ASHBURN, Va. — Work will likely begin before the end of the year on an enormous new venture in Loudoun County tailored for auto enthusiasts from all across the D.C. metropolitan area.
Pop-up auto shows are commonplace throughout the spring and summer months but this would be a permanent fixture that people would be able to visit year-round.
"The 'Gas Haus' is a collector car storage and social club," said founder and owner Rick Urban. "The car community out here in Ashburn is gigantic and really in Northern Virginia. There is a very large and passionate car community out here."
Urban is hoping to open the venue in late summer 2022.
"We're in the process of purchasing and closing on the real estate," said Urban. "We're trying to revive an underperforming shopping center and bring something totally new to the community."
Urban says he and others have been working on bringing the concept to fruition since 2017. The idea is to fuse together a place for luxury car owners, car collectors and enthusiasts.
"We're appealing to the guys who have two or three cars but want four or five cars. Or the person who has twenty cars but no one ever sees them and they want to bring them in and let people see and enjoy them," said Urban.
Urban anticipates the business will be able to hold 190 cars in general storage, fifty cars in its so-called 'Founders Club' and fifty motorcycles.
The space is also slated to include a venue area for bands and comedians to perform and a social club for members. The restaurant would overlook the car collection space and people would be able to walk through and view the vehicles on display.
"It's to get people who aren't necessarily car owners but are car enthusiasts. It's like art. I love Picassos. I can't afford a Picasso but I love to go look at them," said Urban.
A fleet of cars would also be available to rent either by Urban himself or the various owners who have placed their cars in storage at the 'Gas Haus'.
"If you want a corporate event or a birthday party and you're a Ferrari guy we can set it up with twelve or fifteen Ferraris."
Scott Fracasso owns a bright yellow 2014 Z-51 model Corvette Stingray. The license plate reads 'MDR-HRNT' as the car bears a striking resemblance to the fast and vicious murder hornet insect.
He's not allowed to make any modifications to the vehicle without first consulting with his daughter who, at this point, is still too young to have her driver's license.
Fracasso plans to gift the car to his daughter once she's old enough.
They were both enjoying the ambiance and comradery of a local car enthusiast event in Ashburn in August called 'Cars & Cigars' which brought around one hundred custom, classic and elite cars for people to swoon over.
"Like-minded people. We all like corvettes," said Fracasso. "We just decided to start a group. 390 members from the tri-state area. We started it almost two years ago and it's really grown. It's really gotten crazy."
On most weekends, Felix Gadegbeku of Ashburn is showing off his custom corvette at car events.
"I always wanted a Corvette since I was a baby crawling," Gadegbeku said.
He owns a power washing business and uses the events as a way to spread the word about his company. He met Urban in July and is very intrigued with the 'Gs Haus'.
"I think it's a great concept," said Gadegbeku. "There's nothing like that around here where car guys can go to meet, shoot pool, shop and have a couple drinks and talk about cars. It's like a car show 24-7."
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