Another Disappointing Chapter at 1001 West Broad

By Stephen Siegel
Falls Church Times Staff
July 27, 2015

While Falls Church City booms with new businesses and developments, 1001 West Broad continues to languish and appears to be vacant yet again.

It’s the latest unfortunate turn of events for the old concrete block building at the southwest corner of Broad & West, kitty corner from where Spectrum Development still hopes to build the four acre Mason Row project.

The building became vacant in January 2010, when Falls Church Cabinetry filed for bankruptcy protection. The owners, doing business as Broad Street Realty Trust, listed the building for lease, but nothing went into the space at any time from 2010 through 2014.

In March 2014 the owners received an occupancy permit from the City to open a new cabinet, carpet, and kitchen store, which seemed like an odd choice for the site, particularly since a cabinet store had previously failed at that location.

But it was four years later, and the economy and housing market had improved markedly from 2010, and the owners told the Times they were excited about Falls Church City’s redevelopment when they were asked about their plans for the store. (The owners also operate a carpet store in Springfield called House of Interiors.)

The store finally opened last summer, but it appeared to close within a short time. A Times reporter found the door locked one afternoon not long after its opening, and the neon “open” sign seemed to be illuminated less frequently or not at all.

At the same time, the owners had listed the building for lease at the same rate they had been asking during the previous years of vacancy.

After initially trying to market it themselves, the owners have hired a commercial broker to lease the space, but it’s unclear how that effort is going. Agent David Faik was tight-lipped when the Times inquired, saying he knew nothing about the closed store.

Asked what kind of business they were seeking for the site, Mr. Faik said only that they were looking for something that would meet with City approval. Officials have previously rejected proposals to put a drive through bank at that location.

The building will be a challenge to lease. While the front was rehabbed by the previous tenant in 2007, most of the building is an unfinished warehouse space, so any new tenant would be on the hook for large improvements costs, unless the owners were willing to pay for it.

The corner site also is small and has minimal parking, limiting its appeal to restaurants and other intensive uses. The owners who lease to Rite Aid, which is next door, have approached the 1001 owners about purchasing 1001, but Broad Street owners have not expressed much enthusiasm for selling, believing, as one owner told the Times, that the City is a place on the rise.