UPDATE: New Shopping Center in East Henrico
Posted: May 5, 2007 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Henrico County, Hotels, New Development, Retail, Shopping Centers | Leave a comment »More information has been released and has been reported by the RTD regarding the plans for The Shops at White Oak Village. With all of the comparisons to local area shopping malls, I thought this was going to be a "lifestyle center" like Stony Point Fashion Park or Short Pump Town Center.
The article in the RTD ("Sam’s, Penney plan new stores") from this past Friday, however, highlighted a number of the stores going into the shopping center planned to open in latter part of 2008 near the Laburnum Avenue exit off of I-64 (the one in the East End, not Northside). These are not your typical "mall" stores, but more like one of these big box strip centers (a la the strip centers that pop up around the big shopping malls).
Target, Lowe’s, Ukrop’s, Sam’s Club, and J.C. Peney have all been confirmed as new tenants. The site is 136 acres, and is planned to house a total of 913,606 square feet of retail, as well as a 150-room hotel. Other possible tenants (not confirmed) are Red Lobster, Circuit City, Panera Bread and Ruby Tuesday.
June 2007 is the expected start date for construction.
New High Schools for West End
Posted: February 16, 2007 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Government Institutions, Henrico County, New Development, Residential | Leave a comment »Two new high schools are slated for the ever-developing West End of Henrico. One of the newest high schools in that area, Deep Run, is expected to have 1,853 students as of next fall — and that’s already 3 students above the intended capacity.
The first new high school is planned for 2010, on the site south of Springfield Road, off of Staples Mill Road. The contract for that site was approved last month for $13.6M.
The second site is 205 acres on Kain Road, slightly northwest of Short Pump Town Center. The proposed purchase price (including site reviews and other costs) is $26.7M, and the intended usage would be not only a new high school for 2016 (or earlier), but also a public park and a fire station.
See "Henrico targets Short Pump site for future school" in this morning’s RTD (or yesterday’s shorter, online version "Henrico considers large land purchase") for more details. It’s a very interesting read, even just to keep informed on who the players are in Henrico’s development.
Where is the Baseball Stadium Going?
Posted: December 12, 2006 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Government Institutions, Henrico County, New Development, Redevelopment | Leave a comment »Well, if the newest plans reported in the RTD this Sunday are adopted, then it won’t be going far.
Richmond City owns 60 acres of property around the Diamond, 30 acres of which currently houses the "Parker Field Maintenance Complex" — the city’s public works and maintenance operations center. Relocation plans for these outdated facilities have already been announced — well, maybe "plans" is too strong of a word. I think that "intentions announced by city officials" is a better way to put it.
There are a few options that open up with the moving of the Maintenance Complex, including:
- build a new stadium in place of the complex
- turn it over to developers for "an urban district of homes, shops, and offices alongside a sports and entertainment complex"
If the City opts for #2, then it can either refurbish the existing stadium or continue to argue about other possible sites.
While I see the benefits of both, I agree with Wilder that we are running out of time to find a solution to the ballpark issue. If we don’t move on this now, and use this opportunity to move forward, then we might as well just scrap the idea of a new ballpark altogether. This is the perfect opportunity to have a new stadium and not ruffle any feathers about historic preservation.
(Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sunday 12/10/06, "Plans pitched for stadium on Boulevard")
TimesDispatch.com | White Oak: Short Pump East?
Posted: June 15, 2006 | Author: Nathan Hughes | Filed under: Government Institutions, Henrico County, New Development, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers | Leave a comment »Link: TimesDispatch.com | White Oak: Short Pump East?.
White Oak: Short Pump East?
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jun 15, 2006
LOCAL NEWS: Henrico County
The Henrico County Planning Commission is scheduled to decide tonight whether to recommend rezoning for a proposed shopping complex in eastern Henrico that would be nearly the size of Short Pump Town Center.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the county administration building, 4301 E. Parham Road. The public is invited to speak on the case before the vote.
Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc., the developer of Short Pump Town Center, proposes to build the 950,000-square-foot White Oak Village complex on 136 acres along Laburnum Avenue just south of Interstate 64.
It is the site of the former Viasystems Technologies Corp. plant, which closed in 2001. Forest City plans to raze the plant.
By comparison, Short Pump Town Center is about 1.1 million square feet. The total square footage of White Oak Village would be slightly less than that of Virginia Center Commons but more than that of Regency Square mall.
Click here for great deals from Dell!Once the Planning Commission either recommends approval or denial, the rezoning case then moves to the county Board of Supervisors for the decisive vote.
For full coverage, see tomorrow’s Times-Dispatch.