The Quartz District and the Whole Foods grocery store to anchor the mixed-use development — a first for Prince William County — comes before the Board of County Supervisors tonight.
Two developers, SKW VA, Inc. and Southern Knolls, LLC, seek approval to rezone 145 acres at Prince William Parkway and Minnieville Road in Woodbridge. It plans to build 1,000 new homes, commercial retail and office space, a pavilion, and new parks and walking paths.
The land is zoned for agriculture and suburban homes and is mainly tree-lined.
Key to the project is what’s called a Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) that will replace traffic lights at the parkway and Minnieville Road. The SPUI would carry Minnieville Road traffic over the parkway.
Today, there are more than 20 lanes at the intersection, including turn lanes. When transportation officials pitched the idea of the SPUI to voters who approved a transportation road bond allowing the county to build the interchange, the project was to cost $70 million.
Rising inflation had driven up the cost of municipal construction projects, as neighboring Manassas learned when the cost to renovate its city hall increased by 40%, from $8 million to $12 million.
Engineers are designing the SPUI now, and we’ll know by early next year how much the project will cost, said Paolo Belita, with the Prince William County Department of Transportation.
To speed up the SPUI construction, the Quartz District developer agreed to provide a land survey and geotechnical work and to handle the stormwater management portion of the construction project should the Board of County Supervisors approve the rezoning.
The developer will also give the county 12 acres of land on which to build an elementary school and six acres to build an urban adventure park, as approved by voters in a second bond referendum in 2019, focused on park improvements.
According to proffer documents, The Quartz District will be built in phases. The first will be to construct the Whole Foods market and neighborhood streets and make improvements to Minnieville Road and the parkway to handle incoming traffic.
The second phase will be 350 homes. Once occupied, it will build an additional 100,000 square feet of commercial space.
The third phase includes building 800 more homes. Once they’re occupied, then the developer will build 150,000 more square feet of commercial space.
The project will have about 374,000 square feet of commercial space when complete. Additionally, the developer will build a public green with a pavilion, three playgrounds, five small passive landscaped parks, two dog parks, and eight walking trails.
The project’s affordable housing component will reserve 90 homes. The developer will dedicate the first 30 to those making only 60% of the area median income, another 30 to those making 80% of the area median income, and a final 30 to those making the entire area median income.
The developer agreed to leave the restrictions in place for 30 years.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors will head the case tonight during its 7:30 p.m. public meeting Tuesday, October 18, 2022. Supervisors will meet at the McCoart Building, 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge, just off Prince William Parkway.
