Manassas Mall redevelopment advancing to Planning Commission hearing

A plan to reconfigure the Manassas Mall property into a modern, destination-style attraction and residential hub is progressing to an April 23 hearing before the Prince William County Planning Commission.

The proposal seeks to rezone 60 acres from B-1 (business) zoning to MXD-U (mixed-use) to allow for the development of 1,041 multi-family residential units and approximately 47,036 square feet of commercial buildings.

Miami-based developer Lionheart Capital held a community meeting Wednesday inside the Manassas Mall that drew just over 30 residents. The event showcased concepts for a vibrant “lifestyle community,” said Allison Greenfield, Lionheart’s chief development officer.

“The idea is that we remove sort of this old idea of the mall with this sea of asphalt,” Greenfield told InsideNoVa, “and we create an interactive experience with the people that live there and come to visit that is more pedestrian-friendly, that is more interactive in terms of the size and type of retail that we have.”

The residential facet of the revitalization effort consists of a construction scheme known as “five over two” – a five-story building over two levels of parking. 

The development would consist of three parcels amid a multi-phase construction process. Greenfield provided a rough timeline estimate for individual parcels.

“If you're asking how long would it take to construct once we started, it would be a couple of years to get this up,” Greenfield said. “A phase of one unit, one building of it, would be probably about a two-year construction.” 

Parcels one and two are along Ashton Avenue, while parcel three is along Rixlew Lane. There are currently 3,949 available parking spaces at the Manassas Mall, according to engineers on hand Tuesday, which leaves plenty of room for residential and community development. 

The construction process is loosely projected to last between five and 15 years overall when taking into account retail installation, according to James Mellor, an architect with Arcadis, which also designed Northern Virginia’s Ballston Quarter and Tysons Corner shopping centers.

“They're not fixed timelines, but this is obviously the first stage in the development proposal,” Mellor told InsideNoVa. “As retailers change over time and as malls develop over time, there'll be a need to look at each one of those shifts independently and how it fits into the overall master plan [that was] announced as mixed-use.”

Promenades and amenities

On Wednesday, several Lionheart Capital representatives said a key component of the renewed complex would be an interconnecting pedestrian walkway, or promenade, to link the retail space and residences and encourage broader community building. 

Current plans would leave in place the existing mall structure, including the Walmart, Macy’s and At Home stores but make use of the parking lot space for additional development and events like farmer’s markets. 

Other notable amenities under consideration in Lionheart’s blueprints include cafés, artisan shops, a “green pavilion,” a sculpture garden, a dog park and an outdoor workout area. The “Rixlew Ribbon” is also planned as a public pedestrian trail around the perimeter of the mall.

Greenfield said she spoke with a resident member of the county’s Trails and Blueways Council and saw potential in integrating the council’s input into the establishment of future green spaces on the premises. She said the collaborative process with the Board of County Supervisors over the past three years has been positive up to this point.

“We didn't buy this mall with the intention of [rezoning] it,” Greenfield said. “And then the Comprehensive Plan came out, and we realized that it could be a shared vision, that we would be aligned, that that would work very well for us.”

Colin Carby, Lionheart Capital’s director of development, said the new mall configuration would still retain its prior foundations.

“This is still a transit-oriented type of development where we're still going to make sure that we have probably more than one bus stop,” Carby said, “and then, you know, safe walkways to get to transport hubs.”

An 'urban design'

Carby stressed the developer’s intent is not to “cannibalize” the existing mall retail, but rather to enhance the community experience with service-oriented retail and outdoor opportunities.  

“That's an activated zone of public realm improvements that we're looking to do … and that's going to be a dynamic ground floor accessory to the residents on top,” Carby said. “The retail that's going to be at the base of each residential tower serves as a function to be a liner unit to conceal the garages from the front facade [and] create a public realm that stitches in all along the access road.”

Mohammed Shoeb, a Manassas resident on hand at Wednesday’s meeting, praised the redevelopment efforts and conveyed his excitement for the project.

“I think this is one of the best things that could happen for this area,” Shoeb said, “considering since COVID, we lost a lot of businesses in this area, and I got concerned that this property would be turning into some kind of housing, probably instead of a mall.”

Shoeb added, “You're very close to [U.S. Route] 66 so you're gonna get crowds from Fairfax, you're gonna get crowds from all the way down to Arlington … So I think it's a great place to have this kind of massive project set up.”

Carby added Lionheart is seeking more of an “urban design” for the reimagined mall. 

“The American mall concept is a fantastic one – it served a purpose during a certain timeframe,” Carby said. “But if you're looking to be forward-thinking for the next couple of generations to come, we think turning a mall inside-out sometimes kind of helps to invite the public into the project, as opposed to the walls concealing activity … bring some of that activity outside.”