At 6 p.m. on Friday, October 30, the first of five bands takes the stage inside an old building at 750 Center Street. The building sits on a five-acre parcel that a Fairfax County judge has left in a developer's control and that the Town of Herndon is now asking a higher court to give back. Part of the parcel is fenced, with overgrown grass inside, and the rest is parking and a local art space, according to WJLA's October 2 report.
The art space is the one that never closed. Arts Herndon's annual Halloween Boogie, a farmers market on its last weeks, a brewery oyster party, a library Halloween craft and the Turkey Trot packet pickup all happen within a short walk of that fence this fall. The parcel the town calls its heart is empty, and downtown Herndon's season still runs around it.
Most of the calendar sits in the 700 block
Line up downtown events from now through early December by address and the cluster is plain. Most of them sit on the same few blocks of Elden, Center and Lynn streets that surround 770 Elden Street.
| Date | Event | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Thursdays through late October, 8 a.m. to noon | Herndon Farmers Market | 765 Lynn St. |
| Fri., Oct. 30, doors 5 p.m. | Arts Herndon Halloween Boogie | 750 Center St. |
| Sat., Oct. 31, 11 a.m. to noon | Artist Playground: Halloween Edition, Herndon Fortnightly Library | 768 Center St. |
| Sat., Nov. 14, noon to 6 p.m. | Oysterfest, Aslin Herndon | 767 Elden St. |
| Sun., Nov. 15, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. | Folk Rock for Food Justice concert | 750 Center St. |
| Fri., Nov. 20, 5 to 7 p.m. | Turkey Trot 5K packet pickup at Izzi's | 771 Elden St. |
| Sundays through mid-December, noon to 3 p.m. | Herndon Depot Museum | 717 Lynn St. |
The farmers market comes first because its window is closing. The Town's market page lists Thursdays from May 7 through October 30, which puts this week's market at or near the last of the 2026 season. The market is strictly producer-only, with no craft vendors. Everything sold has to be grown, raised or made within 125 miles of Fairfax County. New vendors this season included Karya Kuisine, Meltwin Kitchen, Sicilian Mom and The Avo Bar. Food-scrap composting at the market is run by Fairfax County and operated by Future Acres Urban Farming. Pets stay home, except service animals.
The building that was supposed to be gone
The 750 Center Street building is the clearest proof that the parcel still works as a civic space. It has run as ArtSpace Herndon since 2008, with roughly 6,000 square feet for a gallery, theater, open mics and classes, FFXnow reported in March 2025. That same report said the Heritage Preservation Review Board approved demolition of the building in 2019 as part of the redevelopment. It also said Arts Herndon expected to have to leave by March 31, 2025.
Arts Herndon's 2026 calendar lists event after event at 750 Center Street anyway. The Halloween Boogie is the biggest of them. The event listing describes an all-ages, sober show with five local and regional bands:
- JANE., from D.C.
- dogs, from Northern Virginia
- Druid St0n3, from Herndon
- an invitati0n, from Herndon
- The Convulsionistas, from Maryland
Doors open at 5 p.m. and music starts at 6. Costumes are encouraged. Admission is a $10 to $20 sliding scale, and no one is turned away for lack of funds. Arts Herndon asks guests to bring nonperishable food donations for unhoused neighbors.
A little over two weeks later, the same room hosts a gentler afternoon. On Sunday, November 15, the Folk Rock for Food Justice benefit runs 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., with live music by Crossing Elden and Julia Kasdorf plus food, crafts and kids' activities. Admission is a pay-what-you-can donation that supports deliveries of basic necessities to families in the community. During regular hours, Arts Herndon has listed its gallery and shop of local artwork and handmade gifts as open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
How the parcel ended up in court
The fence matters to this calendar because the plan for the site would have replaced the art building. The Town entered its agreement with Comstock Herndon Venture, LC in 2017. Under the deal the Town transferred its interest in the property, and the land was to come back if the project was not built, according to the Town's project page. The project would have delivered 273 apartments, 17,600 square feet of retail space and a 761-space public parking garage. Its arts center had been scaled down to 4,265 square feet by the time of the last proposal.
Here is the sequence since then, drawn from the Town's own updates:
- December 2024: Comstock notified the Town that it would not proceed with construction.
- January 2025: The Town told Comstock it was exercising its contractual right to have the property returned.
- July 11, 2025: The Town filed suit in Fairfax County Circuit Court seeking return of the parcel at 770 Elden Street.
- September 2026: The court ruled in Comstock's favor, leaving the developer in control of the property for now.
- October 7, 2026: The Town filed a notice of appeal with the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
Both sides have said they want something built. In a September 28 statement, Comstock said it remains willing to work with officials on a Class-A mixed-use redevelopment of the site. Mayor Keven LeBlanc told WJLA, "This is the heart of Herndon, and we are committed to continuing to bring that heart to fruition." No construction schedule or approved new plan exists today.
Aslin is across the street from the fence
The businesses that line the parcel carry its foot traffic in the meantime. Aslin Herndon at 767 Elden Street is one of them, and it hosts Oysterfest Fall 2026 on Saturday, November 14, from noon to 6 p.m. Aslin pitches it as a one-day "bivalve party" of fresh oysters and cold beer, with tickets sold ahead through its events page.
Aslin's Graham James put the case for the lot plainly in WJLA's report:
"It would be awesome if something was there. Something living, something residential, something that's going to draw people down here, and if more people are walking down here the more likely they're going to come in."
Next door, Izzi's at 771 Elden Street handles packet pickup for the Town's Turkey Trot 5K on Friday, November 20, from 5 to 7 p.m. The race starts at 4 p.m. the next day, Saturday, November 21. Around the corner, the Herndon Fortnightly Library at 768 Center Street fills its Saturdays. It has Artist Playground: Halloween Edition in the Maker Lab on October 31, Saturday Stories: Diwali Edition on November 21, and the Dulles Area Board Gaming Group from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on November 14, 21 and 28.
The new restaurants opened farther down Elden
This year's restaurant openings on Elden Street have landed at lower street numbers, away from the 700 block. Panda Express held its grand opening at 598 Elden Street on August 10, 2026, with a drive-thru, FFXnow reported. Beignets & Brew, a New Orleans-style beignet and coffee shop at 348 Elden Street #460, held its grand opening on Friday, August 7, starting at 7 a.m., according to FFXnow. Navarasa by Biryani Grill began its soft opening at 328 Elden Street on September 17, The Burn reported.
New tenants are coming to Herndon this year, and they are going where storefronts already exist. The 17,600 square feet of retail planned for the downtown parcel has not been built, and these three openings are all elsewhere on Elden.
Into December, with Town Hall closed
One more change shapes downtown errands this season. The Herndon Municipal Center is closed from October 2, 2026, through January 2, 2027, for renovation, and Town services have moved to 397 Herndon Parkway. The Town's free Holiday Tree Lighting and Sing-Along is still listed for Town Hall Square on Saturday, December 5, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The Herndon Depot Museum at 717 Lynn Street keeps its Sunday hours, noon to 3 p.m., until mid-December.
The appeal has no published schedule. Until it is decided, the fenced lot, the parking and the art building at 750 Center Street stay as they are, and the season's events keep happening around them.
At Property Collective, we follow what happens at 770 Elden Street because the outcome will shape downtown Herndon's streets for years. If you own a home within walking distance of the Town Green and want to talk through how the parcel's future could affect your plans, Schedule a Call with our team.
