Shopping center details revealed
Proposal for eastern Henrico has room for 'sit-down' restaurants
BY OLYMPIA MEOLATIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER / May 16, 2006
Since the first public meeting Henrico County Supervisor James B. Donati Jr. held about 15 years ago, Varina District residents have been asking for shopping and restaurants.
One request in particular keeps coming up - people want a Red Lobster. "That's been on the wish list for a long time," Donati said.
The eastern end of the county is now poised to get a new restaurant or two - quite possibly the coveted seafood place - and more.
The team that developed Short Pump Town Center has a contract to buy the site of the former Viasystems Technologies Corp. plant and proposes building a 913,600-square-foot shopping center off South Laburnum Avenue just south of Interstate 64. In comparison, Short Pump Town Center has about 1.1 million square feet.
Last night, Donati met at the Eastern Government Center with 100-plus residents to share details of the proposed White Oak Village. Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc. hopes to raze the plant, which closed in 2001, and build the center on 136 acres.
People who spoke at last night's meeting were generally in favor of the project and raised some concerns, mainly about drainage and traffic. Linda Maroney represented Lawndale Farms, a neighborhood of about 200 homes across Laburnum Avenue from the proposed site. She said the residents were overall in support, but she asked what the county would do to keep traffic from cutting through her neighborhood. She also questioned the drainage patterns.
"We're excited," she said. "We're glad to see the county is finally thinking about the East End."
The proposed shopping center would feature about 720,000 square feet for three large tenants, a grocery store and some other retailers; about 150,000 square feet for smaller stores in a central village; and about 72,900 square feet along Laburnum Avenue for restaurants and banks. A hotel would sit near Interstate 64.
The Board of Supervisors could get the proposal this summer. Developers would like to start demolition in the fall and open the $100 million project in 2008.
Ralph L. "Bill" Axselle Jr. represented Forest City at last night's meeting and said traffic improvements are planned, possibly the addition of a stoplight, another through lane on Laburnum Avenue and turning lanes.
He trumpeted the project's projected economic impact, saying it would create 2,300 jobs during construction and 2,100 permanent part-time and full-time jobs when finished,. He said the center could generate $80 million in revenues to the county over 15 years. Herbert Sigmund has lived off Osborne Turnpike for 20 years and in Varina his whole life. He thinks the center is a great idea to "keep business out in the Varina area like it should be." He wants some good shopping and a Cracker Barrel, Shoney's or, yes, a Red Lobster. "I want to see good sit-down restaurants," he said, "where I can sit down and people can come wait on me."