City will determine what hotel is built at Manassas Gateway

A new 125-room hotel will be one of the new commercial amenities at the soon-to-be developed Manassas Gateway.

It will be built on 40 acres of land city officials dubbed “Gateway” near the Manassas DMV.

With the hotel, the development will also include spaces for commercial retail, offices, 270 new townhomes, and 112 condo homes. With a large pond forming in the middle of Cannon Branch, it will also be the city’s first waterfront development.

Manassas City economic development officials are responsible for closing the deal on which new hotel will locate at Gateway. The desire is to have a hotel in the Hilton or Marriot hotel chains locate here, said Kingsley McAdam, with Buchanan Partners, the firm that will develop the land.

There won’t be a grocery store at Gateway, an amenity commonly found as an anchor store in new suburban developments. “We think there is plenty of grocery shopping nearby,” said McAdam.

Gateway’s location near the Manassas Regional Airport and the Prince William Innovation technology park will make it ideal for business and travelers, he added.

A pedestrian plaza will connect all of the buildings at Gateway. Four planned commercial buildings will offer surface parking lots, and another four buildings that to be built on the site would need a parking deck.

Water and sewer utility lines must also be added to the site before building construction can begin. Dirt must also be shifted from the soil-heavy commercial side of the project near the Manassas DMV to the residential side of the development near Prince William Parkway, as part of the grading process.

The Manassas DMV building is not part of the Gateway development, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be. City leaders have the option to sell the city-owned land on which the DMV sits to Buchanan Partners.

That probably won’t happen for at least five to 10 years after Gateway opens.

“Depending upon the market, that space might become more attractive to us but we’re in no rush to tear down the DMV,” said Kingsley.

Kingsley presented his Gateway project to the Economic Development Committee at the Prince William Chamber of Commerce. There, Kingsley was urged to begin working with the Norfolk-Southern Railway, which operates the rail line that runs adjacent to the property.

“Is this a no-[train] horn zone? If not, you need to start your research with Norfolk-Southern right now because you’re going to build in hundreds of people who will object to the train horn being blown,” said Roger Snyder, a longtime city resident.

Manassas Gateway will be located at 10500 Gateway Boulevard. The City Council approved the development in October 2015.