Hotel business booming thanks to Micron expansion

The computer chip maker’s $3 billion-dollar expansion in Manassas City has brought more business to area hotels, located just outside the city limits.

A Hampton Inn on Williamson Boulevard, near Interstate 66, is seeing a lot of it.

• General Manager Jennifer Decker said the hotel has seen an increase in both long-term and short-term stays since the Micron expansion broke ground a year ago.
• They have been averaging at least five to 10 Micron related reservations a week.
• Decker said in an e-mail to Potomac Local that she has had guests that have been there longer than 30 days and one guest who has been there non-stop since the beginning of the year.
• “It is very rare for us to see that many 30-plus-day stays in a year,” Decker said. “We are hitting record numbers month after month.”

There has also been an increase in leisure travel to the area due to increased concerts at Jiffy Lube Live.

• A recent Tough Mudder race held at Silver Lake Park in near Haymarket on June 1 and 2 also meant a boom in business.

Despite the influx of people, area residents protested Tough Mudder’s possible return to the park.

• The park was gifted to Prince Wiliam County for use as a passive park, not meant for events, they argued.
• Prince Wiliam County Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland vowed the event would not return to Silver Lake Park.

Compared to January 1 – August 30, 2018, Micron had booked 202 total nights at the Hampton Inn.

• This year during the same time period, Micron had booked 1,129 room nights.
• “That’s a huge increase for us,” Decker said.

The Prince William County Office of Tourism labels the area where the Hampton Inn is located as the I-66 corridor.

• “According to our most recent report received today, the I-66 Corridor has realized a 4.5% increase in occupancy, and an increase of 5.2% in revenue per available room (based on a rolling 12-month cycle),” said Dan Cook, Prince William County’s tourism marketing manager.

The Micron expansion is expected to be complete next year.

Afterward, one out of every two cars in the U.S. are likely to have their memory chips manufactured at the Manassas Micron plant.

George Mason University estimates that Micron contributes $273.5 million to Virginia’s economy.

• $162.2 million to Northern Virginia.
• $22.5 million to Manassas’ economy.
• $76.8 million to Prince William County’s economy.