Affordable Housing Vote At Former DMV Site Delayed As Manassas Residents Speak Out

MANASSAS, VA — A vote on a land sale to bring affordable housing to a Landing at Canon Branch site in Manassas was delayed Monday after Manassas City Council heard resident concerns.

After a public hearing, Vice Mayor Mark Wolfe made the motion to delay the vote until Jan. 26, 2026. Some residents, including from the existing Landing at Canon Branch community across the street, called for a delay of the land sale consideration.

In late November, the city government had announced the proposal at The Landing at Cannon Branch, on the site of the former DMV building at Gateway Drive and Godwin Drive from developer Good Housing.

The 100-unit apartment community would provide one-bedroom and two-bedroom units to households making 40 to 70 percent of the area median income. Priority leasing would be provided to essential workers like public safety employees, teachers, nurses and more. The units would stay affordable under a 30-year term.

Rent would depend on household size. According to the developer's presentation, rent for residents making 40 percent of the area median income could be $1,200 for a one bedroom and $1,330 for a two bedroom. For residents making 70 percent of the area median income, rent would be $1,900 for a one bedroom and $2,190 for a two bedroom.

Residents at the Landing at Cannon Branch across the street were among those asking for more time to examine the project details.

Resident Chris Markowitz called for City Council to arrange a meeting between the developer and affected nearby residents to discuss project impacts.

"At this point, the community has not been given adequate information about how this project could affect our daily lives," said Markowitz. "We're looking at the terms of the traffic conditions, strain on public services, environmental impact and changes to the character of our neighborhoods."

David Curley, another Landing at Cannon Branch resident, shared concerns about low-income housing lowering home prices in surrounding neighborhoods, inadequate parking without public transportation being present, and not having a program to support workforce renters' transition to homeownership.

"We've already reached out to set up a meeting with the developer to have our concerns addressed and allow time to listen and allow time to listen to the voices of our community," said Curley. "We're asking you to take our concerns into consideration and give us a chance to have a voice in this project or any other proposed projects which would directly impact our largest investments, our homes, or at least postpone this vote until we've had a chance to have some any input."

Mandi Fisher, a Landing at Cannon Branch resident, shared support for workforce and attainable housing. However, she expressed concern with the developer and reviews about the quality of their buildings.

"What I've seen is that the devil is in the details, and too many of these buildings are built with low quality materials that don't have soundproofing, a lack of parking, a lack of amenities," said Fisher. "And then you want to throw in shift workers who work restaurants at night, law enforcement who work overnight, young families with children. And you put the mom with two toddlers or law enforcement who work overnights. It's a bad scene. You put in a bunch of restaurant workers who come home at 2 a.m., 3 a.m. there's no parking. It doesn't work."

Several other residents spoke in support of the project, emphasizing the need for affordable options.

"As someone who's commuted to Tysons Corner for over almost 35 years, I recognize the significant benefits of residing near your workplace, particularly for educators and first responders," said resident Robin Johnson.

Jill Spall, a Manassas City School Board member, advocated on behalf of teachers and staff. She called for a project like this to move forward, noting a need for the school system to recruit more teachers.

"The starting salary of a new bachelor's degree teacher is actually closer to $60,000," said Spall. "I know several kids from the class of 2017, 2018 that are very happy to work here where they grew up, but they all live in their parents' basements. So they're going to be happy for a little while."

Dianne Lane, a resident and member of the Manassas Housing Advisory Board, noted a decline in residents aged 18 to 54 in the last five years.

"The only demographic that's staying are us old folks, is the 55 and up, because we have our house already," said Lane. "We own it. We've got that 2.3 percent mortgage. So we're not going anywhere. If we don't want to turn into an upside down community with no youth, no vitality, no nightlife, we need to invest so that our kids come home, our youth come home, our teachers can stay and become a part of our community, our firefighters, our public safety people can be part of our community."

Several residents agreed with Councilmember Theresa Coates Ellis about the location being wrong for the development.

"It's too much density for this location that doesn't have any transportation other than drive," said Allen Muchnick, a Manassas resident. "And I think if we really want to have affordable housing, we need to have the density and we need to have it in transit-accessible areas with bus service and VRE."

"I think that workforce housing should be closer to transportation, closer to grocery stores where the need will be met for the person and not put a cost burden on them," said Landing at Cannon Branch resident Mary Lee. "Build affordable condos for sale if you're going to build something on that land. Bring home ownership to Manassas."

Leticia Spaulding, a preschool teacher who works in Ashburn, is an original homebuyer at the Landing at Cannon Branch. She encouraged officials to hear more from the community to make the development proposal better.

"I grew up, severely poor, in Section Eight housing. Can't fight for it enough for our community, but across the street, where there is no sidewalks, there's no playgrounds, our playground in our community is not even the size of this room," said Spaulding. "It's going to be the place where the kids come to play, and they deserve to play there, but there's not even a sidewalk for them to walk to get to our playground."

Manassas City Council would have to approve a land purchase agreement to allow the development to move forward. The city is also considering providing a low-interest loan for the development using proceeds from the land sale, Housing Investment Fund, and capital reserves to provide a low-interest loan for the development. That would be part of Good Housing's combination of tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, private equity, and low-interest loans sought for the project.

Financial support from the city for the project would be considered as part of the fiscal year 2027 budget process in early 2026. If the loan is approved, the city expects return in 10 years through real estate tax revenue and loan repayments.