Developer wants to be ‘pioneer’ who redevelops eastern side of Manassas

MANASSAS — Officials want feedback from residents on the future of development in Manassas.

City residents have the opportunity to weigh in on revisions to the Comprehensive Plan on June 26 for a Vision Summit Community Meeting at 7 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club, at 9501 Dean Park Lane.

The comprehensive planning committee has held update meetings for the past several months to hash out the details and take citizen feedback at its meetings, gathering input on everything from redeveloping the busy Liberia Avenue corridor to limiting building heights in the city’s downtown.

At a June 5 meeting, Eugene Mollinelli said his wife Judith did a survey and about a hundred people said they are in favor of height restrictions to preserve the character and historic nature of Downtown. Earlier this year, the city’s Economic Development Authority entertained a discussion on the desire to keep downtown buildings at or below three stories. 

The discussion comes after the construction of the five-storey Messenger Place building on Church Street. The building includes 94 homes and 3,500 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.

Mike Vanderpool, the founder of the Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian law firm, said his client Ahmet Aksoylu, of Aksoylu Properties, wants to redevelop a nearly eight-acre piece of property near the intersection of Liberia Avenue and Quarry Road, which is currently home to a car dealership and auto repair shops. 

Aksoylu seeks to rezone the land from M-1 (office/warehouse/storage/data center) to a commercial/mixed use, similar to the majority of other properties on Liberia Avenue. 

Asksoylu’s property is valued at a little over $7.7 million. 

At the meeting, Vanderpool said, “We need a pioneer” if the city wants to change the Eastern side of the city, and he said that his client is willing to be that pioneer. Vanderpool said his client sees an opportunity to “get rid of a very large used car lot” as well as to build up the north end of Mathis Avenue. 

“We think that area should be commercial/mixed use,” Vanderpool said.

Vanderpool said at the meeting that Aksoylu has built a 7-story building in Manassas Park that he invited everyone on the planning commission to tour. Vanderpool told Potomac Local that they wouldn’t necessarily build a 7-story building in Manassas.

Another site ripe for redevelopment is the Holmes Heights neighborhood, an area near downtown located north of Wellington Road between South Grant Avenue and Main Street. The possible Comprehensive Plan update would allow these older homes to be turned into newer residential or retail/office/open space.

Manassas Community Development Director Liz Via-Gossman, said just because the comprehensive plan says it can be redeveloped, “doesn’t mean every house will be affected.”

The Holmes Heights neighborhood consists of the Cape Cod-style homes that sit on property owned by Holmes Smith, who sits on the city’s Economic Development Authority. 

The Holmes Heights homes are rental properties, so Via-Gossman said that there is a “possible displacement strategy” for the people living there. Via-Gossman said that some of the residents might be eligible to buy a house or they could partner with an organization such as Habitat for Humanity to find housing for them.

Ultimately, Via-Gossman said, “The city can’t mandate redevelopment, it’s really the property owner.” Via-Gossman said it’s “totally up to them.”