Politics & Government

City Center Could Have Business Tenants By July, Broker Says

City Center, a mixed-used development purposed to be the first component in a downtown area for Manassas Park, could finally see some retail activity for the first time since its completion in 2007.

Weber-Rector, the Manassas company charged with filling the still-empty retail parcels in the City Center development, projects the property could have business tenants within the next four months.

Coleman G. Rector, president and general broker for Weber-Rector, said they are preparing to do a speculative build out inside some of the business parcels on the street level of one of the two, four-story buildings of the center.

Building out some of the parcels will hopefully make the complex more attractive to customers, Rector said.

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Rector said he believes the development could possibly be home to a bussiness in the next four months.

 Not a single business has ever opened in City Center in the six years it has been standing, making it a failure in the eyes of many Manassas Park residents.

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 Clark Realty Capital, the builder and original owners of the mixed-used development, left the inside of most of the retail parcels incomplete as a way to make the space more flexible for potential customers, Clark spokesman Tim Alexander said in a previous interview with Patch.

Most of the first-floor parcels along Market Street were designed as flex space, meaning it could be bussiness or residential. Since City Center have been standing, those flexible parcels have been used as apartments.

 One year ago, New York-based True North Management Group purchased City Center off the Prince William County auction block for almost $35 million after Clark defaulted on the loans on the property.

 Rector, whose company was hired by True North to market and manage the business element of the property, said the incompleteness of the parcels could have been a factor in why none of the space was ever rented.

But more than likely, the poor economy prevented the property from securing any businesses, Rector said on Friday.

Three or four parcels near the corner of Manassas Drive and Market Street inside the building nearest to Route 28 will be the first to receive the build out, Rector said.

These spaces are in front of a fountain and are considered to be the “center of City Center,” he added.

Doing the build out will save the lessee the trouble of going through the many steps it would take to build it out themselves, he added.

Because the economy is looking better, Rector expressed faith in businesses locating to City Center.

 Furthermore, the new owners are committed to making the property successful, he said.

 Manassas Park City Councilman Brian Leeper said in a previous report that he believes True North purchased the property with the intent to effectively market and managing its retail component.

So what do you think? Will City Center have some retail by mid-summer after six years of not having any? Tell us in the comments.


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