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Monza restaurant owner Alice Pires has applied for an outdoor bar on the open space at the 9403 Battle St. lot, adjacent to the Old Town Italian staple at 9405 Battle.
An education company is looking to build a two-story elementary school and a one-story daycare center at Tillett Hall, an old home built in 1885 on three acres at the northwest intersection of Wesley and Fairview avenues.
Monza restaurant owner Alice Pires has applied for an outdoor bar on the open space at the 9403 Battle St. lot, adjacent to the Old Town Italian staple at 9405 Battle.
Two old Manassas properties may have new life breathed into them if the city’s Architectural Review Board signs off on proposals that would serve vastly different clienteles.
First, Monza in Manassas is looking to bring a new al fresco drinking option to the city’s historic downtown. Owner Alice Pires has applied for an outdoor bar on the open space at the 9403 Battle St. lot, adjacent to the Old Town Italian staple at 9405 Battle. According to Pires’ application to the downtown’s Architectural Review Board, the bar would be 4 feet wide and 38 feet long. The restaurant already has an outdoor dining patio along Battle Street, but the bar would be a separate structure.
The historic architectural district’s design guidelines don’t include guidance or restrictions on outdoor dining elements, according to the city’s community development staff report on the proposed bar, but “the project components meet the intent of the guidelines.”
Known as the W.C. Wagener House, the Queen Anne-style house at 9403 Battle was built in the 1890s and is being rehabilitated into a mixed-use structure with a new addition at its rear, a ground-floor restaurant and apartments on the top floors, though the plans for a bar are for the undeveloped land between the house and Monza’s building at the corner of Battle and Church streets.
“The bar fits into the commercial street-scape without distracting from the historic integrity of the house. The black metal supports, gray-and-blue-colored countertop, and metal corrugated sheets [in the proposed bar] are materials and designs seen throughout the history district,” the staff report reads, recommending approval by the review board.
“Both proposed location options place the bar in areas that do not disrupt the rhythm of the street. Additionally, the bar enhances the pedestrian oriented design downtown strives to achieve.”
Pires’ Battle & Church LLC bought the 9403 Battle property for $695,000 in 2012, according to the city’s property records. She could not be reached by InsideNoVa to further detail the plans for the bar.
Proposed transformation of Tillett Hall
Meanwhile, other developers want to build a private elementary school and daycare facility on the grounds of one of Manassas’ historic estates.
An education company is looking to build a two-story elementary school and a one-story daycare center at Tillett Hall, an old home built in 1885 on three acres at the northwest intersection of Wesley and Fairview avenues.
An education company is looking to build a two-story elementary school and a one-story daycare center at Tillett Hall, a home built in 1885 on three acres at the northwest intersection of Wesley and Fairview avenues. The two-story, three-bay home would remain in place, with the two new buildings and three designated “play areas” to be constructed on undeveloped land on the grounds.
The proposal comes from Edugenius US Real Estate Group, LLC, a Midlothian-based company formed in August for whom little information is publicly available on the internet. The only individual named in Edugenius’s articles of organization is a Christian Engel.
Renderings submitted to the city show a “miniGenius” school, a private elementary school in Germany. Representatives for the company could not be reached by InsideNoVa. Materials sent to the review board offer no insight into the capacity of the school or daycare. According to the application, the property – most recently assessed at just over $2 million – was gifted by the estate of Kenneth and Karen Parsons.
The developer has already met with the review board in “pre-application” meetings that were generally positive, according to the city’s staff report, which recommends that the board approve the project. On Tuesday night, the plan’s developers returned to the review board for more feedback. Ultimately, the board will vote whether to recommend that the City Council approve the project.
“Both new construction buildings are physically distanced from Tillett Hall, maintaining the integrity of the Hall. The daycare is set behind the front wall of Tillett Hall,” the staff report reads. “Although the elementary school protrudes in front of Tillett Hall, the building is angled to create the illusion of separation. The complexity of the building form takes cues from Tillett Hall in the building height, roof forms, and the perceived bays created by the different materials.”
Jared Foretek covers the Manassas area and regional news across Northern Virginia. Reach him at jforetek@insidenova.com
Jared Foretek covers Prince William County Public Schools, the city of Manassas and transportation news across Northern Virginia. Reach him at jforetek@insidenova.com
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