Dunkin’ Donuts interested in Woodlawn Shopping Center location

September 29, 2019 Business and Development
The space in the Woodlawn Shopping Center, which was most recently a Best Smokes
The owner of the Woodlawn Shopping Center is hoping to lease this space to Dunkin’ Donuts.

Could the 22309 be getting its first Dunkin’ Donuts?

It’s still very early in the development process, but representatives for the Woodlawn Shopping Center gave a presentation earlier this month to the Mount Vernon Council of Citizens Associations (MVCCA) about putting a Dunkin’ in a space that was most recently home to Best Smokes. At one time the space belonged to a bank, and is already configured for a drive-through window, which Dunkin’ is hoping to have at the store.

“The proposed Dunkin Donuts will utilize the existing portion of the building that consists of approximately 2,025 square feet of gross floor area as well as the drive-through window,” Kathryn Taylor of the land use firm Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh, P.C., which is working with the shopping center owner, told Covering The Corridor. “The addition of this proposed establishment will add to the mix of tenants within the Woodlawn Shopping Center as well as will provide additional food choices for the surrounding community.”

Dunkin’ Donuts would need to apply for a special exception for the drive-through, which essentially means county staff would need to review the appropriateness for that specific location, and then the Fairfax Board of Supervisors would ultimately need to approve it.

The application for the special exception has not been filed with the county yet, and Taylor emphasized that it’s still very early in the development process.

The Dunkin’ would be expected to have minimal impact on Richmond Highway traffic because the drive-through is accessed from within the shopping center’s property, and there is also a service road buffering the shopping center from Route 1, Taylor said.

While Dunkin’ Donuts has expanded its presence in the greater Alexandria/ Richmond Highway area in the past few years, no stores have opened south of Hybla Valley. In fact, the 22309 zip code is a bit of a coffee desert, with no Dunkin’ Donuts and just one Starbucks — located inside the Safeway at Engleside Plaza.