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Costco has acquired a two-story commercial building next to one of its retail stores in Newington from Finmarc Management for $6.55 million.

Mark Hand, Patch Staff

SPRINGFIELD, VA — Costco Wholesale has acquired a two-story office building next to one of its retail stores in Newington from Finmarc Management Inc., a commercial real estate investment firm based in Bethesda, for $6.55 million, Finmarc said Tuesday.

The 27,000-square-foot building, at 7375 Boston Boulevard in Newington, is located next to the Costco Wholesale retail store at 7373 Boston Boulevard.

Finmarc bought the two-story building in June 2022 as part of an 11-building acquisition consisting of about 740,000 square feet of office, industrial and data center space on Boston Boulevard. Finmarc paid Boston Properties Inc. $127.5 for the buildings, known as the VA 95 portfolio.

"The ability for Costco to expand its footprint makes perfect business sense in their continuing mission to find better and more efficient ways to provide best-in-class services to its members," Fink said.

Costco did not disclose its plans for the building or parcel at the closing of the deal, Finmarc said.

The building on Boston Boulevard is less than two miles from a site on Loisdale Road in Springfield under consideration by the General Services Administration for the new FBI headquarters.

"Generally speaking, the government's presence in the area is a great benefit to the buildings we own," Finmarc said in a statement emailed to Patch. "The portfolio sits adjacent to NASA and Department of State and Customs Borders lease properties on Boston Boulevard. An FBI headquarters would enhance our ability to lease in the future."

Finmarc’s VA 95 portfolio consists of single-story and two-story buildings ranging from 27,000 to 105,000 square feet of space, and are situated close to Fort Belvoir, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and Marine Corps Base Quantico.

The government presence in the area has helped produce record low vacancies for industrial real estate in the area, the company noted. No new buildings are currently under construction in the area, and no new commercial office buildings have been built in the Newington and Springfield market over the past six years, according to Finmarc.

"We believe well-located and best-in-class flex/office and industrial buildings situated in the outer ring suburbs will continue to flourish, and we remain extremely confident in the long-term economic fundamentals of the Springfield and Northern Virginia submarket," the company said.

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Interstate 95 in Newington, Virginia, experienced a major disruption today when a power line fell across the highway, leading to its closure for several hours. The incident, which caused significant inconvenience for motorists, is currently under investigation to determine the cause.

According to Dominion Energy, the power line may have been struck by landscaping equipment, resulting in its snap. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is also looking into the possibility of their own crew's involvement. Immediate danger was present on the scene, as a nearby gas station reported a fire, necessitating the activation of emergency shut-off measures. Scorch marks on the ground bear witness to the intensity of the incident.

Commuters voiced their frustration at the situation, describing it as another instance of the perennial traffic woes they endure. Eyewitnesses shared photos that captured the aftermath of the fallen power line, with one image showing a shattered windshield, suggesting that a driver may have been struck. Loreto Cruz, a producer at FOX 5, happened to be on the road during the incident and shared firsthand accounts and pictures.

Efforts to restore normalcy involved Dominion Power crews working diligently to de-energize the line, remove it, and reopen the affected stretch of Interstate 95. Throughout the process, crews closely examined the telephone pole in question in an attempt to shed light on the precise cause of the incident. A Dominion Energy spokesperson says it appears some landscaping equipment may have hit the post causing it to snap.

The closure of the interstate led to diverted traffic and subsequent congestion on nearby side roads. Compounding the issue, some traffic lights in the area were also out of operation, exacerbating the already challenging situation for drivers.

Motorists shared their disbelief at the unprecedented turn of events, with some forced to turn around on the interstate to find alternative routes. The magnitude of the disruption was especially striking for individuals unaccustomed to such traffic conditions, like Becky Zingler, who remarked on the extraordinary experience of traveling against the flow on the interstate.

Reflecting on the incident, Clint Van Winkle expressed his astonishment at the swift actions taken to redirect traffic once the need to change direction became apparent.

While power has been largely restored, plans for re-stringing the lines across the interstate are still being finalized. The investigation into the cause of the incident remains ongoing by VDOT, with authorities determined to uncover the exact circumstances that led to the power line's fall

(Updated at 10:25 a.m. on 5/24/2023) Construction has begun on a new warehouse for the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) in the Newington area.

The organization, which supports nonprofits and provides meals to residents throughout the D.C. region, broke ground on the 43,000-square-foot distribution facility at ​​6833 Hill Park Drive, Lorton, on May 15.

Expected to more than double CAFB’s capacity in Northern Virginia, the new warehouse replaces a smaller building on the same site that the food bank says “no longer had the size or efficiencies required to address the area’s rising need.”

“Building an expanded facility in Northern Virginia couldn’t come at a more important time: in the wake of the pandemic and sustained rates of inflation, there are still so many in our community who are struggling to make ends meet and to access enough nutritious food,” CAFB President and CEO Radha Muthiah said. “This building is an investment in the future of thousands of Northern Virginians, both today and in the years to come.”

About 24% of Fairfax County residents reported experiencing food insecurity in 2021, putting it on the lower end of a spectrum that ranged from 21% in Arlington County to 48% in Prince George’s County, according to CAFB’s 2022 Hunger Report.

Expected to be released this September, the next hunger report could tell an even more sobering story after a year of inflation and diminishing public assistance. As of February, food prices were 10% higher than that time last year, CAFB said in its annual report, and the end of emergency SNAP benefits placed new pressure on local food banks.

(Correction: This article previously said the next hunger report is expected this summer. While last year’s report came out in June, CAFB says this year’s will likely be published in September, coinciding with Hunger Action Month.)

Capital Area Food Bank distributed nearly three times as many meals in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic as in the preceding year, Fairfax County leaders said last year. In February 2022, the county’s Board of Supervisors approved a $5 million contribution from its federal Covid relief funds to support to the food bank’s warehouse expansion.

CAFB projects that the project will cost a total of $35 million, which it hopes to cover with both public and private funding. So far, seven localities and Virginia have invested over $9 million, and Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and Rep. Gerry Connolly, have requested federal Community Project Funding.

“The new 43,000 square-foot facility will be nearly 3.5 times larger than the existing building, allowing the food bank to store and distribute more produce, provide more space for its partner nonprofits to pick up food, and offer volunteering opportunities at its Virginia warehouse for the first time,” CAFB said in a press release.

In addition to hosting a new volunteer center, the warehouse will be larger and more flexible with updated equipment compared to the previous building, which was built in 1982.

The old warehouse’s cooler and storage space had become inadequate, and maintenance was “cost-prohibitive,” CAFB said.

The new building is expected to be completed by late summer 2024.

CAFB isn’t the only local food assistance nonprofit to seek a capacity boost recently. Food for Others opened an addition to its Merrifield warehouse in February that allows clients to shop for groceries.

CAFB distributes more than 50 million meals across the D.C. region annually, according to its website. The organization’s main distribution facility is in northeast D.C.

(Updated at 3:40 p.m.) The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted last week to allocate $5 million of coronavirus recovery funding to the Capital Area Food Bank to expand its Newington warehouse due to increased need.

The project to build a 45,000-square-foot facility is expected to cost $35 million and take two years to complete. CAFB also sought funding from other private partners and the Northern Virginia local governments and communities they serve. Fairfax County is the first to make a formal announcement of funding, CAFB spokeswoman Hilary Salmon told FFXnow.

“We’re happy not only to invest in them but to keep them in Fairfax County as they had looked at relocating to other places,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey McKay said at the board’s meeting.

Located at ​​6833 Hill Park Drive, Lorton, CAFB distributed 27 million meals throughout Northern Virginia during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, McKay said. That was nearly triple the amount of the previous year. CAFB also serves Alexandria City, Arlington, and Prince William counties, as well as Fairfax City, Manassas, Manassas Park and Falls Church.

To keep up with the demand, the food bank had to double warehouse capacity through short-term leases.

The CAFB doesn’t anticipate demand will subside, and expects to distribute 8 million meals in Fairfax County this year. The expansion would increase square footage by nearly 400%, McKay said.

Thank you to Fairfax County for this incredible financial support, which will help us to expand the infrastructure needed to serve Northern Virginia.

CAFB expects to distribute 8 million meals this year in Fairfax County alone, and this support will help us meet that need. https://t.co/R9IMAJmWCf

— Capital Area Food Bank (@foodbankmetrodc) February 25, 2022

Lee District Supervisor Rodney Lusk said, over the last two years, over 3 million pounds of food had been provided to Lee and Mount Vernon district residents through food drops and distributions.

“Of that 3 million pounds, approximately 1.5 million has come from the Capital Area Food Bank,” he said. “So, this is a very needed thing in our area and what I’m hearing, which is almost unbelievable, is that there is still great need for food and we don’t see that basically truncating or dropping as a result of the change in the pandemic.”

In CFAB’s 2021 Hunger Report, a survey of more than 1,800 of its clients found that two-thirds of respondents visited a food pantry for the first time in the year prior to spring 2021. Nearly 90% of those respondents said their need for free food was a direct result of COVID-19.

The county expects to receive the American Rescue Plan Act funds it will allocate to the bank no sooner than spring, McKay said. The county is drafting an agreement to protect the funds if the project doesn’t move forward or if there are unexpected changes.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) is advancing plans to add gas pumps to its Springfield store, and in the process spurring the relocation of a Tex-Mex restaurant to a new home in Alexandria where it will replace a relatively new Italian joint.

The wholesale giant has put a 2.81-acre property at 7375 Boston Blvd., home to a largely vacant, roughly 30,000-square-foot office building, under contract. Costco already owns 14 adjacent acres, where it operates a 144,000-square-foot warehouse.

Pending Fairfax County’s approval of a comprehensive plan amendment, rezoning and special exception, Costco will immediately raze the office building and replace it with 12 gas pumps for its members, and additional parking to support the store, according to recent testimony before the Fairfax County Planning Commission.

The gas pumps are moving through Fairfax County’s site specific plan amendment process, a biannual opportunity for individual property owners to propose changes to the county’s long-range land-use plan. On March 2, after a public hearing that saw one community member testify strongly in favor, the planning commission preliminarily offered its support for moving that amendment forward in the SSPA process. A more extensive review of the proposed amendment would follow.

“The ability to acquire additional abutting land has eluded Costco at this location for many years,” per the SSPA application. “There is now an opportunity to accomplish this and upgrade and revitalize the overall operation of a successful business that was established thirty years ago.”

Dos Amigos, which sits on the ground floor of the office building, announced it will close March 31 in advance of its move to 1603 Commonwealth Ave. in Alexandria. There it will rebrand as Dos Hermanos, but hold to the same concept and menu, the restaurant said March 5 on Facebook. Dos Amigos already operates a restaurant in Alexandria, at 535 E. Braddock Road by the Braddock Metro station.

The Commonwealth Avenue storefront is currently home to Elo’s Italian, which co-owner Jeremy Barber confirmed Tuesday would close, also on March 31. Barber and co-owner Justus Frank plan to focus for now on the beer garden they're working to open in historic Occoquan, then perhaps relocate Elo’s closer to Barber’s home in the Springfield-Burke area. In the meantime, the Elo’s lease will be assigned to the Dos Amigos team in a deal, Barber said, that came together very quickly.

Elo's launched in 2021 as a pop-up in the space formerly occupied by Live Oak Restaurant, which had closed earlier in the pandemic. It became the permanent Live Oak replacement only last year. The space was occupied from 1996 to 2015 by Monroe's, an American trattoria.

Finmarc Management Inc. acquired 7375 Boston Blvd. last June as part of a $127.5 million deal with Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) that included a cluster of 11 buildings in Springfield's larger Virginia 95 Business Park. Separately, Finmarc is working with Halle Cos., also through the SSPA process, to convert other parts of its Virginia 95 Business Park assemblage to residential.