Occoquan leaders set to vote on The Mill; building would-be tallest in town

Occoquan Town leaders are set to make a big decision on what could be the tallest building in town.

The Town Council is scheduled to vote on Tuesday on whether or not to approve The Mill at Occoquan, a planned 5-story building that would be built on Mill Street, across from Town Hall. The building would include 52 apartments, and street-level retail space, as well as a space for a restaurant and terrace overlooking the Occoquan River.

The developer, the Manassas-based Mid-Atlantic Real Estate Invesvestments, Inc., is petitioning the town for two special-use permits. The first would allow it to build up to 52 units, and the second would allow it to build the building to a height of 55 feet, 24 feet higher than what the town allows.

If it is approved, the building will be the tallest structure in town and will dwarf its neighbors on Mill Street, which includes retail shops, restaurants, and single-family townhomes. “If granted, [the building] would further change the look and feel of the town, and especially of Mill Street,” states a town staff report dated June 3.

A public hearing on the project was held on June 15, where the public had a chance to weigh in on the project.

About five people spoke, and opinions on the project were nearly split, said Mayor Earnie Porta. The town has held multiple town hall meetings on the project in the past where more than 90 people have attended and spoke.

“The two concerns that folks have: One, folks don’t want to see more people in town, and that we can’t really accommodate. We can’t reject a special-use permit request because you don’t want to see more people in town. It’s legally not permissible,” said Porta.

The second concern is about the building’s height.

“Their position is, and it’s understandable, even though it’s comparable to some of the other buildings, they still think it’s too tall,” added Porta.

During Tuesday’s meeting to be held at 7 p.m at Town Hall, at 314 Mill Street, it’ll be up to elected officials to make a decision.

The much-talked-about project has been debated and modified since it was first proposed in 2019. Back then, the building was much larger with a total of 80 apartments proposed. The building was also going to include a sixth floor, as well as a rooftop observation deck.

Based on comments from town officials and residents, the developer offered a compromise and removed the observation deck, and scaled back the number of apartments. In doing so, however, the number of parking spaces was also reduced from 211 to 143.

If the town approves the special permit request, the developer has agreed to review the plan to see if, and where it could fit some of the additional 14 needed parking spaces for the development. If they are built, the spaces will be big enough only for company cars, states the staff report.

At full occupancy, the town expects to see nearly $2 million in Real Estate tax revenue each year from the project.

The developer will also spend about a half-million dollars to extend a portion of the town’s riverwalk, per an agreement it has with the town, should the development be win approval. The walk would be extended to the Mill House Museum, and would also have a put-in area for kayakers and paddleboarders, similar to one that opened last year on the other end of the riverwalk.