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Revitalization of the Richmond Highway corridor suffered a blow with the news that a car title lender will open in the old Sunoco station at Huntington Gateway. This will make the ninth such lender in our seven-mile stretch of roadway.

Because Virginia law allows local jurisdictions to require extra review of certain types of land uses, the 2012 plans to re-open the Sunoco station (after its interim use in staging the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project) were subjected to much scrutiny. In the end, Sunoco shelved its plans.

However, Virginia law does not allow local jurisdictions any oversight of car title or pay day lenders. Fairfax County must allow them "by right" as they would any other retailer.

Maryland has tight restrictions on car title and pay day lenders, making Richmond Highway locations very convenient for customers from Maryland, perhaps especially for those who want cash to spend at the casino planned for National Harbor. It is ironic that Virginia's lack of regulation of these lenders may help facilitate gambling at casinos, a type of business that Virginia prohibits completely.

As Delegate Scott Surovell said in his blog, The Dixie Pig, "We need more high-end, family-oriented businesses in the U.S. 1 corridor - not car title lenders and quick cash joints." Delegate Surovell was reacting to the defeat of a bill he introduced in the 2013 Virginia General Assembly that would have given local governments the authority to regulate these lenders, as they may currently limit the number of pawn shops.

Where do we go from here? First, we support any restrictive regulation that is introduced in the 2014 Virginia General Assembly (although existing lenders would be grandfathered and not subject to any new law). Car title lenders have a powerful lobby, and it will be difficult to persuade the legislators to regulate them, but we should try.

Second, we support the MVCCA nomination to increase the density permitted for redevelopment of the Huntington Gateway area. A large-scale redevelopment is our best chance of having the old Sunoco site swept into a larger project.

Selected by Washingtonian Magazine as "Chef's Choice for Cheap Eats", Viet House offers authentic Vietnamese food including vermicelli bowls and pho viet. The restaurant is tucked away in Penn Daw's Adler Shopping Center. With rear signage on N. Kings Highway, Viet House can be difficult to spot from the main thoroughfare of Richmond Highway.

In 2014, Adler shopping center will be torn down and redeveloped into a mixed-use development called The Grande at Huntington, comprised of 275 residential units and 25,000 SF of ground-level retail.

When site demolition and construction begins, tenants in the shopping center will close or move their businesses. The owner of Rick's Carpet, a neighbor of Viet House, has already made plans to permanently move his store to a new location on Richmond Highway. Viet House will either relocate their restaurant permanently, close for good, or apply to move back into the ground-level retail space at the Grande at Huntington. Rent for brand new space, however, will more than likely be higher than what the owners are accustomed to paying in their current location.

 

The Grande at Huntington