Manassas Business Council to vote on downtown building height restrictions

Some merchants in Downtown Manassas were unhappy when the new Messenger Place apartment complex opened in July.

At five floors, 94 apartments, and 3,500 square feet of ground-level retail space, it’s one of the tallest and largest buildings on Downtown. Existing merchants said the new structure looms over the neighborhood’s other, older brick buildings, we reported in March.

As the city moves ahead with developing a new comprehensive plan to guide future development of the city, business leaders have been asked to vote on a resolution that would allow for more taller buildings like Messenger Place.

Email from the city’s economic development office | There will be a Special Called Meeting of the Manassas Business Council on Thursday, January 23 at 12:00pm. The purpose of the meeting will be to take action on the attached Resolution related to the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The meeting is expected to last no more than 15 minutes.

According to the resolution the business council will vote on, the comprehensive plan does not call for restricting the height of buildings in the city’s downtown neighborhood.

A portion of the resolution | …the Manassas Business Council believes amending the plan to lower building height restrictions in Historic Downtown is bad public policy and recommends the City Council not impose such building height restrictions that may:

• Limit development and redevelopment of sites targeted by the City for new construction.
• Render existing buildings non-conforming.
• Potentially result in lawsuits over regulatory “taking” of property rights and values
• Prevent the sale or refinancing of existing buildings.
• Make construction of a future parking deck similar to the existing structure impossible.
• Prevent investment in much needed new office and residential space in Downtown.
• Stifle the growth that has made Downtown the vibrant place it is today.
• Restrict construction of buildings that maximize density and property value.
• Reduce opportunities to increase the City’s tax base, and thereby potentially reduce the overall tax burden throughout the City.
• Prevent the attraction of more residents and businesses.
• Hurt existing businesses by restricting their growth and profitability.
• Damage the City’s reputation by sending a message that Manassas is “closed for business.”
• Be inconsistent with the City’s branding message of “Modern Beat.”

A vote in favor of the resolution will affirms that members of the business council are aware that the city’s newly drafted comprehensive plan does not call for limiting building heights in the downtown area.

Here’s a look at the full area Manassas considers to be “downtown,” taken from a presentation in 2017.

The Manassas Business Council has a specific duty to “Provide recommendations to city council and city staff on major business-related issues before the city council, according to city documents. It meets in the second-floor conference room at city hall.