A new 7-story tower is going up at Manassas Park City Center.
The new mixed-use development will contain a mix of apartments and commercial real estate. The tower will be located behind the City Center complex at Manassas Drive and Market Street, across from City Hall. This is the newest development in City Center since the original mixed-use retail and residential project opened in the mid-2000s.
“We love the idea, and my partners were asking two questions. One of them is ‘do we want to develop this in Manassas Park,’ and the answer is yes we do. The second one was ‘do we want to put [seven] stories in Manassas Park? It’s a high risk, according to all of the real estate agents we spoke with, and the answer is still yes we do,” said project developer Talal “TJ” Hassan, Jr.
The building will include 202 apartments, 14,000 square feet of retail space at the street level, and 6,000 square feet of office or retail space at the top floor. Apartments are expected to rent for between $1,400 and $1,500 per month and include one bedroom and two bedroom floor plans, and a floor plan that includes two bedrooms and a den.
The $15 million project is expected to take 18 months to construct.
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The building represents a changing landscape in Manassas Park, which is widely known as a residential hamlet since its formation in 1975 nestled between Manassas City, and Centreville in Fairfax County. The addition of a Virginia Railway Express station and the Manassas Park Community Center in more recent years has helped to elevate the city’s profile.
“When we moved here in 1988, and from the railroad track onto the east, was a dirt road leading to an old farm that used to be there,” said Mayor Frank Jones. “The city has seen a lot of growth and a lot of changes, and there’s a lot more change that needs to occur to put the city in the kind of condition I want to see it in for the long term.”
This is the second large-scale project for Hassan in the Greater Manassas area. His firm constructed and manages what he’s dubbed the “Prince William Chamber of Commerce” Building on Capital Court in neighboring Manassas. That 4-storey building houses several large firms in addition to the Chamber to include JTC, Inc. and MTCI.
Manassas Park officials said the residential portion of the existing City Center building is 95% occupied with residents. The street-level retail portion has historically remained empty. A WashingtonFirst Bank branch is the only commercial tenant in the complex.
Hassan does not own the existing City Center development.
