Cardinal Corner project looks to bring hotel to Purcellville

By Valerie Cury

At the Purcellville Town Council work session on July 25, developer Casey Chapman and his partners Sam Chapman and Aaron McCleary presented their vision for annexation of a 7.039-acre property they bought a year ago for $650,000, according to public records. 

The proposed project, called Cardinal Corner, is currently operating as Berlin Turnpike Holdings, LLC. The property sits just north of the Town of Purcellville and fronts Berlin Turnpike and the corner of St. Francis Court – across from John Deere. It is currently in the county and zoned JLMA-3 (Joint Land Management Area) which is one house per 3 acres. If annexed into the town, the property would have access to town utilities as well as high density, potentially bringing up the value of the property to tens of millions of dollars.

This property, along with other neighboring parcels, was presented to the town approximately a decade ago for annexation. The vision at the time was for a theme park – complete with go carts and bumper cars – with operating hours up to 11 p.m. daily.

The Chapmans also own Vineyard Square on 21st Street in downtown Purcellville, a project approved for retail plus 40 condos. Vineyard Square was once presented as a hotel before they changed it to condos and was previously approved approximately 13 years ago by the Lazaro administration.

McCleary said the zoning he is seeking would be mixed use commercial. He envisions a hotel of 108-130 beds with a restaurant and a 200-capacity conference room, a stand-alone farm-to-fork style restaurant of 5,000 sq. ft. (more or less), an agritourism market open 7 days a week, and a gas station with a convenience store.

“When this property came for sale about a year ago, we jumped at the opportunity to buy it,” McCleary said. “We know the importance of this corner. It’s the entry into our town … this could be the welcome of this town.”

He said it would create a place to stay “for the multibillion-dollar industry for the agro tourists [sic] going to our vineyards, going to our breweries … but have to go back to Leesburg or Winchester to stay.” This project, he said, would bring in tax revenue through hospitality and meals taxes.

McCleary stressed that he and his partners want to work with the town. He said the hotel groups they have spoken to are interested in a hotel, and restaurant groups are interested as well.

“It would make it so traffic doesn’t have to go on Main Street,” he said. “It would make traffic better … pulling people out of coming into town.”

He said he would like the hotel to be the size of a Hilton Garden Inn, with an in-house restaurant “that would be an alternative to some of the restaurants we have here now,” a pool, and an event space that can host 200 people. He said they would work with the companies to design the hotel rooms.

He said the gas station could be a Sheetz, Wawa, or Royal Farms and would include a retail component. The farm-to-fork portion could be both indoors and outdoors and could also be a beer garden.

Sam Chapman said he has been hearing about the need for a hotel all his life. He said their property seemed “like a property that should be in town.”

Council Member Mary Jane Williams said a Wawa and Royal Farms would have her vote as she likes the chicken at Royal Farms. She asked if they had contacted St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church to discuss the proposal. Casey Chapman said they hadn’t reached out to the property owners yet, because they wanted council feedback first.

Council Member Boo Bennett asked why there was a for sale sign on the property and Sam Chapman said it was to generate interest, which it had.

Bennett asked if they were looking for a corporate hotel or something one of a kind like the Red Fox Inn. McCleary said they have reached out to both corporate and private groups. Bennett cautioned that the proposal would take commerce away from businesses in town.

Council Member Erin Rayner said it was a “great location. We need a hotel and having it on the edge like this is perfect … Having a hotel is a necessary thing.”

Vice Mayor Chris Bertaut asked if the project is relying on annexation into the town or “could it be done in the county?” Casey Chapman said there would be a pathway through the county, but it would require “them to do additional things on our part to make it happen.”

Bertaut asked Casey Chapman if the project would rely on building the Northern Collector Road. Casey Chapman said no. This proposal would take approximately 4 years to complete, he said.

Mayor Stan Milan said there is nothing in town which can accommodate a large convention. He said that the town is also missing tourism dollars. “I like the concept,” he said. “The location is ideal, meaning it’s right off of highway 7. I like this if it can look like what you presented, if it can have the rustic look like a Cracker Barrel.”

The mayor said a boutique hotel “would be great. It would set us apart from your Motel 6.”

Milan took a straw poll of the council to move forward with the potential annexation. 

All members said they liked the idea except Bennett who urged caution and said, “This was just the presentation tonight.” She said she would want to think about it and added, “I do have concerns about the surrounding community.”