Economic development director reports low vacancy, broad reach for Restaurant Week

Nicole Toulouse, the town's economic development director, told the council May 18 that Vienna's commercial vacancy rate has fallen below 3% and that staff are working with landlords to attract tenants for several large spaces, including the 22,000‑square‑foot Fresh Market site and a warehouse behind the ABC store.

Toulouse presented Restaurant Week performance metrics, saying 45 restaurants participated and the town's paid and earned media produced large reach: roughly 45,000 people saw paid social ads, and traditional media placements drove tens of millions of total views across platforms. The event produced about 160,000 interactions on social platforms and several high‑profile earned placements including Good Day DC coverages.

Council members sought clarification on whether the figures were gross receipts or tax collected; staff confirmed the presentation used gross receipts and not the meals tax collected. Councilor Anderson asked how vacancy is defined; Toulouse said properties not being actively marketed (for example, in redevelopment) are excluded from the vacancy rate calculation.

Toulouse also reviewed lessons learned: restaurants sometimes provided menus too late or submitted normal menus rather than special Restaurant Week offerings, and staff plan earlier outreach, improved photography and targeted advertising for next year. She confirmed the advertising spend was about $35,000 and introduced new marketing staff member Prakriti Duja.

Toulouse said staff would provide longer historical time series data on vacancy and receipts for council review.