Richmond's Suburban Developments

[I miss RVA]

New community hockey rink and mixed use project planned for the old shopping mall site across Midlo from where Cloverleaf Mall once was. From Richmond BizSense:

OH - and check out the comments... all I can say is:  cue the kvetching and the arguing! 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/10/05/redevelopment-on-ice-chesterfield-eyes-hockey-venue-for-spring-rock-green/

Edited October 6, 2021 by I miss RVA

[blopp1234]

Man, the 6th street marketplace argument never fails to rear its ugly head every time a public development project is undertaken. 

[ancientcarpenter]

36 minutes ago, blopp1234 said:

Man, the 6th street marketplace argument never fails to rear its ugly head every time a public development project is undertaken. 

It's the go-to example for people who don't know what they are talking about and believe "GoVeRnmeNt CaN't dO NotHiNg RiGhT!"

 

Yes, government projects fail and succeed. Government has it's faults but we don't throw away the baby with the bath water. Even my use, right in this sentence, of the generic term of "government" is silly. I don't pay much attention to those people...in fact, I prefer they be vocal immediately because it allows me to not waste time reading the rest of their comments.

Edited October 6, 2021 by ancientcarpenter

[DowntownCoruscant]

I can’t speak to youth hockey particularly, but one of the commenters there made what seemed to be a good point about the “two sheets” demand, and color me skeptical on the sports tourism angle. 

That said, sometimes you’ve got to pick a project that sparks an interest and go with it. Beaufont was a nice little complement to Cloverleaf Mall back when I was a kid, but unfortunately I haven’t been a kid in ages. That property has been stagnant for a long time, so I could think of worse places to put this thing.

[I miss RVA]

4 hours ago, blopp1234 said:

Man, the 6th street marketplace argument never fails to rear its ugly head every time a public development project is undertaken. 

Ain't that the truth!! 

3 hours ago, ancientcarpenter said:

It's the go-to example for people who don't know what they are talking about and believe "GoVeRnmeNt CaN't dO NotHiNg RiGhT!"

 

Yes, government projects fail and succeed. Government has it's faults but we don't throw away the baby with the bath water. Even my use, right in this sentence, of the generic term of "government" is silly. I don't pay much attention to those people...in fact, I prefer they be vocal immediately because it allows me to not waste time reading the rest of their comments.

Fully agreed, ancientcarpenter. I think we tend to overreact, particularly when the subject is publicly funded projects.

Oh - did anyone notice in the comments that even one of the project supporters just HAD to mention something about the city being "left in their (the counties') rear-view mirrors" ??  Boy, THAT trope never seems to end either.

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, DowntownCoruscant said:

I can’t speak to youth hockey particularly, but one of the commenters there made what seemed to be a good point about the “two sheets” demand, and color me skeptical on the sports tourism angle. 

That said, sometimes you’ve got to pick a project that sparks an interest and go with it. Beaufont was a nice little complement to Cloverleaf Mall back when I was a kid, but unfortunately I haven’t been a kid in ages. That property has been stagnant for a long time, so I could think of worse places to put this thing.

I'm with you. And thank you - for the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of that shopping center. Beaufont. I haven't been a kid in ages, either -- and you are right. That property has been stagnant for way too long. Better to see something positive developed there than to just let it continue to lay fallow and go to seed like it has.

[I miss RVA]

Another interesting turn in development: Former hotel in the 6500 block of W. Broad is going to be converted into apartments as part of a larger development. The developers have scrapped plans for office & hotel space - and apparently are going all-in on residential. As I recall, on another thread we've been discussing that residential development is the way to go as opposed to office development, due to changes in work models due to the pandemic.

This actually looks pretty interesting - and it's good to see some residential density coming to that part of the near West End.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/10/05/in-a-change-hotel-and-office-project-on-broad-scrapped-for-250-apartments/

 

[Brent114]

I like housing better for this section of Broad Street.  More and more it’s looking like a great next stop for the Pulse.  1/2 a mile or so west they are adding a lot of urban style  townhomes where defunct retail once flourished.  Reynold’s Crossing as a mixed use development (instead of an office park) is very appealing to me.  

Edited October 6, 2021 by Brent114

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, Brent114 said:

I like housing better for this section of Broad Street.  More and more it’s looking like a great next stop for the Pulse.  1/2 a mile or so west they are adding a lot of urban style  townhomes where defunct retail once flourished.  Reynold’s Crossing as a mixed use development (instead of an office park) is very appealing to me.  

I agree 100%, Brent. Boosting residential density - and in more of the urban style like we're seeing -- definitely is a big boost to advocating that Pulse be extended farther out Broad. I like that the counties are going for more intense urban design to boost density -and that at least in areas closest to the city (and in some areas farther out) there is a decreased emphasis on the sprawling, single-family detached - or even the 2 or 3 story apartment complexes that are "clustered" around winding drives and parking lots like you see off of Parham Road and south of Patterson (those date a least a couple of decades - my brother when he was first starting out and first got married lived in one of those kinds of complexes)

Though on a quite a bit smaller scale and intensity, this is something -- with the urban look and feel -- that calls to mind developments sections of Alexandria and Arlington as you approach D.C. I'm loving this!

Edited October 7, 2021 by I miss RVA

[wrldcoupe4]

The Genworth campus will be a great redevelopment. I could see a lot of residential mixed with commercial uses there at some point.

[rjp212]

I hate that they didn't connect Redman through to the project though.    Disconnected grids just irk me 

[Icetera]

1 hour ago, rjp212 said:

I hate that they didn't connect Redman through to the project though.    Disconnected grids just irk me 

Generally agreed but where would Redman connect?  Straight through is Altria's private, gated road.  Connecting to Wake Forest could be nice but then the developer has to either maintain for public traffic or sell that stretch to the County, significantly cutting their property.

[rjp212]

With the current layout, no.  However, my pet peeve is the county should have required the street grid be re-established at least connect Wake Forest and Redman.  As-is you just have a dense development on a glorified "cul-de-sac".

[I miss RVA]

More density coming to Short Pump with large residential/mixed use developments going right to the Goochland/Henrico line north of I-64 -and a nice bit of density south of the interstate. The larger project (north of the interstate) will include a variety of housing types including apartments, and won't only be single-family detached homes in a traditional subdivision layout.  Looks like density is definitely part of the plan.

From Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/10/07/2000-homes-proposed-across-three-projects-in-short-pump/

 

[whw53]

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

More density coming to Short Pump with large residential/mixed use developments going right to the Goochland/Henrico line north of I-64 -and a nice bit of density south of the interstate. The larger project (north of the interstate) will include a variety of housing types including apartments, and won't only be single-family detached homes in a traditional subdivision layout.  Looks like density is definitely part of the plan.

From Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/10/07/2000-homes-proposed-across-three-projects-in-short-pump/

 

The upper project is taking inspiration from Serenbe in Georgia - that is really cool to hear.  That project is pretty small by metro Atlanta standards  but its name is held in high esteem in planning and design circles for its emphasis on using ag, landscape design, and small mixed use nodes to establish a strong sense of place. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.5185133,-84.7360678,1867m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by whw53

[ancientcarpenter]

47 minutes ago, whw53 said:

The upper project is taking inspiration from Serenbe in Georgia - that is really cool to hear.  That project is pretty small by metro Atlanta standards  but its name is held in high esteem in planning and design circles for its emphasis on using ag, landscape design, and small mixed use nodes to establish a strong sense of place. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.5185133,-84.7360678,1867m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

I'm curious what the price range may be for the Shortpump development. I imagine $500-600+ starting minimum...

Edited October 7, 2021 by ancientcarpenter

[I miss RVA]

Big sale of three big apartment complexes in western Henrico/Short Pump area.

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/10/21/multifamily-milestone-short-pump-complex-sells-for-327k-per-door/

[DowntownCoruscant]

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/10/25/nearly-600-apartments-on-the-drawing-board-for-willow-lawn/

We’ll see if this gets done, but this sort of thing is needed for Willow Lawn. As someone who lives across the street from WL, albeit in a different direction, a bit more density is needed to keep the area vibrant past the lunch hour.

I’m a bit skeptical, however, to the extent this would be disruptive for homeowners on the back end of these planned apartment buildings. Wouldn’t be surprised if this got scaled down on the end.

[Richmonopoly]

22 minutes ago, DowntownCoruscant said:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/10/25/nearly-600-apartments-on-the-drawing-board-for-willow-lawn/

We’ll see if this gets done, but this sort of thing is needed for Willow Lawn. As someone who lives across the street from WL, albeit in a different direction, a bit more density is needed to keep the area vibrant past the lunch hour.

I’m a bit skeptical, however, to the extent this would be disruptive for homeowners on the back end of these planned apartment buildings. Wouldn’t be surprised if this got scaled down on the end.

Very exciting development.  I hope some of the parking around Willow Lawn closer to Broad could be developed as well.  

[DowntownCoruscant]

There’s a sea of parking in the back end of the shopping center, north of “The Square” portion, roughly between the stretch the T-Mobile and the stretch with Ledo Pizza. Those rows of parking are almost always empty and are just wasted space. I’ve kind of dreamed on an apartment building and deck taking up much of the surface parking there.

[wrldcoupe4]

Agreed - density at Willow Lawn proper would be welcome. The owner has several dense projects in their portfolio.

[Downtowner]

4 hours ago, DowntownCoruscant said:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/10/25/nearly-600-apartments-on-the-drawing-board-for-willow-lawn/

We’ll see if this gets done, but this sort of thing is needed for Willow Lawn. As someone who lives across the street from WL, albeit in a different direction, a bit more density is needed to keep the area vibrant past the lunch hour.

I’m a bit skeptical, however, to the extent this would be disruptive for homeowners on the back end of these planned apartment buildings. Wouldn’t be surprised if this got scaled down on the end.

I graduated high school with the guy doing this project at willow lawn (Hatcher crenshaw IV). Happy for Hatcher to take over the company thats been in his family for a long time. I did see the animal vet that my mom uses river city vet is moving across the street to 5220 west broad street which seems to be the old family dollar store. Also the place that vet in now is super small and the guy who owns runs it definitely needs more space and I assume he’s moving on part of this project happening as well because it’s getting terrible with the very small parking lot he has for people bringing there animals. He’s definitely upgrading because I saw he’s taking over 11,000 square feet in his new space. 

[I miss RVA]

7 hours ago, DowntownCoruscant said:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/10/25/nearly-600-apartments-on-the-drawing-board-for-willow-lawn/

We’ll see if this gets done, but this sort of thing is needed for Willow Lawn. As someone who lives across the street from WL, albeit in a different direction, a bit more density is needed to keep the area vibrant past the lunch hour.

I’m a bit skeptical, however, to the extent this would be disruptive for homeowners on the back end of these planned apartment buildings. Wouldn’t be surprised if this got scaled down on the end.

I hope these projects go forward as envisioned and that there is no scaling back of them at all. This is exactly what is needed in the immediate vicinity of Willow Lawn. Significantly boosting the density in this area will have a lot of benefits -both for Willow Lawn and surrounding businesses - and - for the PULSE line as well. We keep hoping that somehow the PULSE line will get extended much farther out -- to Innsbrook, Short Pump and the Goochland County line. Getting density along Broad Street and in this area surrounding Willow Lawn will go a long way toward making that a reality.

Absolutely gorgeous buildings - I hope this project gets under way soon!

[I miss RVA]

Nice to see this project has broken ground! Northlake Industrial Park in Hanover - off of I-95 - is officially underway.

From Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/11/05/65m-industrial-project-in-hanover-moving-forward-after-5m-land-deal/

[vdogg]

Was actually looking for information on a project in Norfolk that seems to be in limbo and stumbled across this. Seems to be an absolutely massive development, but I haven’t seen a dedicated thread for it. What’s the status of this project?
https://www.concordeastridge.com/project-news/greencity-developers-file-rezoning-request-for-2-3b-project/