County Evolves Into New Roles

Jobs, Affluence, Culture Transformed

Alyson C. Skinner walks her Great Dane near her home in Gainesville, in the booming western part of Prince William, where there are many new houses. (Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)

Change is happening everywhere in Prince William County, but there are three areas where rapid growth is transforming the very texture of daily life.

Locals once referred to Prince William as the place where the Washington area ended and the "real Virginia'' began. Not anymore. From million-dollar houses on the western end of the county to a new high-tech jobs magnet in the center, to a revival of the county's Potomac riverfront, Prince William is evolving into a vibrant, wealthy part of Northern Virginia.

In the western part of the county, above the Manassas National Battlefield Park, high-end houses are bringing wealthy new residents to the county who are in turn demanding new and better services, higher-end retail and other cultural amenities.

Recent U.S. Census Bureau figures show that the county has a median household income of nearly $83,000 -- about a $12,000 jump in one year. The Census Bureau ranks the county third in the nation in median household income, behind only Somerset County, N.J., and Howard County, Md.

What is driving the dramatic change in Prince William are 20,000 houses built in the past five years -- a nearly 25 percent increase in housing stock. Most of the new houses are larger, on bigger lots and worth much more than the county's older houses and townhouses.

Many of those new houses are in the booming western part of Prince William, near Lake Manassas, Gainesville and Haymarket -- close to where the Walt Disney Co. wanted to build a theme park that residents fought. Planners and real estate agents say people moving up from townhouses in Fairfax County or other inner suburbs are buying many of those expensive houses.

The changes can be seen in the types of new retail being planned for the area. A Harris Teeter supermarket, complete with wine consultant and sushi bar, is scheduled to open in 2006. Car dealer Don Beyer is planning to open a Land Rover, Jaguar and Volvo dealership in western Prince William next year.

County officials for years have been working to create jobs locally to reduce the number of residents who commute to jobs in Washington, Dulles or Tysons Corner. Having jobs closer to home will make for a better quality of life and more public participation in local cultural and social events, leaders say.

Already, the pace of economic development is remarkable. Prince William added jobs at the fastest rate of any big county in the United States in the 12-month period that ended in March, with an 8 percent rise, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

Nowhere is that change more evident than outside the City of Manassas, where a high-technology center is developing around the Prince William campus of George Mason University. With the prospect of thousands of new jobs, the area could be the economic and business center of Prince William in the 21st century.

Planning has not stopped with academic buildings and an aquatics center. The county, the city and George Mason have agreed to help finance a $56 million performing arts center styled after a famous European opera house. The four-story, 1,100-seat performance hall will be the centerpiece of a larger cultural complex to be built at GMU's campus. GMU plans to open the center by fall 2009, depending on funding, said Brian H. Marcus, associate dean for development at the university's College of Visual and Performing Arts. Construction could begin as soon as summer 2007.

The economic centerpiece of the county-owned industrial and high-tech park is Eli Lilly and Co., which plans to build a $425 million complex that will employ more than 700 people. County officials say the presence of American Type Culture Collection, a nonprofit research facility, and the prospect of Lilly have changed the face of Prince William. In addition, George Mason announced recently that it would build a $40 million laboratory for its new National Center for Biodefense.

On the east side of the county, where early Prince William life and commerce focused on the Potomac and the old Colonial Highway, there is the potential for dramatic new revitalization.

Developers have announced plans for a large hotel and conference center to be built on a bluff overlooking the Potomac on the Cherry Hill Peninsula. The $50 million project would be the county's first full-service hotel. The developer, KSI Services Inc. of Vienna, said plans call for a 272,000-square-foot hotel with 234 rooms, banquet and meeting halls and spa, fitness and recreation areas. An 18-hole golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus is also planned.

The hotel is the centerpiece of the 1,700-acre Harbor Station development of 2,500 houses, 2 million square feet of office and retail space and a town center with a Virginia Railway Express commuter station.

Over the past few years, Prince William leaders have drawn up ambitious plans for the Route 1 area -- dubbed the Potomac Communities -- that they say is poised for an economic rebirth that would replace tired strip malls and aging apartments with upscale and transit-oriented development, as well as affordable housing.

The county is also counting on two new tourist destinations, the planned Belmont Bay Science Center in Occoquan and Quantico's Marine Corps Heritage Center, which is under construction. County planners say the projects are key to bringing thousands of tourists, economic development and, perhaps, some cachet to Route 1.