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It billed itself as the first food hall in Northern Virginia when it opened in 2016. But now, The Block in Annandale is closing its doors.

People in the neighborhood knew it was coming, but it’s been announced that The Block, two other connecting restaurants, Kimen Ramen and Chicken Pelicana, as well as B-Thrifty, will close by the end of August to make way for a new 280-unit apartment complex.

In a post on Instagram, Balo Kitchen — one of the vendors at the food hall — said their hearts are broken to “close on such short notice.”

First reported by Annandale Today, the Eastgate Shopping Center on John Marr Drive property owner, Brian Kim, gave The Block and other retail tenants until Aug. 30 to vacate the strip mall.

Elizabeth Berry lives in the neighborhood and is sad to see them go. “I think it’s a loss for the neighborhood, I think that a lot of the neighborhood people really enjoyed The Block. It’s a great gathering place,” she said.

Arthur Peyton said he shops at the B-Thrifty consignment store all the time. “I get good deals. So yeah, man, it sucks,” he said.

The Block isn’t just popular with people in Fairfax County, Brooke Adelman and Kayla Rosario travel from Prince George’s County, Maryland, to eat and hang out at the food hall.

Rosario said it seems to her that the new housing is not the best use of the land: “(I’m) absolutely disappointed, especially for an apartment complex.”

Adelman echoed that sentiment: “Leave it. Leave it the way it is.”

B-Thrifty is hoping to open in a new location in Annandale, but it’s not clear if the neighboring restaurants will try to do the same.