In June, Hamilton's zoning administrator, Martha Semmes, told the Planning Commission that she had recently been inside the old firehouse and that the new owners were "beginning to clean things up." They were working with engineers on a site plan and had questions about the town's standards. They had also talked about turning the house next door into a coffee shop on the ground floor with office space upstairs.
In the town's paperwork since then, the main obstacle for the property is parking, because the lot has very little room for it. The tool Hamilton uses to deal with that points the same way as the town's sidewalk project for the same street.
A Sale Priced Well Below the Asking
The town listed two buildings it owned. The former firehouse at 43 E. Colonial Highway has about 3,600 square feet and was listed at just under $1 million. The house beside it at 41 E. Colonial Highway has 4,792 square feet and was listed at $725,000, according to Loudoun Now. Zoning on the house allows offices, banks, restaurants and retail. The firehouse is zoned for office and retail uses.
Two buyers competed. One proposal would have made the firehouse a bar and grill. The other came from Inderjit Singh, who runs Mehak Indian Bar and Restaurant in Chantilly and offered to bring an Indian restaurant. At a December meeting, a buyer's agent for Mehak told the Council that the company wanted to expand in the area. He said some customers already drive to the Chantilly location from Berryville, Loudoun Now reported. After a closed session at a special meeting on Dec. 23, the Council voted 6-1 to sell both properties to Singh.
The two buildings were listed for about $1.7 million combined. When the town amended its FY 2025/26 budget, it recorded $928,990 in revenue from selling the two properties. That money went to general fund reserves, costs related to the sale, computer upgrades and higher electricity charges.
Every Step Since Has Been a Permit
Since the sale, the firehouse has moved through town review step by step. In order, the town record shows:
- Spring 2026. The zoning administrator met with the firehouse owners about next steps. Those were the required site plan, a zoning permit for interior fit-up, and the process for asking Council to waive parking requirements.
- June 24, 2026. Cleanup was underway, engineers were working on the site plan, and the coffee shop and office idea for the house came up.
- July 22, 2026. The owners were applying for a demolition permit to remove some interior walls, with interior renovations to follow. A site plan was required because the firehouse is a commercial building.
- September 2026. The zoning administrator approved an administrative variance for an addition 8 feet deep and 16 feet wide at the back of the firehouse, mainly for HVAC equipment and storage.
- Sept. 30, 2026. The town received a site plan covering both the firehouse and the house next door.
- Oct. 14, 2026. The zoning administrator's report said formal review would begin once the $2,000 site plan review fee was paid. The plan would then go to the town engineer.
Moving HVAC equipment and storage into a small addition at the back keeps that equipment out of the old station's main room.
The Parking Lot Is the Hard Part
The rest of the process is set out in the town's records. After review by staff and the engineer, the site plan goes to the Planning Commission for a recommendation and then to Town Council for approval. The minutes of the Council's September meeting, printed in the October 19 agenda packet, describe that Council review this way.
"The Town Council site plan review will also include a request by the applicants for parking waivers because there is very little room on the property for parking spaces."
Town staff will set the number of required spaces once the site plan is reviewed. Under Hamilton's zoning ordinance, as the zoning administrator explained it to Council in those same minutes, the owners can ask Council to let them pay a fee for each space they cannot fit on the property. That money must be spent on off-street parking and pedestrian uses. The town's FY27 fee schedule lists a parking waiver at $800 per space.
A building with little room for cars can only work on a main street people can reach on foot. Under Hamilton's ordinance, the parking spaces the firehouse cannot provide turn into money for pedestrian uses. The waiver ties the firehouse's future to how easy East Colonial Highway is to walk.
The Sidewalks Planned for the Same Street
The town is working on that too. Hamilton received a $1.5 million grant from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority for an East Colonial Highway pedestrian safety project, Loudoun Now reported. The proposed work includes sidewalks and crossings on both sides of the road, drainage and curb-and-gutter improvements, and sidewalk lighting. Early estimates put the total cost at $6.5 million to $7 million.
The grant covers less than a quarter of that estimate. At the July Planning Commission meeting, Semmes described it as money to begin preliminary design. In the town's September project report, staff said a call with Loudoun County about a memorandum of understanding had been scheduled and a request for construction money had been sent to the county's capital improvement program. Design money is in hand, and construction money has been requested.
The two projects move on separate timelines. Both still point toward a main street where a building like the old firehouse depends on people arriving on foot.
What Colonial Highway Already Offers
The firehouse would join businesses already on the street. The Hamilton Mercantile at 341 E. Colonial Highway sells local and organic groceries, supplements and gifts and runs a coffee bar. Its owners are Meredith and Abbie, and its walk-up coffee window opens at 7 a.m. every day. This week it is taking Thanksgiving pre-orders. On the west side of the street, Visit Loudoun lists Dough Baby at 47 W. Colonial Highway as a takeout bakery and pizza business with coffee, soft serve, bread and baked goods.
The street's next date on the calendar is in December. The Master Singers of Virginia will perform their Christmas concert, "Wolcum Yole!", on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at 380 E. Colonial Highway, according to Visit Loudoun.
The firehouse's next public step comes before that. The Hamilton Planning Commission's next scheduled meeting is Nov. 25, 2026, and the site plan for 41 and 43 E. Colonial Highway will come to the Commission after staff and engineering review.
If you own an older building in Hamilton, or are thinking about one on Colonial Highway or another western Loudoun main street, book an appointment with Suzanne Ager.
