Thursday, October 8, 2026
Good morning. Here's what's in this week's issue:
Worldgate Centre in Herndon is in foreclosure, and its theater, gym and restaurants are still open
True Food Kitchen closed at Reston Town Center, and Guapo's is preparing its first Mar y Tierra at The Spectrum
Five things to do, starting with a free Rocktoberfest headlined by Vertical Horizon on Saturday
Kathy & Graham
THE BIG STORY
WORLDGATE CENTRE IS IN FORECLOSURE, BUT DON’T WORRY…YET
Worldgate Centre, the Herndon shopping center with AMC Worldgate 9 and the Worldgate Athletic Club & Spa, is in foreclosure. Its owner, an affiliate of Rappaport, still owes about $50 million on a 2016 loan, and in December 2024 it told the lender it wanted to give up the property. A trustee for the lender will auction the center outside the Fairfax County Circuit Court on Monday, Oct. 26.
We have seen posts in local Facebook groups saying the center is closing. The theater, the gym, and the restaurants are open as usual. The winning bidder at the auction will own the buildings and become the landlord for the businesses inside. Whether a new owner must honor each lease depends on its terms, but the center is nearly full and earned $2.91 million in net cash flow last year, so a buyer has a financial reason to keep the tenants it has.
About 30 businesses fill the center. Along with the movies and the gym, you'll find TGI Fridays, Inchin's Bamboo Garden, Sushi Mori, Charred, Pho 2000, Nan Thai, Anatolian Bistro, Hangry Joe's Hot Chicken, Cold Stone Creamery, ShareTea and Weird Brothers Coffee, plus the Russian School of Math, Bach to Rock, The Jackson Clinic, Sandy Spring Bank and FedEx Office. Peruvian Charcoal Chicken & Grill opened in the former Qdoba this week, and Kinnera Bar & Grill is preparing to open.
Appraisers valued the center at $88.5 million in 2014 and $23.9 million this March, partly because Sport & Health left its 106,000-square-foot club in 2021. Rappaport took over that space and runs it as the Worldgate Athletic Club & Spa.
A few blocks away on Worldgate Drive, NV Homes plans 458 townhouses and stacked condos in place of two office buildings. We will update our story after the auction.
QUICK HITS
AROUND RESTON AND HERNDON
True Food Kitchen served its last meals at 11901 Democracy Drive at Reston Town Center on Oct. 4, and the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the next day after closing 12 restaurants. Haus of Urbi has also closed its jewelry boutique at 11962 Market St., and Guapo's is painting the former Not Your Average Joe's building at The Spectrum for its first Mar y Tierra restaurant. Vote below on what should take True Food Kitchen's space. Read more
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Sept. 29 to raise the non-residential space allowed at the Crescent Apartments site near Lake Anne from 2,000 to 30,000 square feet, room for a larger Reston Community Center facility. The county's housing authority still has to pick a development partner for the 16.5-acre site, where it has proposed up to 750 apartments in place of the 181 there now. Read more
The same day, the board voted unanimously to let the county's 1.86-acre Kiss & Ride lot at the south entrance of the Reston Town Center Metro station join BDC's pending rezoning of 23.88 acres next to it. The vote does not approve a project or commit the county to sell or lease the land. Read more
EYA Development wants to rezone about 49 of the 88 acres at Lake Fairfax Business Center, 1780 Business Center Drive, for 956 to 1,042 homes, about 20 acres of parks and a site for a future elementary school. The Planning Commission deferred its vote on Sept. 23 over noise from a data center about 100 feet from the proposed homes, and the Board of Supervisors hearing is expected Nov. 17. Read more
Fairfax County held a community meeting on Oct. 5 on three plan changes for 58 acres south of the Wiehle-Reston East station: more office, a hotel and up to 540 apartments at Commerce Metro Center, all housing along Association Drive, and 125 to 396 homes at 11600 Sunrise Valley Drive. The Commerce Metro Center rezoning goes to the Planning Commission on Nov. 18. Read more
Pulte can build 158 homes, 112 condos and 46 stacked townhouses, in place of three 1982 office buildings on Samuel Morse Drive near Reston Station, after the Board of Supervisors approved its Lofts II rezoning 10-0 in July. Pulte committed 20 of the homes as workforce housing and says construction will start no earlier than the third quarter of 2027. Read more
The Herndon Town Council dismissed Town Manager Dan Hoffman on Sept. 29, less than a year after he started, and Deputy Town Manager Kirstyn Jovanovich is serving as interim manager. Mayor Keven LeBlanc called it a personnel matter. The town has until Oct. 19 to note an appeal of the Sept. 17 ruling that left five downtown acres in Comstock's name. Read more
At its Oct. 6 work session, the Herndon Town Council took up new state retail rules, including a request for staff to draft an ordinance barring new tobacco, nicotine and hemp shops within 1,000 feet of a school or child day center. Licensed cannabis stores can open in Virginia on July 1, 2027, and the town can set their zoning and hours and add a local tax of 1% to 3.5%. Read more
The owners of Designs and Interiors by The Upholstery Shop want to turn the first floor of 757 Elden St., built in 1900 as Herndon's first movie theater, into Herndon Hall, a private event venue that would host up to 80 events a year. Town staff recommend carrying the request to the Planning Commission's Nov. 16 meeting. Read more
ICF, the consulting firm based in Reston, notified Virginia that it will lay off 82 workers on Dec. 7. Most of them work in Arlington on a Department of Homeland Security contract that the government chose to consolidate rather than rebid. Read more
The U.S. Justice Department has sued the owners of Herndon's Amphora restaurants for more than $20 million in unpaid employment taxes going back more than a decade. Amphora Bakery and Amphora's Diner Deluxe remain open. Read more
Neighbors on Cocquina Drive in Reston say crews building a data center less than 100 feet from some of their homes drill and bang all day and light the site at night. Read more
Early voting for the Nov. 3 election runs through Oct. 31 at North County Governmental Center, 1801 Cameron Glen Drive, weekdays from 1 to 7 p.m., including Monday, Oct. 12. Herndon Fortnightly Library opens for early voting on Oct. 22, and Friday, Oct. 23, is the deadline to register or to request a mail ballot. Read more
South Lakes, 5-0 after its 48-0 Baron Cameron Cup win over Herndon, plays at unbeaten Oakton on Friday at 7 p.m. Herndon, 0-5, plays at McLean. Read more
OPENINGS & CLOSINGS
WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT
OPEN Peruvian Charcoal Chicken & Grill, Worldgate Centre, Herndon. The Peruvian chicken restaurant opened this week in the former Qdoba space. Read more
OPEN Navarasa by Biryani Grill, 328 Elden St., Herndon. The upscale Indian restaurant began its soft opening on Sept. 17. Read more
COMING Voodoo Brewing, 2315 Dulles Station Blvd., Herndon. Owner Curry Lee has set the taproom's grand opening for Saturday, Oct. 24. Read more
COMING Ebbitt House, 1860 Reston Row Plaza, Reston Station. Clyde's Restaurant Group now says the restaurant opens in early November, later than the October target it gave earlier. Read more
COMING GiGi Urbano, Woodland Park Crossing, Herndon. The owners of Urbano in Sterling are opening an Italian sandwich shop and hope to open in October. Read more
COMING Red Ember, Village Center at Dulles, Herndon. A Hunan Chinese restaurant with a seasonal menu has its website up and no opening date. Read more
COMING Mezeh Mediterranean Grill, Village Center at Dulles, Herndon. The chain is taking the roughly 3,200-square-foot former Noodles & Company space. No opening date yet. Read more
COMING Mpanadas, Sunrise Valley Center, Reston. The empanada shop plans to open its Reston location this fall. Read more
COMING Iron Flame Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, Herndon Centre, Herndon. H Pot Korean BBQ & Hot Pot will take the new name and add dishes after a renovation that starts around the new year. It stays open until then. Read more
CLOSING Mr. Wish, 472 Elden St., Herndon Centre. The boba and frozen yogurt shop closed after three years, and the new owners of the space plan another frozen yogurt and boba shop there. Read more
FROM GREATER RESTON LIVING AT COMPASS
What would your home sell for this fall?
We price homes against recent sales in your own neighborhood. Get a range in a couple of minutes.
THINGS TO DO
OUR FIVE PICKS FOR THE WEEK
FRI., OCT. 9 · 3 P.M. · HERNDON COMMUNITY CENTER
Kids Halloween Costume Exchange. Families can pick out two gently used kids' costumes for free at 814 Ferndale Ave. until 6 p.m., and again Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, first come, first served.
SAT., OCT. 10 · NOON · SOUTH LAKES VILLAGE CENTER
Live on the Lake. Strumming and Drumming plays pop and R&B on the plaza by Lake Thoreau until 3 p.m. It's free with an RSVP, and seating is limited, so bring a chair.
SAT., OCT. 10 · 5 P.M. · RESTON TOWN CENTER PAVILION
Rocktoberfest. Virginia Coalition plays at 6 p.m., Everything at 7:30 and Vertical Horizon around 9, with free admission, free garage parking and drinks from nearby restaurants. It goes on rain or shine unless storms move in.
SUN., OCT. 11 · 2 P.M. · LAKE ANNE PLAZA, RESTON
Paradise in Yonkers reception. Reston Art Gallery & Studios holds a free reception until 4 p.m. for Jennifer Duncan's new work, which hangs through Oct. 31.
THU., OCT. 15 · 7:30 P.M. · CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMFORTER, VIENNA
The Yale Whiffenpoofs. Yale's a cappella group, founded in 1909, sings jazz, folk, pop and Broadway songs at 543 Beulah Road until 9 p.m., and Reston native Cyrus Rivers is among the singers. Tickets are $17 to $48.
ASK THE INSIDERS
Send us your Reston and Herndon questions
Wondering who a street is named for, what is going into an empty storefront, or when a project will break ground? Send us your question, and we will answer it here in a coming issue.
READER POLL
What should replace True Food Kitchen at Reston Town Center?
We'll share the results next Thursday.
Last week: South Lakes settled the Baron Cameron Cup question on the field, 48-0.
A FINAL NOTE
YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM RESTON WHEN…
…you've corrected someone's pronunciation of "Wiehle" before they finished saying it.
Openings, closings, questions and corrections
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Reston Insider is written by Kathy and Graham Tracey of Greater Reston Living at Compass, and you can call or text us at (703) 231-7049.
Compass, 11943 Democracy Drive, Reston, VA 20190 | (703) 783-7485
