into commercial? This is the Maple Ave vision? No cohesiveness? Why can't Vienna leave this part to the professionals? This is what people see as they drive through our Town. There is no forward thinking in this Town, and this is why Vienna will always be the Hick part of Northern Virginia!
Posted by: Embarrasing | January 12, 2010 10:38 AM
Sure would have been nice to have HT where Marco Polo sits. A grocery store on the north side of town would be nice.
A Bloom in Annandale is great but there are many who would be very sad to lose our Magruders.
Posted by: Harris Teeter Fan | January 12, 2010 07:43 PM
It's the guy who owned the sunoco and others, as the article clearly stated. I'm sure neither he nor the town council drew up the plans.
Posted by: Bounce House | January 12, 2010 09:21 PM
Bounce is correct that the builders are going to build whatever they can get away with code wise. But I maintain that it still rests on TC and their lack of "vision" for Maple Ave. So in that respect you can't blame the builder if the TC does not want to take pride in the way it's corridor looks.
Posted by: Susan | January 22, 2010 10:04 AM
I hope when this is built that the doors don't open out on the sidewalk like the Starbuck down the street. Would also be nice to see a few bike racks so people would not be forced to drive and park.
Posted by: Fixie2work1 | January 22, 2010 02:25 PM
Magruder's in Annandale was supplanted by a Bloom which opened last week. Big parking problem already.
Posted by: Re McGruders | January 24, 2010 07:28 PM
The owner of this property is also the owner of Vienna Sunoco and Vienna Shell (not Madison Shell). These two gas stations have the highest priced gas around. I'm not supporting his contruction project and I suggest others do likewise.
Posted by: Fed Up | March 2, 2010 03:44 PM