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Three men have been arrested for coercing women into sex work at “high-end” brothels in Massachusetts and Virginia, the Department of Justice announced yesterday (Wednesday).

Locations used for the brothels include units in Hanover Tysons and Avalon Mosaic, apartment buildings in Tysons and Merrifield, according to a court affidavit by a Department of Homeland Security special agent.

Federal prosecutors have charged Massachusetts residents Han Lee and Junmyung Lee as well as California resident James Lee “with conspiracy to coerce and entice to travel to engage in illegal sexual activity,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Massachusetts said in a press release.

According to the DOJ, since at least July 2020, the men enticed primarily Asian women to travel to and work in the brothels, whose clients included “politicians, high tech and pharmaceutical executives, doctors, military officers, government contractors that possess security clearances, professors, lawyers, scientists and accountants.”

Specifically, the defendants allegedly rented high-end apartment complexes as brothel locations, which they furnished and regularly maintained. The monthly rent for the brothel locations were as high as $3,664. It is further alleged that the defendants coordinated the women’s airline travel and transportation and permitted women to stay overnight in the brothel locations so they did not have to find lodging elsewhere, therefore enticing women to participate in their prostitution network.

The locations in Tysons and Merrifield were advertised on a website claiming to be for nude photography models, but the DHS agent says he believes the ads are a “front” for commercial escort or prostitution services.

“Approximately twenty (20) sex buyers were interviewed in connection with this multi-yearlong investigation,” the agent said in the affidavit.

Clients were charged anywhere from $350 up to $600 per hour that they paid in cash, the DOJ says. Prosecutors allege that the defendants concealed “hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash” from the prostitution ring through deposits in their personal bank accounts and “peer-to-peer transfers.”

“Additionally, it is alleged that the defendants regularly used hundreds of thousands of dollars of the cash proceeds from the prostitution business to purchase money orders (in values under an amount that would trigger reporting and identification requirements) to conceal the source of the funds,” the press release said. “These money orders were then used to pay for rent and utilities at brothel locations in Massachusetts and Virginia.”

The defendants could face up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of up to $250,000 under the sex trafficking charges, according to the DOJ.

Han Lee and Junmyung Lee appeared in a federal court in Boston yesterday after getting arrested that morning, while James Lee was arrested in California and “will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The plan to redevelop Merrifield’s Pan Am Shopping Center has evolved since property owner Federal Realty submitted an initial proposal to Fairfax County last spring.

Perhaps the biggest change is the removal of up to 34 four-story townhomes previously shown on the southwest corner of the 25-acre strip mall at 3089 Nutley Street SW. The attached houses had accompanied three apartment buildings totaling 516 units.

After talking with county staff, Federal Realty agreed to eliminate the townhouses in favor of providing more park space, Director of Development Mark Hendrickson said at a community meeting on the project in the former Pet Valu store on Thursday (March 30).

In an illustrative plan presented at the meeting, the park space appeared as a green patch with trees and a path connecting the shopping center’s parking lot to the neighboring Providence Hall Apartments.

That corner will also be occupied by one of the three multifamily buildings, which will collectively have 585 units — all rental apartments.

“Townhomes are very land-consumptive,” county planner Aaron Klibaner said. “…It made more sense to do a smaller apartment building on that corner.”

Conversations between the county and Federal Realty have also reduced the residential buildings from seven to five stories, making them “more compatible” with Providence Hall, Klibaner said. They could still be up to 90 feet tall, but will “taper down” in height closer to the existing apartments.

The plan for rental units came as a surprise to Troy and Jackie Sponaugle, who have lived less than a mile away on Route 29 for almost 42 years. The couple said they had been told before that the units would be condominiums, though Hendrickson said condos were never considered for this project.

“Rental units are not as stable as owner units. We’re concerned that might impact the stability of the neighborhood,” Troy said.

Housing would support retail, developer says

The county’s Department of Planning and Development organized last week’s meeting to get feedback on whether its comprehensive plan should be amended to allow mixed-use development on the currently all-retail site.

Authorized by the Board of Supervisors in December 2021, the plan amendment study represents “the very, very beginning of the development process,” county staff stressed.

However, the question-and-answer portion of the meeting suggested some residents are already anxious about what the redevelopment could mean for Pan Am and the overall community.

At the forefront of many minds was the future of the current retailers, especially Michaels and Micro Center. One resident’s impassioned plea for the necessity of retaining the computer store drew claps from her fellow attendees, who easily exceeded 50 people.

While Federal Realty has confirmed that Safeway will stay as the main anchor, it’s still “trying to figure out” where the other retailers will go, Hendrickson said. The illustrative plan shows an expanded retail space.

Noting that the retail market has been moving away from big box stores, Hendrickson explained that the housing and other amenities, like parks and pedestrian paths, would support the shopping center’s businesses by creating a sense of community.

While there is “plenty of community” in the area, the developer heard during Zoom calls with local homeowners’ associations that there “was nowhere in Pan Am” that makes residents want to stay for extended periods of time.

“The focus has been on connectivity. This is not trying to be Mosaic [District],” he said, calling Fairfax Corner a closer analogue to Federal Realty’s vision.

Community fears public infrastructure insufficient

Connectivity is also a priority for Meg Gisonda, who doesn’t drive, though her husband does. She welcomes the prospect of Pan Am’s large, “sad” parking lot getting partially replaced by housing — with the hope that Federal Realty goes beyond the county’s 8% requirement for workforce units.

However, she’s not convinced the on-site paths and Nutley Street bicycle lanes that the developer has offered to provide will address the actual challenges faced by pedestrians, bicyclists and anyone else traveling outside a car.

For instance, Fairfax Connector has a bus stop right in front of Gisonda’s house on Route 29, but buses only come once an hour, and there isn’t a direct route to destinations like the Mosaic District. The timing also isn’t synced with Metro’s trains, so she typically has to walk back home from the Vienna station.

“So much of this is reliant on the county because it’s public infrastructure,” Gisonda said. “There’s not terribly much that this development company can really do about things that the community really needs, like more crosswalks or more buses with varied routes that come quickly, that go places where people need to go.”

With new housing approved at MetroWest near the Vienna Metro station and increased density proposed on nearby Swanee Lane, many community members raised concerns about the influx of new residents taxing the area’s roads and schools.

One resident observed that it already takes three signal cycles for drivers to get through the Nutley Street and Route 29 intersection, while another opined that the roundabout configuration at I-66 made an “already horrible” situation “worse.”

In addition to foreseeing traffic problems at Nutley/Route 29, Troy Sponaugle says Fairhill Elementary School, which his granddaughter attends, doesn’t have room for another 100 students.

“The land owner’s only concerned about Pan Am, but we have to be concerned about more than that, or else the quality of life in our area here will go down,” Troy said.

A county staff report on the proposed plan amendment is expected to be finalized in the month or two, according to Klibaner. A public hearing before the Fairfax County Planning Commission will likely come 30 days after the report’s release.

The Mosaic District has been declared a rousing success by Fairfax County, but between that mixed-use neighborhood and the Dunn Loring Metro station to the north, vestiges of Merrifield’s more industrial past remain.

A trio of new redevelopment pitches promise to further the county’s efforts to revitalize Merrifield by replacing older properties with housing that’s more closely integrated with retail, offices and other commercial activities.

Advanced by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (Dec. 6) as part the Site-Specific Plan Amendment process, which considers land use changes to the county comprehensive plan for individual properties, the proposals could collectively pave the way for some 4.7 million square feet of development, most of it residential.

Prosperity Business Campus

Calling for up to 2.7 million million square feet of development, property owner Link Logistics‘ proposed transformation of the 41-acre block of warehouses and offices along Prosperity Avenue between I-66 and Hilltop Road is the largest of the nominations.

The amendment would allow five mid-rise, multifamily residential buildings and two blocks of townhouses, though the southernmost building could be left as office.

The residences would be supported by ground-floor retail and private amenities, parking garages and nearly 12.9 acres of publicly accessible park space, including a central park across Prosperity Avenue and the retention of Long Branch stream valley to the west.

Under the name B9 Sequoia Prosperity Owner LLC, Link Logistics has proposed extending Merrifield Avenue through the site to Prosperity and adding two new local streets as well as a service alley.

“The proposed street grid and public park space will allow for the transformation of the existing office park into a porous and inviting community offering new pedestrian connections for the existing adjacent communities to the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metrorail Station,” the application says.

Merrifield at Dunn Loring Station

Built in 1968, the existing 706-unit apartment community at 8130 Prescott Drive could be replaced by 1.5 square feet of mixed-use development over eight blocks, including four low to mid-rise residential buildings and two residential high-rises ranging from 10 to 14 stories tall.

The other blocks consist of two-over-two stacked townhomes back up to the existing Providence Park townhouses and an up-to-five-story building that could have housing, a hotel, or office space with ground-floor retail.

Site owner and developer Malkin Properties says it would create a 2-acre urban park by expanding on the Fairfax County Park Authority’s planned Hartland Green Park, which has been scoped out but not yet constructed.

A ring road shown in the Merrifield Suburban Center comprehensive plan would be built as a connection between Pleasantdale/Hartland Road and Park Tower Drive. Intended to help neighborhood traffic reach Gallows Road and Route 29, the road would have transit lanes and on-street parking to accommodate public transit, such as the Relay shuttle, and ridesharing.

“The Merrifield at Dunn Loring Station SSPA proposal complements the attractive and successful development at the Dunn Loring -Merrifield Metrorail Station at a compatible scale to surrounding residential uses, and furthers Fairfax County’s goals of creating vibrant, transit-oriented communities that include a diversity of housing stock,” the application says.

Alliance Center Condominium

Compared to the redevelopments proposed above, the owners of this commercial lot at 2929 Eskridge Road is requesting a more limited amendment that would enable housing on the property without having to consolidate it with a larger project.

Built in the early 1970s, the Alliance Center houses the Fairfax Cable Access Corporation, the beer distributor Ferment Nation, a swimming pool contractor, and a couple of martial arts centers, among other tenants.

“Regretfully, after fifty years, the Center is now a tired reminder of Fairfax County past,” Steve Teets, an agent representing the Alliance Center, wrote in the application, noting that the land surrounding the 3.2-acre parcel was largely redeveloped with the Mosaic District.

Instead of the large-scale development currently envisioned by the comprehensive plan, the property owners have proposed two multifamily buildings with up to seven stories on top of a two-level parking garage. Each floor would be about 30,000 square feet, resulting in a maximum gross floor area of 420,000 square feet.

The application says the buildings would be designed to complement the housing in the Mosaic District.

“We should always encourage old and tired properties that abut key Urban centers to maximize their potential, with the understanding they need to ‘blend’ into their surroundings,” Teets wrote. “This proposal makes the future Alliance Center look like just another Town Center parcel. It passes the eye test. It blends.”

When the Board of Supervisors adopted its list of accepted SSPA nominations, Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith noted that the Alliance Center’s application was incomplete, since it still needed signatures from four out of its 24 condo owners.

However, the nomination was still among the nine in the Providence District advanced to a screening phase, where the applications will be reviewed by county staff and opened up for initial public comments.

“The bulldozers are not coming down the street because someone has put in an SSPA,” Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross said. “I think we need to be able to calm folks down about that. They don’t need to be that anxious about these, because this is just the first step in what will be a long process.”

Food for Others cut the ribbon Thursday on its new expanded space in Merrifield, increasing its ability to serve the region's food insecure.

Michael O'Connell, Patch Staff

|Updated Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:32 pm ET

FAIRFAX, VA — Elected officials and local community activists converged on Merrifield on Thursday morning to help Food for Others cut the ribbon on its expanded warehouse and food distribution center.

The regional food bank's new facility includes 10,391 square feet of warehouse and office space, and the new "My Market," where Northern Virginians eligible for emergency food assistance can shop in a grocery store setting.

"It was really important to allow our families the opportunity to shop for their own food," said Annie Turner, executive director of Food for Others. "It's more dignified, it's more respectful, and it reduces food waste in the community."

Although Thursday was My Market's official grand opening, the location has been serving Food for Others' clients since Jan. 26.

"In the first two weeks, our customer satisfaction has increased on average 13 percent because of the new space," Turner said, during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. "In those two weeks, we served over 82,000 pounds of food and about 8,400 individuals already. We look forward to really expanding the empowerment model for our clients, and we look forward to so much more for clients."

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Allowing the clients to choose what food they wish to take, cuts down on the amount of unused items that are discarded from pre-packed food parcels.

Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik grew up just down the street from Food for Other's headquarters on Prosperity Avenue. She remembered what it like living on free meals and going to the supermarket with her mother when it was hard to buy meat. Her family had to make hard choices about what they'd be able to have at home.

"Ensuring that families feel welcome, that they have a space for their kids, that they have those wraparound services and that they have the dignity even if they're not able to pay for the food themselves, that they're able to have the experience that everyone in the community has," Palchik said. "This is an incredible accomplishment."

In Fiscal Year 2022, Food for Others distributed 3.7 million pounds of food to 49,893 households across Northern Virginia.

Food for Others clients can take items from one of My Market's refrigerated shelves, giving them the experience of shopping in a grocery store setting.(Michael O'Connell/Patch)

On Thursday morning, market coordinator Patrick Salas was giving visitors a peek behind the scenes, showing off the expanded warehouse space.

"This feels a little bit bigger because it's more open," he said. "It'll give us a better opportunity for organization and just a little more fluid space to where we can move and really get trucks in here and pack."

Three years ago, Silas started out as a warehouse helper and then began driving trucks to pick up donations from the nonprofit's grocery store partners. He's been the market coordinator for about a month and will be overseeing the facility.

Patch has partnered with Feeding America since 2020 to help raise awareness of hunger in our local communities, a persistent national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that 1 in 8 people face hunger. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.

The autonomous Relay shuttle that has been puttering around Merrifield will stay in operation at least through the end of this year.

Fairfax County accepted additional funding from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation last week to extend its pilot project through December 2022, as it hopes the recent decline in COVID-19 cases will boost the shuttle’s ridership.

The $208,000 state grant is supplemented by a required local match of 20%, or $52,000, bringing the total amount to $260,000, according to county documents.

“Ridership levels have still been relatively low due to omicron and winter weather, but we are expecting an increase during the summer,” Robin Geiger, head of communications for the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, told FFXnow.

The Relay shuttle opened to passengers on Oct. 22, 2020, in the Mosaic District. It is free to ride and travels between Barnes & Noble and the nearby Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays.

A partnership between the county and Dominion Energy, which provided the shuttle, the demonstration project is Virginia’s first state-funded use of a self-driving, electric vehicle in public transportation.

The county enlisted the Virginia Transportation Research Council and Virginia Tech to conduct an independent study of the technology and the service’s effectiveness as a transportation option, but that effort has been unavoidably shaped by the pandemic.

Though the shuttle can accommodate up to 12 passengers, capacity has been limited to three people, including a safety attendant, throughout the pilot to encourage social distancing.

Geiger notes that face masks are also required on the shuttle as long as the federal mask mandate for public transportation remains in effect, which is currently through April 18. Governors from 21 states, including Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s administration yesterday (Tuesday), calling the mandate an example of federal overreach.

Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19 and some more mundane logistical issues, such as drivers illegally passing the 10 mile-per-hour vehicle, the Relay pilot “has been going well” overall, Geiger says, adding that the county has been learning throughout the experiment.

The shuttle will be on display this weekend (April 2-3) at the Mosaic District’s “Art Blooms” festival, a celebration of spring in partnership with the National Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C.

Art Blooms at Mosaic will also feature crafts and farmers markets, a beer garden from Caboose Brewing Company, a wine garden, live musical performances, and various family-friendly activities, such as face-painting and cooking demonstrations.

“[Relay] will not be operating during the festival, but we will be promoting the days and hours of service,” Geiger said.