105 new condo homes to be built in Downtown Manassas
A total of 105 new condominiums will be built on the edge of Manassas City’s historic district.
The City Council on Monday night approved a rezoning request that clears the way for the Manassas Station condo complex on Prince William Street, in front of Osbourn High School. The complex will be 35 units short of what the developer originally proposed to build.
City leaders, especially Mayor Harry J. Parrish II, took their time on deciding whether or not to approve the new housing complex. A split decision vote by the council in late November meant Parrish would need to cast the deciding vote to approve or deny the rezoning request.
“I pocket vetoed the measure because I was hearing from staff there was further action on the issue,” said Parrish. “I try to be a process person that allows the process to take place. I can easily describe voting for either side of this issue, but I allowed this process to continue.”
Parrish described the process as going back to the developer and asking for a reduction in the number of homes built. Residents said the complex would change Old Town Manassas and would give it a more urban feel if built.
“Folks in Old Town have been very vocal about this, and they aren’t shy,” said Manassas Vice Mayor Andrew Harrover. “The majority of concerns were about size of the project, and it has been reduced by a fair number.”
The old ABC Photo building will be demolished to make way for the new condos. City leaders needed to rezone the land it sits on from industrial to residential before the condos could be built.
Manassas Station will be built on what city leaders called an “extraordinary piece of land” near the city’s downtown. The property is along the railroad, near a school, and is in walking distance of small shops, restaurants, and a Virginia Railway Express station.
The same developers who built Historic Courts of Manassas are betting that more millennials who can’t afford a single family home and empty nesters will choose to live at Manassas Station.
Councilmen Marc Aveni and Mark Wolfe voted against the rezoning.
