At a special meeting on Wednesday, February 1, the Manassas Economic Development Authority voted to buy the Olde Towne Inn in Historic Downtown for $5.75 million.
The motel was originally constructed in the 1960s. It is located in the geographic center of the downtown neighborhood and sits on an entire city block.
The building and property are identified in the city’s comprehensive plan as a key development site and have long been discussed as ideal for redevelopment.
“I’m excited the EDA is able to help our City Council in acquiring this property,” said EDA Chairman Gary L. Jones, II. “One of our key functions as an Authority is to support the City through real estate acquisition and disposition. I can’t think of a bigger impact we could have on the continued revitalization of Downtown than this.”
According to the city’s press release detailing the sale, discussions with the property owners about buying the Olde Towne Inn have been taking place for years. Private investors and developers expressed interest in purchasing the property. However, the city government opted to buy the building.
“Recently, our discussions have been about having the owners themselves build a new hotel or facilitating a sale to a third party for that same purpose,” said Patrick Small, who is the City’s Economic Development Director. “After a lot of discussion, modeling, and planning the owners decided that they preferred to have the city acquire the property because they felt that the best use of the site would result from a more public process.”
The EDA has 60 days to conduct due diligence on the site and the right to assign the contract to the City Council, which could complete the purchase. No decisions regarding the continued temporary operation of the property in its current condition or the future use of the site have been made.
In 2016, the city purchased the Grant Avenue shopping center for $3.2 million and demolished a portion of the plaza to make way for a new police station. On December 12, 2022, the city’s police department took possession of its new $40 million public safety center.
Also, in 2022, the city council decided to carry on a project to gut and renovate city hall, at 9027 Center Street, across from the recently purchased motel, after project costs soared 40% higher than anticipated to $13 million.
Later, the city council balked at a request from the city school board to purchase the largest office building in the city, 8700 Centreville Road, for $11.5 million. The school division relied on the city council for funding and had hoped to relocate its division headquarters to the site.
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