Updated 5 p.m. — A decision on who will build its new anchor movie theater in Manassas Park could come by spring.
The city’s Economic Development Director A. LaMar Hoy, said on Wednesday, January 11, the city is considering multiple options when comes to building a space for a new movie theater in the city’s burgeoning downtown area, Park Central.
In one option, the city’s Governing Body could provide a loan to the city’s economic development authority to developer Norton Scott, which had already built the majority of the Park Central neighborhood — including a new city hall and library that opened last summer.
The details of how much the loan would cost taxpayers are still being worked out. Other options on the table include using proffer funds to build the building that will house the cinema or partnering with a developer who will agree to construct the building outright.
The EDA is an independent business lending origination tasked with attracting new business and improving existing agencies.
The city has partnered with Hampton Roads-based Cinema Cafe, a movie theater /restaurant concept, to fill the space. Once open, it will be Cinema Cafe’s first Northern Virginia location.
City officials say the cinema will be a draw to the new downtown neighborhood, located on Manassas Drive. When finished, it will have 300 condos, a 700-space parking garage next to the city’s Virginia Railway Express station, and Jirani Coffeehouse and La Finca Mexican Restaurant.
Jirani Coffeehouse and La Finca will expand from their locations in Manassas and Gainesville. Both are expected to open later this summer.
A year ago, the Cinema Cafe planned to build the theater. However, rising construction costs and a labor shortage threw a wrench into their plans. The developer told the city it was longer willing to take the risk.
City leaders returned to the drawing board and, once again, approached Norton Scott with a similar public-private partnership deal it used to build its city hall building, where the developer covers the construction cost and builds, allowing the city to lease back the building, allowing the developer to recoup its costs.
The movie theater could be open as soon as April 2025, while the 300 condos should be move-in ready by December 2025.
A VRE parking garage will open by December 2024, providing commuters with a place to park their car during the day and giving movie-goers and visitors parking on evenings and weekends.
The city held a ribbon cutting for its new city hall/library building in July 2022, marking the opening of the city’s long-envisioned downtown neighborhood, now called Park Central.
Hoy said the city would also work to attract new retail stores to the center and a coworking facility where government contractors, remote company employees, and entrepreneurs can work remotely outside their homes.
Hoy provided this information during the Prince William Chamber of Commerce’s annual Future of the Region symposium at 4 p.m. Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at Old Hickory Golf Club in Woodbridge. Economic development directors from Manassas and Prince William County also presented during the event, attended by about 100 business and elected leaders.
Hoy said his city is working to differentiate itself from its neighbors, Manassas and Prince William County, which have successfully attracted advanced manufacturing and data center jobs, respectively.
“We can’t work to be Manassas, and we can’t work to be Prince William. We have to stay in our lane and figure out what works best for us,” said Hoy.
