For the first time in 23 years, residents in western Prince William County will soon have to travel a little farther to catch the latest blockbuster movie on the big screen. Bethesda, Md.-based Parkridge Center Retail LLC wants to redevelop the shopping center of the same name near the Manassas National Battlefield to construct more than 300 housing units.

The shopping center, which is a prominent landmark from Interstate 66, is off Sudley Road next to the interstate interchange. It is home to the Regal Manassas and IMAX movie theater, across from the Manassas campus of Northern Virginia Community College.

Under the LLC, Buchanan Partners and Willard Retail partnered to purchase the
312,227-square-foot shopping center for $22.5 million in April 2021. The company wants to rezone 44.3 acres across two parcels from business zoning to planned mixed-use and planned mixed residential.

“The Applicant is seeking to re-energize the failing shopping center by adding a residential component that will replace some of the unsuccessful retail stores and that will help support the remaining struggling retail stores on the Property,” the application states.

The company plans to construct 363 housing units, including 190 townhouses and 173 condominiums. A portion of the shopping center is planned to remain, but the application doesn’t specify which.

Buchanan Partners Principal Russ Gestl said the company hasn’t determined price points for the units.

“Retail shopping centers and malls that have managed to remain viable in the new economy are those that have positioned themselves as projects with a residential component,” the application states.

Willard Retail Vice President Thomas Underhill said the shopping center has 21 storefronts, and the movie theater has been a tenant since 1999. The shopping center has about 3,000 “mostly unused parking spaces,” the application says.

Gestl said the movie theater would be demolished as part of the redevelopment. He said Regal negotiated a “huge reduction” in its rent with an agreement to cease operations once the redevelopment is approved.

Some small movie theaters are nearby, but the nearest large movie theaters are a Cinemark in Centreville and the Regal Virginia Gateway Stadium in Gainesville.

Gestl and Underhill said the shopping center was already struggling before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the economy, particularly the film industry.

“Although it has good visibility, it doesn’t have any of the other metrics that today’s retailers really like,” Gestl said. “The retailers today like to be part of a mix [of uses].”

While the plans still need work, Gestl said the initial vision is to develop between 140 and 200 units on the west side of the property. Eventually, the east side of the property will likely be redeveloped, but the company wants to first see the impact of the residential units on businesses on the east end.

He also said the company is in discussions with Omniride to provide bus service to the property.

“Retailers like to have people in the mix, and people like to have retail in the mix,” Gestl said.

Source: Inside Nova