Historic Downtown is the cultural and commercial center for the Greater Manassas Region and business locations are perpetually in high demand.  This past year we celebrated several new business openings, one relocation, and sadly said goodbye to a couple others. While we may regret when one of our small businesses closes, this presents opportunity for others to open. Unfortunately for enterprising and aspiring business owners, more than 80% of all small business start-ups fail within the first few years of opening. Investing time and treasure into launching one is not for the faint of heart and – succeed or fail – those who do embody the American spirit and are to be commended. You can always celebrate this spirit by spending your hard earned dollars with a small business and we encourage you to shop and dine in Downtown to do that!

2023 brought the much-anticipated reopening of the renovated Manassas Museum, and ended with the usual holiday fanfare as residents and visitors enjoyed carriage rides, ice skating, and a tree lighting by Santa Claus himself. While the renovation and reopening of our museum was a testament to the City Council’s commitment to revitalizing Historic Downtown, perhaps the most notable achievement was their acquisition and demolition of the Olde Towne Inn. Led by Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger, and with the strong support of all the elected members of City Council, the purchase of this property will set the stage for the construction of a new hotel that can serve as an anchor for the community. Manassas is making generational investments in redevelopment.

Through most of 2023 Downtown exhibited a staggering 100% retail occupancy rate. The trend of our Downtown having almost no retail vacancy started in 2021 and continues today. It has been well over a decade since vacant storefronts were a concern for the community. Now, most of the retail spaces that change hands do so without ever being listed on the open market. Our current report shows occupancy at 96.7% with limited availability due largely to the substantial completion of the Harris II building on Battle Street, a mixed-use building with new ground floor storefronts and upstairs apartments. Market rents dipped slightly $25.18/sf but are still higher than historical averages. Similarly, Downtown office lease activity ended strongly with occupancy at 97.4%. Market rents rose slightly to $26.16/sf to close out the year.

This past year almost 14,000 square feet of new leases were signed in Downtown. These included Flowers with Passion, Eunik Interiors, Dabble Creative Reuse Center, and Black Metal Mercantile. Two of our Farmers Market businesses, Fillagreen and Honey + Ivy, celebrated brick-and-mortar openings. To keep up to date on new listings (like the one featured in the header) as they become available, please follow us on social media and bookmark our website. And while we’re here to help business owners navigate the process of finding new space, we also recommend using a commercial real estate broker to find the perfect space and negotiate its sale or lease.

As City Council entertains proposals for the redevelopment of the Olde Towne Inn site, staff in the Manassas Museum settle in, and City Hall completes renovations in Spring 2024, we can expect continued high demand from new businesses looking to enter our market.